Parks and Recreation

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho. (National Park Service Photo

If you want to experience what it's like to visit another planet without getting in a spaceship, consider these five national park areas with out-of-this-world landscapes.

Let's start with one of the most obvious:

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

This enormous park, 400 square miles, located in Idaho definitely has a different planet-type appearance to it. Much of the landscape basically consists of undulating black mounds with really nothing else. That's because those mounds were once made with molten lava. This area has some of the best rift cracks in the world (including the deepest on earth at 800 feet), varieties of basaltic lava, ancient tree molds and lava tubes. Within this desolate landscape, you can also see fissure vents, cones, and giant rock blocks. But in some spots, there are also wildflowers, shrubs, and trees. It's truly one of the strangest places in the National

Picnic tables with game tops can quickly become a popular place at your location for people to meet and socialize

Picnic tables can offer another benefit to the public besides a place to dine outdoors when you add this item - a game top.

When ordering a metal or concrete picnic table, consider including the game top option.

With that option, a common checkerboard (also used for chess and other games) is embedded into the steel or concrete surface.

This adds a whole new dimension to your picnic table.

For one, the game top checkerboard can be used for both chess and checkers.

In fact, there are also several other games that can be played on an 8 square by 8 square board.

They include Amazons, Chapayev, Gounki, Arimaa, Breakthrough, Crossing. Mak-yek, Makruk and of course for our celestial friends. Martian Chess.

Think of the fun a family can have after or before a meal with this checkerboard.

It gives them more of a reason to stay outdoors and in your park or at your school.

Secondly, adding

Bryce Canyon National Park. Read how you can take a "virtual hike" through this amazing landscape and four other fascinating national parks. (Source: National Park Service)

For people who are indoors but yearn to be outdoors and visit a national park, Google has teamed up with the National Park Service to give us a Virtual Guide to five fantastic, and incredibly diverse parks.

Take a hike from your computer and view stunning videos that make it appear you are actually walking on a park trail.

In these virtual tours, you walk alongside an experienced park ranger who provides a trail's eye view through five national parks along with an interesting narrative about the location.

With high-def cameras and drone footage from above, you and your mouse can climb into an ice-blue crevasse, hike through a volcanic tunnel or swim along coral reefs, all on your computer (or, if you want to be fully immersed, on your wide-screen TV).

These videos can certainly be used as a family-oriented adventure.

A few notes about the Top 20 National Parks compiled by The Park and Facilities Catalog.

There is a new park on the Top 20 list - Indiana Dunes National Park, which also happens to be a newly designated national park. As far as the Top 5 National Parks, Yellowstone bumped Yosemite back one spot for the fifth position. This year for the first time we added the total visitor numbers from the prior year so you can see the change from one year to the next. Unfortunately for Sequoia National Park, it was knocked off the list with the addition of Indian Dunes National Park. If you are interested in reviewing more park visitor data, check out this National Park Service page.

We hope you enjoy our list and photos for each park. Pass it on to family and friends!

A park bench at a pocket park located at The Episcopal School in Dallas. (Photo by staff photographer)

There's a movement going on in urban and suburban areas to bring parks closer to residents, improve unsightly abandoned lots and help people socialize.

They are called "Pocket Parks."

The concept is a simple one and so is the process to build one.

All it takes is some dedicated citizens, assistance from the local parks and recreation department, donors and some elbow grease.

But the rewards can be plentiful.

Pocket parks are small, but benefits are huge

To get people fired up about the idea, let's start with the benefits of pocket parks:

Transforms a vacant lot, perhaps an eyesore, into a beautiful, relaxing place to gather. Improves surrounding property values. (The High Line in New York has generated billions in higher property values and new development. And that park is very narrow in places and built on abandoned elevated train tracks). Adds a visible amenity to the neighborhood,

Dog park equipment makes your dog park a fun place to hang out and get exercise. See our promotion below on how to receive a FREE DOGGIE FIRE HYDRANT (pictured above) with the purchase of a Dog Agility Kit

In its annual survey of park professionals conducted by Recreation Management magazine, dog parks continue to rank high for scheduled improvements.

