National Parks Traveler: Listening To Nature In National Parks

National parks offer a variety of treasures: spectacular views, scenic trails and waterways and vast ecosystems of plants and wildlife. And what would these things be without accompanying soundscapes -- wind howling through a canyon on a scorching afternoon… or the "wall-of-sound" created by insects as soon as the sun sets… or birds singing so loudly outside your tent, they wake you up before you really wanted to wake up. For natural sound, too, is a treasure, and like many other aspects of the national parks affected by too much human activity.