That's me atop Baxter's Pinnacle in Grand Teton National Park, my favorite of our country's sacred spaces.
Photo: Exum Mountain Guide Brian P. Harder

by Brook Wilkinson

There's no such thing as a free ride, unless you're headed to a national park on Saturday, September 29. On that day only, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees to all of its parks, in celebration of National Public Lands Day. That'll save you as much as $25 per car load, the fee at popular parks like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon.

Of course, the real point of the holiday is for all of us to help preserve what's left of the U.S.'s natural beauty, and to that end you can join a group of volunteers helping to pull weeds, pick up trash, detail trails, and do myriad other good deeds at thousands of spots around the country. If you volunteer, you'll get a free one-day pass good for any national park, to be used at your leisure.

Either way, plan to get outside on September 29. It's a great reminder to us all that some of the most beautiful travel destinations are just a car ride away.

The prime piece in Rudyard, Montana's Depot Museum is a fully articulated Gryposaurus found nearby. A cast of the skeleton, shown roped off here, is on display while the original is prepared in Bozeman's Museum of the Rockies.

by Brook Wilkinson

I happened upon a fantastic nugget of Americana while I was in Montana last week (to find out what the primary focus of my trip was, you'll have to read Conde Nast Traveler's December issue): the Depot Museum in tiny Rudyard. It's quite an impressive collection that this town of just 300 inhabitants has put together. Since the area's most recent claim to fame is the dinosaur bones that have been found there, the main room houses several fossils (some of which you can actually touch) and models, many of which were donated by the world-renowned Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. There are also two rooms full of nicknacks donated by members of the community; does anyone recognize that strange contraption in the corner?

For the answer, read on.

Rockies expert Caroline Bach Wood and me hiking near Bozeman, Montana on Thursday, June 14, 2007.

by Brook Wilkinson

I just got back from an assignment in Montana which for now I must keep secret: You'll have to wait for Conde Nast Traveler's December issue to find out what I was investigating up in the badlands near Rudyard (even Montanans that I talked to hadn't heard of Rudyard). For now, though, I can share a few tips for anyone traveling to Bozeman and Yellowstone this summer, especially if they love to hike.

When I found out I'd have some free time in Bozeman, I called up Caroline Bach Wood, of Sterling Brownell Travel, the Rockies expert on Conde Nast Traveler's list of the world's best travel planners. (Don't believe us? See what this reader had to say about Caroline!) She took me on an easy hike that I'd recommend to anyone else passing through Bozeman. We drove to the Hyalite Creek trailhead in the Gallatin National Forest, a route that took us past the Hyalite Reservoir: