National Park After Dark

The Mountain That Moves: The Frank Slide Disaster

04 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In April of 1903, Turtle Mountain fell. Long known by indigenous nations to be dangerous, the town of Frank built at its base and mined into its sides...

The Incarcerated Women Fighting California’s Fires: Santa Monica National Recreation Area

27 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Across California, incarcerated women are sent to the frontlines of wildfires, risking their lives for a chance at reduced sentences and a small paych...

Trail Tales 92 ft. National Park Trust

23 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Aylish and Annaliese from the National Park Trust! They speak to us about all the wonderful programs the NPT facilitates whil...

The Murder of Bianca Rudolph: Kafue National Park

20 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In October 2016, Bianca Rudolph was killed while on a hunting trip with her husband Larry in Kafue National Park. Initially reported as an accidental ...

Acadia National Park, Just Skip It! ft. Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Acadia, it’s just not for everyone! Today we are joined by sibling hosts Christine and Xandy Schiefer of Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet to visit so...

Trail Tales 90

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include silent fury, collecting clouds, Titanic misses, cougar snacks, haunted Maine, and late night cheesy bread. Outsiders Only bo...

The Bravest Little Dog in Alaska: Glacier Bay National Park

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the summer of 1880, John Muir set out to explore the icy wilderness of what is now Glacier Bay National Park. Traveling by canoe with a missionary ...

The Questionable Death of Duncan MacPherson: Stubai Alps

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In August of 1989, 23 year-old Duncan MacPherson vanished from a ski resort in Austria. His parents relentlessly and fruitlessly sought answers for 14...

Trail Tales 90 ft. Rangers of the Lost Park

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories all have a theme - rangers! We are joined by former US Forest Service field ranger Liz Crandall to chat between the tales about the ...

A Deadly Uprising. Manzanar National Historic Site

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

During World War II, the United States government rounded up over 120,000 Japanese Americans, most of whom were U.S. citizens, and sent them to remote...

A Sit Down With a Psychic

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode is unlike any other we have done before! We will be speaking to Alissa Smith Moore, an evidential medium and spiritual intuitive. Sh...

Trail Tales 89

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include survival of the fittest, mistaken identities, mythical rangers, badass advocates and legendary names. Outsiders Only bonus s...

Killed for a Kiss: Appalachian Trail

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In May of 1988 a young couple set out for a weekend of alone time in the woods, but only one would make it out alive. After being viciously gunned dow...

358: Abandoned in the Arctic: Northeast Greenland National Park

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1900s, explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen and a young mechanic named Iver Iversen traveled to northeast Greenland. Their mission? To recover the lo...

357: Trail Tales 88 ft. Creeps and Crimes

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include haunted cabins, fake moose, symbolic dragonflies, probable alien abductions and a whole lot of yapping. Outsiders Only bonu...

356: Haunted Highway: Route 66

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Established in 1926 as one of America’s OG highways, Route 66 linked over 2,000 miles of the country from Illinois to California. Although long sin...

355: What Happened to Sophia Koetsier? Murchison Falls National Park

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In October of 2015, 21 year old Dutch medical student Sophia Koetsier vanished inside Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, a place with strong ri...

354: Trail Tales 87

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include drug smuggling, lightning trauma, beaver attacks, childhood confessions and dirtbag dads. Outsiders Only bonus stories avai...

353: Access to Adventure: Accessibility in National Parks

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We hear “the outdoors are for everyone” a lot, and while that is true, accessibility to the outdoors is not always created equal. Today’s episo...

352: The National Forest Serial Killer

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the mid-2000s, hikers began disappearing from national forests across the southeastern United States, with their bodies later found in remote areas...

351: Trail Tales 86

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include almost abductions, cemetery shenanigans, shared trauma and men saving (and ruining) the day. Outsiders Only bonus stories a...

350: Cheers to Five NPAD Years

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Take a stroll down memory lane as we reflect on the last five years of NPAD. Come laugh with us (and at us) while we look back on some of the memorab...

Introducing Valley of Shadows: The Devil’s Punchbowl

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Valley of Shadows is a new true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angel...

349: Into the Wild Truth: What You Didn’t Know About the McCandless Story

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ever since September of 1992, when Chris McCandless was found deceased inside a bus in remote Alaska, the story of why he chose to walk into wilderne...

348: Trail Tales 85

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include prank fails, questionable evidence, bear saviors, damned girls trips, and mountain flavored Disneyworlds. Outsiders Only bo...

347: The Cost of Survival: The Cordillera Huayhuash Reserved Zone (Part 2)

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the previous episode, a catastrophic fall high on Siula Grande forced an impossible decision. With Joe badly injured and hanging in space, Simon c...

346: The Cost of Survival: The Cordillera Huayhuash Reserved Zone (Part 1)

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

High in the Cordillera Huayhuash Reserve of the Peruvian Andes, two British climbers attempt the first ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande. The mo...

345: Trail Tales 84

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include pizza in Zion, getting stalked, mule saviors, mysterious trapezoids, and pooping lake water. Outsiders Only bonus stories av...

344: Willing to Risk Death Daily: Pony Express National Historic Trail

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Not many of us would accept a job that risked life and limb, but for a brief moment in time, young men did just that - just to carry the mail. It may ...

343: Murder or Kidnapping in a Gateway Town: New River Gorge National Park.

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fayetteville, West Virginia sits on the edge of the New River Gorge, a small Appalachian town now known as a gateway to one of America’s newest nati...

342: Trail Tales 83

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include snubbing trail magic, spider inflicted injuries, railroad watchers and unexplained orbs. Outsiders Only bonus stories availa...

341: Death on a Painted Lake: Algonquin Provincial Park

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In July of 1917 a pioneering landscape painter paddled out onto Canoe Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park and never returned. His death was initially ...

340: Death-Defying Dreams: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Grand Canyon has always been a magnet for the bold, the reckless, and the people who look at a mile-deep chasm and think... yeah, I can take that....

339: Trail Tales 82

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Trail Tales 82 - Today’s stories include cemetery tales, childhood tubing trauma almost felonies and ghostly protectors. Outsiders Only bonus storie...

338: Your Leg or Your Life: Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In November of 2024, 65 year-old Valdas Bieliauskas was on a rafting trip with a group of friends in the wilds of Tasmania when he did something we al...

337: The Fight for Native Lands: The Leonard Peltier Story. Badlands National Park

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of National Native American Heritage Month, we venture into Badlands National Park, where a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation left ...

336: Trail Tales 81

20 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include rites of passage, veiled threats, small town legends, and mysterious melodies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Pa...

335: Broken Promises, Broken Hearts: Nez Perce National Historical Park

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In June of 1877, 800 people were faced with an impossible choice - leave their home or be forcibly removed from it. What resulted was a 126 day 1,500 ...

334: Lost & Found: The Miraculous Survival of Truman C. Everts. Yellowstone National Park

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Truman Everts, a 54-year-old bureaucrat, joined the 1870 Washburn Expedition to explore Yellowstone. After becoming separated from the group, he lost ...

333: Trail Tales 80

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include wilderness tripping, formative moments, interrupting crimes and protective spirits. Outsiders Only bonus stories available f...

332: The Forgotten Winchester: Great Basin National Park

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Topping every “America’s Most Haunted” list sits The Winchester Mystery House. It’s story has been told time and time again, but do we really ...

BONUS: The Morbidly Curious Book Club x NPAD

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We have a special Halloween episode for you this month to celebrate spooky season. We’ve decided to release what would have been a subscribers only ...

331: The Death of Folklorist Robert Kirk: Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you believe in goblins and fairies? Do you believe in their the magic? Well, the Fairy Minister Reverend Robert Kirk did. In 1691 he published "The...

330: Trail Tales 79

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include haunted government housing, mystery hair, almost animal attacks, breaking the (leash) law, family trauma bonding and bad shi...

Introducing: CRIMES OF...

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Power. Fame. Obsession. Betrayal. These are more than headlines. They are the forces behind some of the most unforgettable crimes in history. Crimes O...

329: Cemeteries: Our First Public Parks

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Graveyards are often portrayed as eerie, haunted places. Today, they’re depicted as places of fear and sorrow, where the living rarely go. But histo...

328: The Dark History of Mount Rushmore National Memorial

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Carved into the granite heart of the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore is one of America’s most recognizable (and controversial) monuments. Beneath the to...

327: Trail Tales 78

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include traumatizing rites of passage, calls for help, wedding dress ghosts, missing friends and anonymous letters. Outsiders Only b...

326: Short Life, Long Legacy: The Vision of George Meléndez Wright

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s episode is dedicated to George Meléndez Wright, the first Hispanic person to occupy a profession...

325: Never. Give. Up.: Angeles National Forest

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When a small Cessna went down in the San Gabriel Mountains in February 1979, eleven-year-old Norman Ollestad was thrust into a fight for his life. Str...

