Big Bend's Bulldozers Stop, Colorado's Bear Fines Hit $5,000, and a 56-Foot Rocking Chair

Good morning! It's Wednesday, August 19 — the bulldozers are parked in Big Bend, the deepest lunar eclipse until 2028 lands next Thursday, and there's a real reason you sleep badly the first night.

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— OK WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING —

> If Big Bend was on your winter map, don't take it off yet. Construction inside Big Bend National Park has been paused while CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott goes to see the work for himself.

The project has become controversial because it would run through one of the country's most remote national parks, where the border follows the Rio Grande. But the pushback isn't coming from just one side: a Republican senator, a Democratic sheriff and 14 county judges have all raised concerns, including what losing access or disrupting the park could mean for the local economy.

Nothing has been cancelled and there's no end date yet. But for now, the bulldozers are parked.

And if you were looking for a national park excuse to take a Monday off, August 25 is your day. Every national park that charges an entrance fee is waiving it for the Park Service's 110th birthday.

Our national parks planning guide has the rest.

— OK BUT A LOT MORE HAPPENED —

> Colorado bears are having a very bad summer. The berries failed, the bears are hungry, and they're getting bold around campsites. Colorado has already seen more bear reports this year than it did in all of 2025, and now leaving food where a bear can reach it can cost you up to $5,000. Here's what's changed, and what RVers need to know. (More)

> Leave it to the beavers. Three beaver attacks in Maryland in one month have closed part of a popular park, including one involving a 10-year-old canoeing at Seneca Creek. Two of the earlier attacks involved rabid beavers, so if you're on a waterfront campsite, don't let the two big buck teeth fool you. (More)

> Zion just made more of the park accessible. Zion National Park now has an all-terrain wheelchair with balloon tires and independent brakes that visitors can check out for the day at the visitor center, first come, first served. Because "the trail is too rough" shouldn't have to mean "you don't get to see it." (More)

> Ferrari and Airstream might be having a baby. Pininfarina, the legendary Italian design house behind some of Ferrari's most famous cars, is teaming up with Airstream. We don't know what they're making yet, but we do know roughly when they're planning to show it off. (More)

— OK BUT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS —

> Don't miss the moon on August 27. A partial lunar eclipse will turn the moon copper late August 27, with 96% of the moon in shadow and just a bright sliver left. An RV parked somewhere dark could give you a spectacular view, and it's the deepest eclipse anywhere in the world until 2028. Here's what to know before you set up.

> Your RV fan can make the heat worse. Your vent fan feels like the obvious move when the RV gets hot. But once the temperature outside crosses a certain point, that breeze can actually make you feel hotter, not cooler. Find out where the line is before the next heat wave.

> There's a reason you sleep badly the first night. New campground, unfamiliar sounds, terrible sleep. It's not necessarily the mattress or the guy running his generator at midnight. Your brain may actually be keeping one eye open because it doesn't recognize the place yet.

— OK NOW HERE'S SOME RETAIL THERAPY —

> Foldable dog bath hammock — Next time your dog finds something disgusting to roll in, grab the hose and give him a bath outside before he gets back in the RV. This makes that job a whole lot easier, then folds flat when you're done.

> DECKED truck bed storage — For the tow vehicle rather than the trailer. Full-length drawers in the bed mean the straps, blocks and tools stop living loose under the tonneau and sliding to the tailgate on every grade. Check the fitment for your year before you buy.

> Bella slim 2-slice toaster — Most RV counters don't have room for a normal toaster. This one is skinny enough to fit without taking over the kitchen.

— OK BUT YOU SHOULD TOTALLY GO HERE —

> Grand Teton, Wyoming
Yellowstone's quieter neighbor is showing off. Everyone knows Yellowstone. Fewer people realize what's waiting just south of it: a park with a wall of mountains rising straight out of the sagebrush, spectacular wildlife and far fewer people willing to leave the pavement. By the end of September, this could be one of the best RV stops on your map. Here's why. Our Yellowstone and Grand Teton route runs both without the double-booking scramble.

> Lehigh Portland State Park, Kansas
Kansas just got a very weird new state park. The newest state park in Kansas sits inside an abandoned limestone quarry, with startlingly clear green water, towering cliffs and just 27 campsites. It looks nothing like the Kansas you think you know. See it.

> Russell-Brasstown Byway, Georgia
This Georgia road trip is about to turn orange. Just 90 minutes from Atlanta, this 40-mile Blue Ridge loop climbs to 4,784 feet, crosses the Appalachian Trail and ends at the highest point in Georgia. Go now for waterfalls and mountain views. Come back in six weeks for the color. Take the drive.

> Jackson County, North Carolina
The Smokies have a food problem. This is the solution. If you're camping near the Smokies, don't settle for another gas-station dinner. Jackson County has handmade pasta, James Beard-nominated Thai food, serious barbecue and a breakfast sandwich called Gouda Nuff. Yes, that's actually its name. See the food crawl.

> Colorado
Six road trips you can decide on Thursday. You don't always need a week off to get out of Denver. These six escapes are all within 300 miles, from a 10,000-foot mountain town to hot springs, wine country and one destination so unexpected we're still debating whether it belongs on the list. Pick your weekend and start driving. See the six trips.

— OK BUT DID YOU SEE THIS —

> Eight days out from the eclipse, the year's best dark-sky photographs just got named, and collectively they're a pretty convincing argument for booking the campsite with no lamp anywhere near it. See the photos

> If you've had the Brooks Falls bearcam open all August wondering where every single bear went, they're fine. The salmon just stopped standing still. See where the bears went

> Colorado drowned a whole town called Iola under Blue Mesa Reservoir in the 1960s. Now the drought is handing it back, one building at a time. See what's resurfacing

> A South Carolina live oak was already old when the Revolutionary War reached it in 1781. The thing that nearly finished it off? The cables someone bolted onto it to save it. See what happened

> A teardrop trailer costs five figures, so a growing number of people are building their own out of rigid foam and wood glue. And somehow, they hold together. See how they're doing it

> Ten roadside stops that can justify an extra 20 minutes on a park trip: a Nevada ghost town, a UFO watchtower in the San Luis Valley, and a 30-foot pistachio in New Mexico. See the list

The Dump Station A town of 2,300 in eastern Illinois has somehow collected 12 certified world's-largest things, including a 56-foot rocking chair that took 10 people to rock and a mailbox you have to climb stairs to reach. The best part? Almost all of them are free and outside. See the town

The Odometer 750 feet. That's how high the tallest sand dunes in North America rise, with 13,000-foot mountains looming behind them. And this isn't just a look-but-don't-touch situation. You can strap a board to your feet and ride the dunes down. Go sandboarding

— OK BUT WHO EVEN IS THIS PERSON —

> Stay with us on this one, it pays off. Kansas's newest state park sits just outside a town called Iola. A Colorado town also called Iola is, this month, coming back up out of Blue Mesa Reservoir. The Kansas one is named for Iola Friend Colborn, and here's the surprisingly convoluted story behind it.

On January 1, 1859, a group of settlers met at the Deer Creek schoolhouse to vote on a name for their new town. A man named Lyman E. Rhoads stood up, gave a short and reportedly very complimentary speech, and proposed "Iola," after the wife of the man who had previously owned the land. It won the ballot.

Iola herself was born in 1832, married Josiah Colborn in 1857, and had been named after a Frenchwoman who happened to marry her great-uncle.

So the county seat of Allen County, Kansas, and the brand-new state park next door to it, are named after a woman who was named after somebody's aunt by marriage, because one guy gave a nice speech at a schoolhouse in 1859.

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