The survey is conducted by the magazine every year and asks park and recreation managers about such topics as budget increases, expected park participation and scheduled projects.

Here's the list of the Top 10 planned projects on average and the percentage of park managers who reported they will be working on these projects:

Splash parks - 25.6% Dog parks - 22.4% Playgrounds - 21.6% Fitness trails and outdoor fitness equipment 21% Park restroom structures - 18.7% Walking and hiking trails - 18.4% Park shelters - 18.1% Synthetic turf sports fields - 16.7% Bike trails - 15.5% Disco golf courses - 12.6%

What's interesting, is that Dog Parks have

The Park and Facilities Catalog offers a large selection of ADA picnic tables

Inclusiveness is a major theme today with any park or facility and when it comes to site furnishings, supplying ADA picnic tables is a very simple solution and process.

For one, the Americans with Disabilities Act has provided guidelines to make picnic tables ADA compliant.

The American with Disabilities Act was enacted 1990 by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush

The legislation was written to help protect people with disabilities from being discriminated against in the workplace.

In addition, facilities are required to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled members of the public.

Here are some suggestions when it comes to picnic tables at your park, restaurant, fairgrounds, hotel or other facilities.

ADA picnic tables also are available with seat cut-outs

ADA Picnic Table requirements

Here are a few of their criteria:

Height - surface height cannot be lower than 28 inches or higher

Portable bleachers can easily be towed from one area to another

When you oversee a facility with a large number of events, especially different types, Portable Bleachers can be a great solution.

That's the case with the Hardy Murphy Coliseum in Ardmore, OK.

This structure holds events, from rodeo to livestock shows, lasting from one day to several days, for 48 weeks out of the year.

That's a busy arena.

Portable bleachers at the Hardy Murphy Coliseum in Ardmore, OK

To provide adequate spectator seating in addition to their current grandstands, the coliseum purchased two 5-row portable bleachers from The Park and Facilities Catalog.

"We need them to be moved from one arena to another arena," said Jeff Storms, general manager.

That's the great advantage of this type of aluminum bleachers. They provide versatility to facilities such as this one that hosts everything from cutting horse competitions to futurities, rodeos, roping events, and actual horse and pony shows.

With portable bleachers,

Construction has started on the "Tunnel Tops" park which will be built above a former roadway along the water in San Francisco. (Art from Presidio Trust, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

In clever reuse of urban space, a 14-acre park will be built in San Francisco near the water over two freeway tunnels within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The $110 million project will include thousands of native plants, trees, meadows, trails, gardens plus a community plaza and youth education center. It is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

The project called Tunnel Tops, is part of the popular Presidio area, which is a former military base overlooking the bay and Golden Gate Bridge.

Tunnel Tops is another park project in a similar vein as the famous HighLine in NYC, the Beltline in Atlanta or the just started Underline in Miami.

All of these projects make clever use of existing space in the middle of urban environments.

The Tunnel Tops park is being built on tunnels that were constructed to

Golden Gate Park (center) in San Francisco, where the first "tweet" was sent. (Photo by Hispalois)

Few people know this, but for all the time techies spend indoors in cubicles, the first test Tweet was actually sent from a park.

That's the story told by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

In 2000, the young coder lived in San Francisco and had developed a program that let him repost an email to as many people as he wanted.

To try it out, he went for a walk in the famous Golden Gate Park. The park actually covers more than 1000 acres. But what's unusual about the terrain is that the land originally consisted of sand dunes.

There are other weird facts about the park.

For example, bison live there. That's correct, right in the middle of the city. The buffalo graze in a meadow to represent the original herds that frequented the park. Other animals that once lived there include caribou, antelope, moose, and coyotes. (Some coyotes still frequent the park).

