Rose Houk

Juneteenth observes the date in 1865 when enslaved African Americans were freed in Texas. But Black motorists well into the 20th century still experienced segregation and discrimination.

The Grand Canyon is a big place and capturing it on one geologic map was a big job. A new exhibit at the Museum of Northern Arizona tells how that map was made and why it’s called the "Dragon Map."

President Calvin Coolidge declared Wupatki as a national monument in northern Arizona 100 years ago. It gave visitors a chance to see close up the rock-walled structures built by Ancestral Puebloans almost a thousand years before.

Montezuma Castle is a cliff dwelling overlooking Wet Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley. Undoubtedly, the water, plants, animals and other natural resources drew the Sinagua people here a thousand years ago — and attracted attention ever since.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the federal Endangered Species Act. The landmark conservation law lists more than 1,600 animals and plants as threatened or endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets plans to recover those species and their habitats.

A hundred years ago, before big dams constrained the Colorado River, boating was exciting and far less predictable. The Birdseye Expedition of 1923 experienced such excitement at Lava Falls — the monstrous class 10 rapid in Grand Canyon.

White-nosed coatis are making tracks northward from their usual home on the US-Mexico border. They’ve been seen in the Verde Valley, along the Mogollon Rim, and occasionally in the Flagstaff area, including Walnut Canyon and the Rio de Flag.

Lots of folks watch and list birds these days. But another activity is gaining attention—butterfly counts. Two are scheduled in national parks on the Colorado Plateau this month— July 8 at Bryce Canyon in Utah, and July 15 on the North Rim of Grand Canyon.

Cultures all over the world have marked the passage of the seasons in many ways. In the Southwest, the solstices and equinoxes have often been tracked by watching the sun on the horizon, on particular landmarks, or on the faces of rock.

The Colorado Plateau is renowned for its star-filled night skies. The region boasts some of the darkest skies in the lower 48 states. One group is engaging across many fronts to raise more awareness of that spectacular quality. The Colorado Plateau Dark Sky Cooperative collaborates with communities, businesses, tribes, government agencies and individuals—anyone who might share their goal of showing the benefits of natural darkness.