Photo: aarp.org
Shenandoah National Park

The September 2020 newsletter focuses on the Shenandoah National Park, and this piece covers the online places you can go, which are many! Please explore!

Phase Three: What You Need to Know
This page of the Shenandoah National Park site gives you all the information you need to know about parking, campgrounds, Visitor Centers, Concession Services, Picnic Grounds, hiking, and what to do to stay safe. 

History & Culture
From here, you can learn about the amazing history of this area and the cultures that impacted and were impacted by the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley. You can link from this page to learn about the variety of People, Places, Stories, Perspectives on the history, and Collections.

Collections
On the Collections page, you can link to see many historical photo galleries. A few examples of photo galleries to enjoy are the CCC, Early Log Construction, Early Park, FDR, Former Mountain Residents, and Early Trail Construction. What a great way to take a trip back in time!

Nature
There is so much nature to enjoy in the SNP! Tens of thousands of animals, from large to tiny. So many unique elements of nature–varied geology and many ecosystems; water that supports aquatic animals; some endangered; flora and fauna from morels to White Oaks to the rare purple fringeless orchid.

Animals
From this page, you can find abundant information about all the animals in the SNP. There are links where you can find detailed information and pics on over 50 mammal species, 190 bird species, over 40 fish species, 20 reptile and amphibian species, and countless insects, spiders, and other invertebrates.

Wildlife Safety
Too many people go hiking without knowing the basics of safety. As Master Naturalists not only do we have more training than many but also we are expected to have more training. However, many times that training may focus on First Aid, what to do when you get lost, how to manage a group, etc. This area of the SNP’s site is for wildlife safety, which is always good to know or refresh yourself on.

Photos & Multimedia
 This page is the launching page for many great areas, which are listed below. 

Interactive Features
The Interactive Features area offers short films and web-based interactives exploring issues about the SNP. For example, there is a virtual field trip about the air quality of the SNP and a docuvideo of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps).

Flickr Albums
SNP Flickr Albums are full of albums of photos. The difference between these photos and the photos in the Collections area is that the Flickr page contains more current photos in general and the Collections page has more historical photos.   

Photo Gallery
Honestly, I’m not sure what the difference is from this Photo Gallery and the Collections and Flickr Albums. There are some duplicate photos in this Gallery from the Collections and Flickr Albums and a few new ones. But overall, it doesn’t have as many photos as the other photo pages.    

Videos
Most of these videos are informative, focusing on the history of, the climate around, or first-timers to the SNP.

Webcams
If you work from home, work mostly at a computer, or just like to what’s going on in other places, check out this page for SNP’s webcams. For example, check out several Big Meadows webcams, which are at a high elevation, pointed at a beautiful meadow, and frequently visited by many animals. 

Virtual Ranger Programs
The Virtual Ranger Programs are videos of interesting and informative topics–not just for kids! For example, learn about fireflies and how we are affecting them. Videos are continually uploaded so check back often!

Virtual Tours
This page offers different virtual tours: exhibits and historic buildings of the SNP.