324: Trail Tales 77

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include being locked in taxidermy museums, meeting legends, lightning escapes, ghostly hikes and trolling blue butterflies. Outsider...

323: The Pablo Escobar of Eggs: Matobo National Park

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Jefferey Lendrum was a boy, he loved birds. What began as a childhood passion volunteering for an ornithology program transformed into a life of ...

Introducing: CRIME HOUSE DAILY

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Crime doesn’t take a day off. And neither does Crime House Daily. Hosted by self-defense instructor and advocate for victims, Katie Ring, Crime Hous...

322: National Park After Dark X Heart Starts Pounding

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s long awaited collaboration, we team up with Kaelyn Moore of the podcast Heart Starts Pounding. Kaelyn covers all sorts of creepy, strange...

321: Dying for the Lost City of Z: Xingu National Park

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1925 famed British explorer Percy Fawcett set out on his most ambitious journey yet — to find a legendary city hidden deep in the Amazon. At his ...

320: Trail Tales 76

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include lightning drama, peeing with friends, and choosing the bear. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Su...

319: Happy Birthday National Park Service, Not Everyone Loves You!

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today marks the NPS’s 109th birthday! In celebration (?) we pulled a few less than enthusiastic 1 star reviews of some of our favorite places. A few...

318: The Murder of Tomomi Hanamure: Grand Canyon National Park

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On May 8th, 2006 to celebrate her 34th birthday, Tomomi Hanamure laced up her hiking boots, as she had done so many times before, for an adventure. He...

317: Trail Tales 75

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include traumatizing children, urns in odd places and a day of the grizzlies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and...

316: The Wildest Woman in America: Cumberland Island National Seashore

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

She’s been called the wildest woman in America—and with good reason. Carol Ruckdeschel has wrestled alligators, dissected roadkill in the name of ...

315: NPAD Goes Lights Out: The Butcher Baker of Alaska

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode is a collaboration a long time coming! Our friends Josh and Austin of the Lights Out podcast hosted us in their studio during a rece...

314: Trail Tales 74

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include getting schmacked, stinky ghosts, victorian asylums, salty situations and rescues from beyond the grave. Outsiders Only bonu...

313: People Are Food, Too: Kakadu National Park

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Val Plumwood was an Australian philosopher, environmental activist and crocodile attack survivor. During a 1985 trip to Kakadu National park, Val was ...

The Mother of Science Fiction: Inventing Frankenstein

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week NPAD is on vacation, but as a special treat, we wanted to share an episode of our other podcast, Watch Her Cook, with you. This episode has ...

312: NPAD X Generation Why

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s exciting crossover episode we are joined by Aaron Habel from the Generation Why Podcast. We recap four of our most memorable NPAD true cr...

311: The Great Flood of 1889: Johnstown Flood National Memorial

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Editors Note and Content Warning: This episode was recorded in June before the devastating floods that took place in Texas on July 4th. Listeners sho...

310: Our Quarterly Tooth & Claw Collab

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Come for the animal stories, stay for the giggles. T&C and NPAD are reunited for another collab episode! Listen to Tooth & Claw: True Stories...

309: Trail Tales 73

03 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include small town legends, embarrassing young canoodling, haunted cheese factories, Hidebehinds and visits from the great beyond. O...

308: The Couple Who Lived and Died for Lions: Meru National Park

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

George and Joy Adamson lived for lions. After raising a cub they named Elsa and telling the world about it, they were catapulted into the center of co...

307: Our Weird and Wonderful World ft. Dylan Thuros

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Atlas Obscura began as a website and global community to catalog and celebrate the world's unusual and obscure places, stories and foods. Since 2009, ...

306: Trail Tales 72

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include debunking aliens, an outdoorsy Maya Rudolph, Hot Springs love, spooky family lore and horny birds. Outsiders Only bonus stor...

305: The Uprising ft. LGBTQ Outdoors: Stonewall National Monument

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by the founder of LGBTQ Outdoors, Justin Yoder, as we recount the story of Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Uprising.  In the ...

304: America’s Oldest Ghost Tour: Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1970s Shirley Dougherty moved to Harpers Ferry West Virginia and started experiencing strange occurrences. And she wasn’t alone. Residents we...

303: Trail Tales 71

05 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include women in STEM, chirping mountain lions, cabin guardians, simultaneous hauntings, family lore and dead dad signs. Outsiders O...

