Category: National Parks

National Parks, Publications

Kids’ guide to Rocky makes Reading the West short list

by Julie Lue

Child's backpack with maps and copy of What I Saw in Rocky Mountain National Park

Wherever you are, I hope this finds you well, and that you have a chance to spend time outdoors safely.

I have a bit of good news on my end. My latest book, What I Saw in Rocky: a Kid’s Guide to the National Park, has made the short list for the Reading the West Book Awards in the Young Readers category.

These awards are sponsored by the Mountains and Plains Independent Bookseller Association, which represents member bookstores in 12 western and mid-western states. The next step in the awards process is a public vote. To participate in the vote, or pick up ideas on what to read next, please visit the awards website. This is also a good time to remember you may purchase books online from many independent bookstores, which could really use the business right now.

Many national parks, including Rocky Mountain, are currently closed due to the covid-19 pandemic. But if you are a planner and find yourself with time on your hands (I know–something health care workers, first responders, and other essential workers can only dream of) you may find some consolation in researching a future visit to one of the parks. I like checking out Rocky’s webcams (one summer, I lived a few hundred yards away from the Beaver Meadows location). It makes me feel a little better knowing that although the gates are closed, the park is still there, the animals are fine, and eventually, when our world returns to some approximation of normal, we can visit again.

 

National Parks

In Rocky, weather matters

by Julie Lue

 

Trail Ridge Road Snowplowing
Courtesy National Park Service

In Rocky Mountain National Park, winter has been especially slow to leave the high country this year. Spring snowstorms have been interfering with efforts to plow Trail Ridge Road, the scenic highway that crosses the park. The National Park Service is doing its best to clear the road, which in other years generally has opened around Memorial Day. But for now it remains closed, with no predictions about an opening date (check current road conditions here). Visitors can still access lower parts of the park on both the east (Estes Park) and west (Grand Lake) sides, though traveling from one side to the other, until the road opens, requires a much longer drive that loops around outside the park.

This is just one more reminder that when you visit a place like Rocky Mountain National Park (“Rocky,” for short), weather matters. Rocky is a high-elevation park, with about a third, including the upper parts of Trail Ridge Road, rising above treeline. Some of the park’s trails and backcountry campsites don’t fully melt out until early July. And once heavy snows recede, weather conditions can still change rapidly, sometimes even temporarily closing Trail Ridge Road. Temperatures drop, and thunderstorms bounce lightning around the peaks. As you travel throughout the park, you may essentially encounter multiple seasons in a single day.

So what does this mean if you are planning to visit the park? First of all, you should know that all these different conditions and elevations have created an amazing diversity of wildlife, wildflowers, and spectacular mountain scenery. But second of all, you probably should do a little reading. Though I’m quite proud of my children’s book, What I Saw in Rocky Mountain: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park, it can’t pack everything into its 48 pages.

For weather, road, and safety information, I recommend you go straight to the source, the National Park Service, at www.nps.gov/romo. The current park newspaper has a useful description of weather patterns and what to bring for your visit to the park, and you can find other great resources on this page of downloadable brochures. Once you arrive at the park, check the weather forecast and plan your days accordingly. Maybe you can even pick up a copy of my book, What I Saw in Rocky Mountain!

And please, please, please, don’t let your kids play on steep snowfields. During your visit, ask rangers where you might find safer places to play in the snow.

I hope you have a fun and safe visit to the park. It’s truly one of my favorite places anywhere.

 

National Parks, Publications

Kids’ Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park

by Julie Lue

It’s out! My latest children’s book, What I Saw in Rocky Mountain: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park, was just released by Riverbend Publishing. The book is available directly from Riverbend, as well as from Indiebound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. It will be available at local bookstores later this spring.

Like other books in this series, What I Saw in Rocky Mountain highlights some of the animals, plants, and places families are most likely to see during their visit to the park. Each section provides a kid-friendly description, detailed “where to see it” advice (though animals don’t always cooperate!), and a place to record sightings and experiences. Researching the fun “guess what?” facts sprinkled throughout the book was one of the best parts for me. Below I’ve given a peek inside the book, showing some of my favorite bighorn sheep pics by photographer Christopher Cauble. 

Rocky Mountain National Park is an amazing place; it’s hard to beat the park’s special combination of wildlife, scenery, trails, and tundra. And as long as you pay attention to safety (including weather!), it’s a great place to take kids of all ages and abilities. But it pays to plan ahead when visiting busy national parks like “Rocky.” You can find trip-planning information at the park’s website: www.nps.gov/romo.

National Parks

Kids’ events at the High Plains Bookfest

by Julie Lue

The High Plains Bookfest is coming up soon, with events taking place at various venues in Billings, Montana October 18-20 (complete schedule here).

If you have kids, please bring them along to the Billings Public Library at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 20 for a fun introduction to Glacier and Grand Teton national parks. Ellen Horowitz and I will be sharing our children’s books from Riverbend Publishing’s What I Saw series–Ellen’s What I Saw in Glacier: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park, and my What I Saw in Grand Teton: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park.