First tweet in history sent from Golden State

How the first dog park was founded and how it led to a boom in doggie playgrounds across the US

Few people know that when they are at play in a dog park, there was one woman, Doris Richard, who played a major role in the development of places for canines to play in America.

In fact, Doris was the founder of what is considered the first city dog park - Ohlone Dog Park in Berkeley, CA.

The first dog park had an interesting start.

The area chosen for the dog park was initially a vacant piece of land that remained after the construction of a BART subway station.

BART planned to use the land for residences. But a group of activists took over the property and called it "The People's Park Annex."

Part of the "People's Park" was used as an off-leash area where dogs could play.

Doris was instrumental in gathering petitions, working with the animal control workers and approaching city officials about officially designating the area for dogs.

City officials were skeptical at first. It's understandable,

Wooden picnic tables and the advantages of using pressure-treated planks

Wooden Picnic Tables, especially new ones or those in good shape, are an inviting sight when families go to the park for an afternoon.

Now is the time to consider ordering new wooden picnic tables to be ready for the spring, summer and fall seasons.

For best results, use commercial-grade wooden planks that are pressure-treated by experts.

Pressure-treated wood is the same tough material you see used for docks, boat pilings, and decks.

Wooden picnic tables undergo pressure-treatment for durability

Some of the advantages of this process when it comes to picnic tables are:

Insect, Fungus and Moisture Resistance: wood in its natural state tends to break down very quickly, especially when water seeps into the fibers. This creates an environment for bacteria and fungus. With pressure-treated wood, a preserving compound is forced with intense pressure deep into the wood grain. This chemical compound resists fungus, bacteria,

There are many free items available for visitors to our National Parks, including several days when admission fees are waived. Great Smoky Mountain National Park photo courtesy of National Park Service

If your resolution this year is to spend more time off the couch and on a park bench or hiking in our national parks, here are some free goodies that might keep you motivated in 2020.

Let's start with free admission.

Every year, the National Park Service issues a list of days when entrance fees are waived. This is for 110 parks that charge admission. There is no admission fee for the other 309 national park sites.

Free admission days at our National Parks

This year the free days are:

Martin Luther King Day - Jan. 20. First day of National Park Week - April 18. National Park Service Birthday - Aug. 25 National Public Lands Day - Sept. 26 Veterans Day - Nov. 11

Park fees vary. But when you consider the savings of bringing an entire family to a park, well, that savings can add up.

Go the NPS.gov

 

Interesting quotes about parks and the joy of relaxing on a park bench

Few things in life are as great as a local or national park. Parks offer a respite from the world of traffic jams, office cubicles and artificial light. They give humans a way to reconnect and recharge with nature which is in our DNA. And they belong to each and every one of us.

Here are a few of our favorite quotes about parks. Pass them on and be sure to support your local parks department and the National Park Service.

"If you have found a quiet bench in a quiet park and sat down, be sure you had a very profitable day!" ― Mehmet Murat ildan "I fell for a girl who reminded me of the park benches where I've spent hours writing about love and sadness." ― Nitya Prakash "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." - John Muir "Any day spent in a national park is a good day." - Chris Nicholson "At

The National Park Service oversees the installation of the National Christmas Tree and the lighting ceremony. (NPS photo

Many people might not know this but one of the duties of the National Park Service, in addition to taking care of ALL 419 of our wonderful national parks, is to oversee the National Christmas Tree.

The massive tree is located in the Ellipse at President's Park near the White House South Lawn.

The park is outside the White House fence and in an open area accessible by the public. It's free for the public to visit the tree.

This year, the tree is a 30-foot Colorado Spruce from Palmyra, PA. In addition, there are 56 smaller trees surrounding the big tree. They are adorned with some very unique one-of-a-kind ornaments.  These are not store-bought ornaments. They were created by students across the country.

Those trees are meant to represent every state, territory in the US, including the District of Columbia.

The National Park Service worked with the US Department of Education