Nature
Archive
What's that smell? It's a teeming avian sanctuary—and a sump of troubled waters. It's a mess that we created—and a puzzle we can't solve. It's California's Salton Sea, a hypersaline lake that kills the very life it shelters.
An ardent defender of wilderness reflected on the solace of the mountains and nature in difficult times. He wrote this after 9/11, but the sentiment applies now, too, as we watch the world changing around us.
The Intrepid Travels and Incredible Tales of Col. John Blashford-Snell, Explorer
Cigar-smoking santos, icy Belikin, crumbling pyramids, freshly spun tortillas, slithering vipers, and everlasting love
Welcome to Bigfoot's winter hideaway, where unclimbed mountains, roaring whitewater, and a new luxury eco-lodge await you
And deliver us pronto to these 44 island Edens—if they were any more perfect we'd be in heaven
Let the motorized leaf peepers have their New England. It'll keep them far away from ours.
In the seas off South Africa's Dyer Island, shark mania and risk adventure have combined with a vengeance. For a few bucks, one of a gang of ill-qualified, ill-equipped dive operators will drop you into the most dangerous water on earth. Problem is, no one's promising to get you safely back.
Pacific Mexico is a thatch roof overhead, fresh snapper daily, and 660 miles of nada between timeshares.
The Costa Rica of legend still exists. But you have to crash through breakers and fight off pigs to find it.
An adventurer's guide to animal migrations—the greatest shows on earth
Q: I’m traveling to Ireland with a friend next week who wants to spend some time on the Aran Islands. Is there anything to do there besides stare at the ocean (hiking? biking?)? Trail trimmings: a winding stonewall in the Aran Islands — Alex Cohen, San…
It's a long line from the old salt to the swarms at Waikiki. So real Hawaiians head for the far sides of paradise.
In any state, there are attractions that everyone’s heard of, that every guidebook touts, that every visitor has to see. Then there are the places the locals haunt, where the crowds are sparse and the mentions in Let’s Go are glancing. In Alaska, these places are the state parks, 3.2…
Scoring big with your kids; unforgettable days in America's premier national playgrounds.
Eight great resorts on four islands with activities for all. Be there. Aloha.
Escape the monkey house and take your brood to where the wild things really are. Our kid-endorsed guide to sneezing lizards, daffy otters, and bellowing moose. (Sorry, no dinosaurs.) Koalas in Kangaroo Island Though the koala is right up there in the race for…
Q: We’re headed to St. Lucia and we love to hike and snorkel. What weight clothing would you suggest? Would you recommend a guide or can you do the hikes yourself? We want to do all 29 miles of the hiking trails, and the more rugged and adventurous the better.
The Bush administration has a plan to manage the nation's open spaces. But will America buy it?
Q: Where can I find good beach camping in Georgia other than Cumberland Island? — Chris Greenawalt, Bethlehem, PA ϳԹ Advisor: A: There’s no other place on the Georgia coastline with Cumberland’s perfect mix of eco-protection and…
Close encounters of the bear-human kind are skyrocketing, though actual attacks remain few and far between. Hopefully, new outreach education efforts will keep things that way.
Ted Turner and his son Beau aren’t your typical green crusaders—the kid is a hook-and-bullet guy, and dad is hatching plans to sell buffalo burgers as theme food. But together they control 1.8 million acres of prime U.S. ranchland, where they’re unloading a fortune to revive endangered species, revolutionize grazing, and (don’t tell the neig
Damned with us and damned without us, the Galápagos continue to attract hordes of nature-loving visitors. But whether you're drawn by the majesty of Darwin's discoveries or mesmerized by the brutal spectacle of survival, remember this: Evolution happens.
In these fragile, frigid ecosystems, the phrase tread lightly takes on a whole new meaning
ϳԹ's guide to the coolest trips and the world's top new adventure travel spots.
Deep in the seething, fecund Amazon jungle, a seeker finds wisdom, beauty, exciting new recipes, and inexhaustible armadas of biting insects. O Sting, where is they death?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. camps in the Arctic and asks why big oil can't keep its hands off America's largest patch of wilderness
Using cutting-edge techniques, three young mavericks set out to tackle one of the hardest routes in the Himalayas
Who is Barry Clausen and why has his two-bit cloak-and-dagger act made so many radical environmentalists, FBI agents, animal rights activists, and conservative ideologues furious?
IPO sluts, "lifestyle" vintners, and eco-radicals bearing lawsuits. Eroding hillsides, glassy-winged sharpshooters, and an imperiled river with dying steelhead. Napa Valley has them all, and each lends its own bouquet of New Economy hilarity, nose-out-of-joint agrarian rage, and NIMBY intolerance to wine country's unique, full-bodied blend of environmental poli
Floating through class V whitewater and grizzly country in the shadow of Mount McKinley
Is it ever too late to become the caring parent you thought you could be? To find out, one man went in search of his adopted manatee—only to discover the many injustices that humankind has heaped upon these hapless marine mammals. And when Junior is fat, slow, and endangered, family values are nothing more than an easy way to break your heart.
Surrounded by a staggering array of hazardous waste, toxic emissions, chemical pollutants, and lethal military experimentation, the Goshute tribe of Utah decided to do the logical thing and offer up its reservation as a dump for 40,000 metric tons of highly radioactive nuclear fuel. The neighbors are very upset.
A noisy controversy roils the quest to catch the big one
So is adventure racing pure competition, or just a grueling way to grab TV ratings?
Carl and Lowell Skoog are blazing virgin trails in the backcountry's wild white yonder
Does wilderness therapy help troubled kids? After a gang of teenagers staged a violent mutiny in the badlands of Utah, we joined the search for answers.
A crash course in old-growth tree climbing (it's tree hugging's rambunctious younger sibling). Wanna come out and have some deep fun?
Deep in South Africa's interior sprawls Kruger National Park, the crown jewel of game preserves with 2,500 lions, 2,750 rhinos, 8,500 elephants, 30,000 zebras, 100,000 impalas...and 650 miles of boundary wire keeping animals in and poachers out. Welcome to the postmodern Eden, where everyone behaves—or else.
Some of the most innovative boats ever built prepare for the fiercest race in sailing history
Once, he rode the smoky ridges about the Umpqua River, a pack of baying hounds at his feet, the bawling of the terrified Ursus americanus ringing through the hills. Once, he was undisputed master of the kill. Once, Ray Hillsman slew a thousand bears. And then one man said, No more.
As the United States prepares to hand over the canal, Panama's wild wonders are ripe for discovery
This year's World Extreme Skiing Championships will feature two types of descent: Hail Mary and Mother of God
The Chiricahua Mountains are as rugged and diverse as the Galápagos but have one big advantage: They're right here at home.
Swing a hammer, light a fuse, and let the dams come tumbling down. So goes the cry these days on American rivers, where vandals of every stripe—enviros and fishermen and interior secretaries, among others—wage battle to uncork the nation's bound-up waters.
He's named for a Stone Age weapon. He may be nuts as a bunny. But sometimes it's nice to have a Neanderthal at your side.
Can you feel it coming? Heat, hail, snow, rain. Wind, drought, flood, pain. Are you tired of waiting? Then hurry to Bangladesh, where the skies have already broken.
They go to eastern Honduras, the wildest stretch of idyll that our hemisphere has to offer
Dams break and walls of water sweep away cars like matchboxes. Time to call off the shaman.
For 90 million years the turtles have massed to lay their eggs. This time they gathered for their own mass murder…