From noon to 2 p.m., This House of Books is hosting a High Plains Tea and Dessert Reception for children and children’s book authors. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone there.

 

National Parks, Publications

High Plains Book Awards finalist

by Julie Lue

HighPlainsBookAward

I had a nice surprise this week. What I Saw in Grand Teton: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park has been chosen as a finalist in the children’s category for the High Plains Book Awards!

I will be releasing another book in this series next spring.

National Parks, Publications

Grand Canyon guide for kids

by Julie Lue

About 90 percent of Grand Canyon National Park’s visitors head to the South Rim, the most accessible area of the park’s 1.2 million acres. But even here, it can be hard to know where to start, especially when traveling with children. I kept that in mind when writing What I Saw in Grand Canyon: A Kid’s Guide to the South Rim, which is illustrated with photographs by Christopher Cauble (available through Amazon and Riverbend Publishing). Many families have just a short time to visit the canyon. Where do you go? What opportunities are there for kids? How can you help your children make sense of this vast place?

What I Saw in Grand Canyon offers a sampler of many of the things families are most likely to see during their visit to the South Rim, as well as recommendations for easy walks and hikes. The book’s fun checklist format provides space for kids to record their own sightings while they learn about the park’s geology, wildlife, plants, and history. Back at home, they can use the book to share their Grand Canyon visit with family and friends.

The book, illustrated with photos by Christopher Cauble, is now on sale at Riverbend Publishing and on Amazon. It will soon be available at local bookstores.

I hope What I Saw in Grand Canyon will prove to be a good companion for you and your family on your Grand Canyon journey. May you have a safe, enjoyable, and unforgettable visit to the South Rim.

National Parks, Publications, Wildlife

Free download: companion activities for What I Saw in Grand Teton

by Julie Lue

Schwabacher Landing, © 2016 Julie Lue.

If you are a teacher or homeschooler looking for ways to extend What I Saw in Grand Teton: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park, here are a few activity ideas for you. My thanks to third-grade teacher Suzy Miller for “Safe Space”–a fun way to teach important lessons for kids living in or visiting areas with potentially dangerous wildlife.

National Parks, Publications, Wildlife

New kids’ book about Grand Teton National Park

by Julie Lue


I’m excited to announce the release of What I Saw in Grand Teton: A Kid’s Guide to the National Park on  April 1 (available through Amazon and Riverbend Publishing). I wrote the text and Christopher Cauble provided the many beautiful photographs.

Our book offers a sampler of many of the animals, plants, and places families are likely to see on a trip to the park, as well as space for children to record their own sightings. It also includes fun facts on everything from ranger hats to earthquakes. The wildlife “Guess what?” sections are some of my favorites. Did you know that bluebird feathers aren’t really blue? Or that the pronghorn’s closest living relatives are not antelope? (Hint: They are found in Africa and can grow up to 19 feet tall.) I liked digging into the research to find surprising details even about common species.

After spending a fair amount of time in the Tetons as a kid, I enjoyed reconnecting with the park and learning more about its history and incredible diversity of wildlife and plants.  The book provides a fun guide for kids visiting Grand Teton National Park, and I hope it will spark an interest in wildlife and natural areas for at least a few of them.

Essay, National Parks, Wildlife

Gone to the chipmunks

by Julie Lue

Above the Alpine Visitor Center, Rocky Mountain National Park,
Above the Alpine Visitor Center, Rocky Mountain National Park, © 2016 Julie Lue

I spent most of my twenties working for the National Park Service, and I lived in a wide variety of government housing, including several shabby but appealing old houses where the wild creatures outnumbered human inhabitants.  Sometimes I wondered, lying awake at night, how many hearts beat inside those walls. With all that lovely national park habitat protected for their use, why did the animals need to live in my house? Or my office?

My latest essay in the Christian Science Monitor, “The indoor wilds at outdoor parks,” revisits my experiences with wild (non-human!) roommates and officemates in Rocky Mountain National Park. At the time, they were considered annoying but not dangerous. Attitudes changed dramatically when hantavirus came on the scene, and suddenly those cute, non-housebroken deer mice became a threat. When I moved on to Canyonlands National Park, I found that every effort had been made to seal off my double-wide from four-footed intruders. These efforts mostly worked (and later employees moved into rodent-free new housing). But somehow a packrat still managed to chew its way through the floor and drown itself in my toilet. I’m not even going to get started about my coworkers’ experiences with skunks and scorpions.

About the visitor center in the story . . . the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center was designed by Taliesin Associated Architects, Frank Lloyd Wright’s firm, after Wright’s death. Working there, I always thought the building was a bit of an oddball. But in my defense, I had previously worked out of a fort and a log cabin. I recently revisited the building while researching a children’s book I am writing about the park. I think I get it now, at least a little.