The website that guides visitors to 90,000 sites on federal lands such as national parks, wildlife refuges, waterways, forests and recreation areas, recreation.gov, has a new design. It includes improved navigation tools and expanded content.
The redesign is the first step in a multi-year strategy to engage visitors with enhanced interactive content and more multimedia, mobile, trip-planning tools, said a Department of Interior news release. The 7 million visitors who use the website every year will be able to make reservations, see ready-made itineraries for destination cities, and search for activities on an interactive map.
Among the updates:
“Explore Trip Ideas”: The website now offers trip ideas with interactive maps to help visitors discover points of interest on public lands when planning trips to popular destination cities such as Denver, Las Vegas or San Francisco.
“Go Lists”: Created to encourage people to get active outdoors, this page provides highlights of places to go, events, and activities at federal sites across the country with topics including “Day Hikes for Weekend Warriors” and “Civil War 150th Anniversary: Places and Events that Shaped Our Nation.”
“Discover Great American Adventures”: These are more in-depth articles and destination spotlights that feature a wide variety of experiences and adventures found only in America.
The website update is a joint initiative between federal agency partners including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
July visitation
Mount Rainier
July 2012: 240,019
July 2011: 243,791
Difference: -1.5 percent
Year to date 2012: 484,508
Year to date 2011: 451,580
Difference: 7.3 percent
The park saw a slight dip in it visitation count last month, typically the second-busiest of the year. July’s count was the lowest since 2007, when there were 231,630 recreational visits. The year-to-date difference dropped from 18.4 percent in June to just under 7.5 percent last month.
Olympic
July 2012: 527,598
July 2011: 514,487
Difference: 2.5 percent
Year to date 2012: 1,406,050
Year to date 2011: 1,496,504
Difference: -6 percent
Last month was the best July visitation count since 2003 when there were 538,942 visits. The jump over last July was driven by increased counts in the Hoh (up 39.8 percent) and Quinault (up 86.5 percent) districts. Summer slowdown
While it seems like the wildflowers have just reached their peak, some operations at Mount Rainier National Park are close to shutting down or reducing hours.
Here is a look at some of the key changes.
Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center: Hours will be 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Sept. 2 and then 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through Oct. 8.
Paradise Camp Deli and Gift Shop: Summer hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Sept. 2.
Longmire General Store: Summers hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. daily through Sept. 2.
Ohanapecosh Visitor Center: Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through Sept. 2 and then 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Oct. 8.
Sunrise Visitor Center: Open daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through Sept. 3, when it closes for the season.
Sunrise Day Lodge: Open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily until Sept. 3, when it closes for the season.
Go to nps.gov/mora for a complete list of operating hours and seasons.
Staff report
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