wyoming

Yellowstone may show visitors a beautiful landscape of green meadows and gorgeous geysers in the summer, but the oldest national park in America turns hostile in the winter. The landscape completely changes until some of the attractions are not even viewable. Most tourists deem it wise to stay clear of Yellowstone during this time. But the cold actually brings a different adventure for travelers to enjoy. In the dead of winter, groups join together in Yellowstone for one purpose: wolf tracking.

At the mention of the Oregon Trail, many young Americans will recall fording rivers, crossing plains, and being waylaid by dysentery or broken legs in a popular game played on flickering computer screens. The real Oregon Trail, used by many American pioneers during the westward migration from Missouri to Oregon during the mid-nineteenth century, was far more remarkable.

For over 2,500 years, Mongolians have built yurts, transportable tent-like structures made of wood lattice and heavy felt, to protect themselves from the icy blasts of their native steppes. Today in America, yurts are a wonderful, yet little-known, camping amenity provided at many of the country’s state and national parks.