302: The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: White Mountain National Forest

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the fall of 1961, a couple driving through New Hampshire’s White Mountains encountered something no one could explain. What followed would become...

301: No More Stolen Sisters: Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the summer of 2021, the world was captivated by the story of Gabby Petito, a young woman who went missing and was later found murdered in Wyoming. ...

300: Trail Tales 70

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include life saving coolers, Fyre festival honeymoons, ripples in the space/time continuum, laughing lights, weird guys in the woods...

299: Revenge of the Tiger: Bikin National Park

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the winter of 1997 a man-eating tiger terrorized a remote village in the Russian Far East. This wasn’t a defensive attack — the tiger was hunti...

298: Robbery Gone Wrong: Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On October 11th, 1923 deep in Tunnel 13 high in the Siskiyou mountains of Oregon, four men were killed in a train robbery gone wrong. The trio respons...

297: Trail Tales 69

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include lighting strikes, protective birbs, family lore, finding yourself, poor planning and a strangely large amount of pet psychic...

296: The Deadliest Avalanche in U.S. History: Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1910 two trains became stranded in Washington’s Cascade Mountains during a record-breaking snowstorm. After six harrowing nights, a massive avala...

295: The Killing of K’iid K'yaas: Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1997 a lifelong Canadian logger had reached the end of his rope. For years, Grant Hadwin attempted to sound the alarm to the dangers of the logging...

294: Trail Tales 68

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include paranormal protectors, New Jersey karma, close calls, ghost sailors and slip and slides from hell. Outsiders Only bonus stor...

293: DDT - So Safe You Can Eat It! Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, more than 1 billion people around the world celebrate Earth Day—but decades before this global movement began, one woman laid the foundation....

292: The Conservation President and the Adventure That Almost Killed Him (Part 2)

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After over a month of a long, arduous overland journey the Roosevelt-Rondon Expedition finally reaches the waters of the River of Doubt. Their trouble...

291: Trail Tales 67

10 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include disrupting the natural order, shaming tourons, static ghosts, poop strap injuries, hauntings in Japan, Alaskan thank yous, p...

Introducing: WATCH HER COOK

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hosts Cassie and Danielle from National Park After Dark are launching a brand new podcast, Watch Her Cook! Watch Her Cook is a weekly podcast that hi...

290: The Conservation President and the Adventure That Almost Killed Him (Part 1)

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following a crushing political defeat in 1913, former president Theodore Roosevelt turned to what soothed him the most - the wild and pushing his limi...

289: The River Ladies: Grand Canyon National Park

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter changed the stereotype of women in botany when they found a love for not the delicate flowers, but the cacti w...

288: Oh, the Places You Won’t Go: Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In July of 1897, three men were carried into the sky inside a hydrogen balloon with the goal of being the first to reach the North Pole. The fate of t...

287: Trail Tales 66

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include slapping the bag, a mother’s intuition, geocaching gone wrong, being saved by spirits, synchronicities and sibling pranks....

286: Peak Danger ft. Cecilie Skog

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode we had the incredible opportunity to speak with Cecilie Skog. Cecilie has cemented her place in the world of extreme adventure spor...

285: A Love Worth Fighting For: Speaking Up For Our Public Lands

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Valentine’s Day 2025 4,400 Public Land workers were abruptly and illegally terminated from their positions and since then, news of executive orde...

284: Trail Tales 65

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include dumpster lemons, haunted marathons, national park first dates, night hippos, hero dads and being saved by science. Outsiders...

283: The Year Without a Summer: Mount Tambora National Park

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On April 10, 1815 the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history was recorded on an island in Indonesia. The ash cloud that formed by its explos...

282: The Port Chicago Disaster: Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On July 17th, 1944 the worst home front disaster of WWII unfolded in an instant when a munitions base exploded with the force of 5,000 lbs of TNT just...

281: Trail Tales 64

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include check ins from the other side, underwater close calls, man ghosts, cases of mistaken identity, cursed Airbnb’s and bodies ...

280: The Park That Almost Never Was: Biscayne National Park

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The area that is now Biscayne National Park was once considered a wasteland and worthless - but the Jones family, newly freed from slavery, saw the va...

279: Finding Aubrey: Langtang National Park

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In April of 2010, a young woman from Colorado was living her dream in Asia. At the tail end of her five month solo journey to the continent, Aubrey Sa...

278: Trail Tales 63

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s stories include ghostly gossip, nature soup, weird places, cursed stories, hellos and goodbyes from beyond and proof that fed bears are dead...