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National Park Week is under way – pack the car and drive to a Park near you!

April 21 kicked off National Park Week, which  lasts until April 29. What better way to launch the camping/hiking season than to spend a week in one of our nation’s 397 national parks?

The week is the National Park Service’s way of giving all Americans a chance to get active, while experiencing the amazing places that make up the National Park System – for free! National Park Week is an opportunity to celebrate one of the best aspects of America: the 84 million acres of spectacular scenery, historic landmarks and cultural treasures that make up the National Park System.

Photo of Glacier National Park courtesy Bill Bouton photostream on Flickr.

Check out the National Park Week web site for tons of great information: Parks Near You provides links to every Park in each state; Events gives the low-down on the celebratory happenings; and you can also download a National Park Week Pocket Guide to throw in your car before you hit the highway. Also check out the Los Angeles Times’ list of free national park apps for your smartphone for more on-the-go tools.

The National Park Service home page also has tons of great photos and multi-media to learn more about our Parks, from podcasts and web cam footage, to movies and cool interactive videos, like this one about the seagrass habitat found in the Everglades, “The Secret Garden." Great stuff for kids – and adults, too – to get you amped on your visit.

– Christine Rasmussen