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YouTube video by Brittani

On the clear spring runs of Florida's Ocala National Forest, the Forest Service sometimes has to close the water because of a single alligator. In recent years, it has shut parts of the Juniper Springs Waterway for a male estimated at 13 to 14 feet long, closed the Salt Springs marina for a nuisance gator, and cleared swimmers out of Alexander Springs after a snorkeler was bitten. American alligators live across the coastal Southeast, and most of them live outside national forests, in places such as the Everglades and the marshes of Louisiana. No agency counts how many live in each national forest. But in a handful of southern forests, alligators are so common that they shape where people swim, paddle, and hike. Ocala National Forest, Florida Ocala National Forest was established in 1908, the first national forest east of the Mississippi River, and its crystal-clear springs, lakes, and slow rivers are prime alligator habitat. Alligators live in and around the forest's best-known swimming holes, including Juniper Springs, Alexander Springs, Salt Springs, and Silver Glen Springs, along with the long spring runs where paddlers float through palms and cypress. At Fern Hammock Springs, inside the Juniper Springs Recreation Area, swimming...

On Alaska's Copper River Delta, inside the Chugach National Forest, beaver ponds are so common that they dominate the streams, stair-stepping across the wetlands one dam after another. Scenes like this were nearly lost. Fur trappers wiped beavers out of much of North America by the early 1900s, and the continent's population, once estimated in the tens of millions, has never fully recovered. But beavers have made a strong comeback across the national forests, where large stretches of wild streams give them room to work. No agency counts every beaver on every forest, so these are the forests where beavers are documented in large numbers by long-term research, or where they have become central to how the forest is managed. Chugach National Forest, Alaska The Copper River Delta, near Cordova, is one of the largest wetlands on the Pacific coast of North America, and beavers have shaped much of it. According to Forest Service researchers, beaver ponds dominate the stream habitats here, creating deep, quiet pools that stay open beneath the ice in winter. Those ponds have become nurseries for young coho salmon, which grow and survive the winter in them before heading to sea. In the fall, when adult...

Oregon's Malheur National Forest logged only about 76,000 recreation visits in a year, according to the US Forest Service's own visitor survey. Spread across about 1.7 million acres of the Blue Mountains, that works out to fewer than five visits for every 100 acres of forest. By comparison, Colorado's White River National Forest, the busiest in the country, draws millions of visitors a year. In the Forest Service's most recent round of surveys, no national forest recorded fewer visits. That makes the Malheur the best candidate for the loneliest national forest in America. How The Forest Service Counts Visitors National forests don't have entrance gates or ticket booths, so the Forest Service estimates visits through a program called National Visitor Use Monitoring. Survey crews interview people and count traffic at sample sites across each forest, then use those samples to estimate yearly totals. Each forest is surveyed once every five years, and the estimates come with a wide margin of error. That margin matters at the bottom of the list. California's Modoc National Forest came in only slightly higher than the Malheur, at about 86,000 visits, but its estimate is so uncertain that it could be much higher or lower...

In Washington's Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, rattlesnakes return to communal dens that may shelter hundreds of snakes through winter. In southern Illinois, timber rattlesnakes share underground winter shelters in the limestone bluffs of Shawnee National Forest with other snake species. The entrances can be small, but the spaces beyond them must stay warm enough to prevent freezing. Timber rattlesnakes need winter retreats below the frost line, often reached through fissures in rock or passages beneath fallen stone. A sunny rock offers a place to warm up before retreating underground; the den itself provides shelter through months when the ground above grows cold. In the eastern mountain forests, the same seasonal movement connects wooded feeding grounds with repeatedly used rock crevices. Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Washington The eastern slopes of Washington's Cascades contain open pine forests and rocky ground used by western rattlesnakes. Here, winter shelter can extend well below an entrance at the foot of a boulder. In 2004, a Forest Service biologist working west of Twisp described a den extending 6 to 8 feet underground. The entrance lay beneath a large rock on a steep hillside below cliffs. Western rattlesnakes return to established communal dens year after year, sometimes sharing them...

Redding, CA — The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is planning prescribed fire operations starting Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, and continuing into next week, as weather conditions allow and pending all required approvals. We use prescribed fires to reduce overgrown vegetation to help protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfires. Prescribed fire operations include: Weaverville Community Forest Phase 1/Five-6 and EW 10 Units (83 acres). Operations will start on Monday. Highway 89 Underburn, 7 miles east of McCloud just North of State Route 89 and Ash Creek Station (2,000 acres). Operations will begin Tuesday and continue through Wednesday. Areas near these projects may close to the public for several days for public safety. Watch for warning signs along roads near all prescribed fire areas before and during burns. Residents may experience smoke during the prescribed burns. For more detailed information about air quality, go to AirNow online or download the app. When driving, slow down and turn on your headlights when you encounter smoke on the road. We will evaluate weather conditions in the hours before a burn begins. If conditions warrant, scheduled prescribed fire activities may be canceled. Stay informed about the scheduled prescribed fires through the forest website...

