National Parks Experts Teach Us to Examine Our Yards, Parks, and Houseplants
Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller’s fantastic new book, Scenic Science of the National Parks, gives explorers a new way to examine the natural world. It’s a guide that invites park-lovers to peel back the many layers of our landscape to find the lesser-known flora, fauna, and geological formations that surround us. While the national parks are off limits for now, Emily and Maygen (who also lead Atlas Obscura’s trip Desert Astronomy: Canyonlands & Arches) are here to share some tips for exploring nature from home.
Many of us are getting very familiar with the views from our windows. Are there any observation or learning techniques we can use while indoors?
The same things that make for good observation skills in wild landscapes—looking closely and training yourself to notice details— work just as well in your backyard and your living room. Paying attention to little shifts and how conditions change over time is something that can teach you a lot— and right now, like it or not, most of us are in the same place nearly all the time. So start observing! Name the colors in each room as the light changes. Or start an experiment involving playing classical music to your house plants for 20 minutes a day. What species of tree is outside your window? What kinds of bird song can you hear? Once you actually start to take notice of what’s around you, you’ll find all sorts of things to explore.
What about while walking through our neighborhood green spaces?
Now is a great time to get familiar with the species of trees that grow in your local parks and along your streets. In many parts of the country, trees are starting to leaf out and the first flowers of the season are up. That’s a great time to try your hand at some tree identification. Challenge yourself to think of your neighborhood as part of the natural world— it is after all! Find out what plants and animals make up your local ecosystem. Have you ever looked at what kind of moss and lichen grow on the trees near you? There are little things to explore everywhere!
Two pieces of equipment you recommend in your book are binoculars and a magnifying glass for seeing small details on plants and rocks. How do I use this equipment on the rocks and trees in my yard, or on my houseplants?
Grab your loupe or magnifying glass and go to town on the plants, your furniture, your snacks, and anything (or anyone!) else you can get to sit still long enough to get a good gander at! Looking closely at anything is usually a gateway to cool sights and more questions. Dive in! Binoculars are another great tool for honing your ability to look. You can use binoculars to get a good look at tree leaves that are too high up to ID from the sidewalk or at bird’s nest, or even a real freaking bird. This time of year is great for birds, especially for those of you who live along migration routes—binoculars are great for observing those winged little dinosaurs. And you can use them to look at the night sky too! A good pair of binoculars is as good or even better than most small telescopes.
For the time being, armchair travel is our soundest portal to the world. What are your favorite resources for enjoying the national parks from home?
One of the bright sides of this awful situation is the real boom in online content aimed at helping folks armchair travel. Google has a couple cool initiatives aimed at letting viewers explore the park that are worth checking out and many individual parks are taking matters into their own hands as well. Yellowstone has been posting virtual junior ranger activities and they even issued a ‘virtual visitor passport stamp.’ Pandemically charming! Lots of webcams have gone up recently too. If there is a park that’s calling your name, hop onto their social media and see what’s up. Lastly, this is a great time to do some learning about the historic and modern Native groups associated with the locations of your favorite parks. If we truly want to respect and celebrate these landscapes, we need to involve the people that have stewarded them for millennia.
Scenic Science of the National Parks centers around storytelling, and the endless stories unfolding across the parks. Have you uncovered any surprising stories about your own local landscapes?
I (Maygen) have been interested in the geology of my town (Minneapolis) after learning so much in the parks. It’s fascinating to be able to visit parks in the area and see evidence of glaciation, including glacial erratics, which are massive, seemingly out of place boulders that look like they were plopped there by heavy machinery. In fact, they were brought down from northern Minnesota and Canada by glaciers, and when the glaciers retreated (melted), erratics were left behind. It’s also been fun to learn about which lakes were man-made or modified and which have been here for thousands of years.
As a dedicated New York City dweller, I (Emily) delight in experiencing the natural side of my city. There are hundreds of thousands of trees along nearly every stretch of sidewalk in this city (see them all on this interactive map!) and most of them are one of 20 or so species. I of course know most of the trees in my neighborhood like old friends now. Learn even a few easy tree species to ID and I guarantee your social-distance walks will get much more interesting!
By Nick Papa
I’m the editor of the Atlas Obscura trips blog. I talk to our trip leaders, travelers, and friends in the industry about how they explore the world’s wondrous places.
