Lauren Matison Crossley

One of the great joys of being a parent is getting to witness the natural world through your child’s eyes—be it seeing a bright red cardinal or a giant redwood for the first time. Somehow, sharing in their thrill of discovery never gets old.

Firings, buyouts and a lack of seasonal workers could mean jammed roads, closed campgrounds, limited hours and more. What you need to know before traveling to 10 popular parks.

Eight years ago, I became a mother and in an instant felt the collective euphoria from every mountain I’d ever climbed. Holding my beautiful baby boy for the first time, I didn’t yet fully understand what a C-section would mean for my physical and mental health.

The abrupt dismissal of at least 1,000 permanent National Park Service employees on Feb. 14 has brought a torrent of “I was fired from the N.P.S.” posts cascading down social media feeds like the luminous Yosemite firefall.

Taking the little ones to the City of Light? Here are the best family-approved activities.

A 45-minute train ride south of Amsterdam, Rotterdam harbors a gleaming modern landscape with fewer tourists and a palpable creative energy. The city, home to Europe’s largest port, recently announced plans to transform itself over the next decade into a world-class cultural center. The renaissance is already well underway in the waterfront Katendrecht neighborhood, where the new 65,000-square-foot Fenix museum, devoted to global stories of migration and rebirth through art, will open in May in a 1923 warehouse.

For years, Detroit was associated with urban decline, but today it is showing remarkable signs of renewal. The biggest addition looms large above the Detroit River — the 1.5-mile Gordie Howe International Bridge will be North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge when it opens in the fall, connecting motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to Windsor, Ontario, and the Trans Canada Trail.

At 20, before he was “the father of modern art,” Paul Cézanne was composing murals in the living room of his family’s estate, Jas de Bouffan, on the western outskirts of Aix-en-Provence, in southern France. The artist spent 40 years at this 18th-century manor house, which reopens this summer after a four-year renovation. Declaring 2025 the Year of Cézanne, Aix-en-Provence invites visitors to tour Jas de Bouffan, where the artist created works like “The Card Players,” and view a newly discovered nautical fresco.

Visiting the Berkshires, the sprawling Massachusetts region of deeply connected communities, feels like being let in on a secret. Of course, this slice of rural paradise is hardly off the radar.

Additional routes in popular parks now require reservations, the annual pass gets a big change, Juneteenth is now a new free entrance day and more changes for 2024.

From the Columbia River Gorge to the Chesapeake Bay, these retreats provide educational and volunteer experiences for travelers not only wanting to reconnect with nature, but to give back.

I couldn’t wait to become an Adventure Mom, planning family camping trips and taking my kid on favorite hikes. When the moment finally arrived nearly eight years ago, and I ventured to the kids section of my local Patagonia store, I was not prepared for how overwhelming the shopping experience would be and how quickly my budget would shatter, making the dream of summits with my son feel out of reach.

When young explorers hit the trail with their joyful curiosity, parents are prepared for the occasional skinned knee or “carry me!” demand, but perhaps not the worst case scenario. Even if the hike is short or familiar or seemingly straightforward, things could go awry in an instant despite our best efforts. Practice these survival tactics together before your next hike or backpacking trip.

As electric vehicles take off, one convert discovers the joys of the Berkshires while never once stopping for gas.

On the North Fork of Long Island, glasses are clinking to 50 years since a young couple planted the first commercial vines in the region. Today, with more than 40 North Fork vineyards producing award-winning merlots, sauvignon blancs, and cabernet francs, the 30-mile-long peninsula at the eastern end of the island, in New York, is also abuzz with new women-owned businesses.