Madera Canyon, a single canyon in southern Arizona’s Coronado National Forest, has seven kinds of rattlesnake. All of Florida has three. The richest venomous-snake forests are the ones where very different country sits close together, so a short hike can cross the ground of several species at once. In Arizona that country is stacked up the mountainsides. On the Southern coastal plain it lies flat and interlocked. Which forests pack in the most snakes, and how, is what the rest of this sorts out. Coronado National Forest, Arizona Madera Canyon lies on the northwest side of the Santa Rita Mountains, below the 9,453-foot summit of Mount Wrightson, and some 27 snake species live in the canyon and on the Santa Cruz Valley floor below it, seven of them rattlesnakes. Western diamondbacks and Mojave rattlesnakes can be seen along the valley road leading toward the canyon, tiger rattlesnakes also live here, and the black-tailed rattlesnake, the most frequently encountered snake in Madera Canyon, can appear on any trail above Proctor into the Mount Wrightson Wilderness. Higher up, the rattlesnakes are smaller and more particular about habitat. The Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake, the state reptile since 1986, lives in shaded canyon bottoms under...

Cottonmouths are the most aquatic venomous snakes in North America, and the national forests where they thrive are threaded with slow, dark water. Farther south, cottonmouths spend their lives in cypress swamps, titi thickets, tidal creeks, and pocosin bogs, the same backwaters where paddlers follow canoe trails and hikers wade through wilderness. Where the snakes gather in each forest, and where people are most likely to meet them, depends on the kind of water that forest has. Shawnee National Forest, Illinois Northern cottonmouths in southern Illinois spend the winter in crevices along the limestone bluffs of the LaRue-Pine Hills, close to the northern edge of a range limited by cold winters. LaRue Swamp lies below the bluffs, fed partly by springs at the base of the cliffs, with Forest Road 345, a 2.5-mile gravel lane better known as Snake Road, running between the two. Each spring the snakes cross to reach the swamp, and the road is closed to vehicles while they do, usually March 15 through May 15, although the 2026 closure began early, on March 6. Through the summer, the cottonmouths stay in LaRue Swamp, where young snakes use their yellow-tipped tails to lure frogs and lizards within...

Hikers wear blaze orange in national forests in November to make themselves easier to recognize during hunting season. On Minister Creek Trail in Pennsylvania, rangers specifically warn that hunters use the area heavily in late fall and recommend fluorescent clothing for hikers. On the other side of the country in Arizona’s Prescott National Forest, official hiking guidance recommends hunter-orange clothing visible from every direction, along with an orange backpack covering. These precautions help hikers to stay conspicuous on public land where hunting can take place in the same woods. The month of November overlaps with deer seasons in many places, but there is no nationwide hunting calendar. The right precautions depend on the state, the forest, and the route. Wearing an orange vest during this time is an important part of planning a national forest hike. Hikers and Hunters in November Trails in national forests do not always pass through hunting-free areas. The Forest Service tells hunters to follow applicable state regulations, including licensing requirements and season dates. Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, for example, permits hunting with the appropriate state license during certain times of the year. November is relevant because deer hunting is part of the late-autumn calendar, the...

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YouTube video by The Sociable Adventurer

With recent precipitation, shorter days, and colder nights the Six Rivers National Forest [lifted] all fire restrictions, effective October 23, 2026. The lifting of these restrictions only applies to national forest lands on the Six Rivers National Forest. As a result, the following activities are now allowed with No Public Use Restrictions in place: Campfires in wilderness areas Dispersed campfires Personal chainsaw use is allowed at any time, subject to regulations, including a valid permit to cut firewood, which can now be obtained online Although fire danger has decreased, the lifting of fire restrictions does not mean fire season is over. Potential still exists for wildfires to start. Forest visitors must continue to act responsibly with anything that can start a fire. The lifting of fire restrictions on the Six Rivers National Forest is not related to residential burn permit suspensions. Residential burn permits in the vicinity of the Six Rivers National Forest are overseen primarily by CAL FIRE. Visitors and residents having a campfire outside of a developed recreation site still must have a valid California Campfire Permit and adhere to the rules stated on it. To get your free permit visit any open USDA Forest Service office or...

...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST /1 AM MDT/ TONIGHT... * WHAT...Flooding along the Little Colorado River from earlier excessive rainfall continues. * WHERE...The Little Colorado River from Winslow to Leupp. * WHEN...Until midnight MST tonight /100 AM MDT Monday/. * IMPACTS...Flooding of the Little Colorado River is occurring near Birdsprings. Deadly flooding over low-water crossings. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 513 AM MST /613 AM MDT/, water levels have crested at Winslow and are expected to continue to fall today. However, downstream impacts will continue near Birdsprings through the remainder of the day. - For Little Colorado at Winslow: At 5:00am MST /6:00am MDT/ the stage was 17.93 feet. Flood Stage is 19.0 feet. Forecast: Water levels will continue to fall through the day, falling below action stage later this afternoon. Impacts: At 17.0 feet: Downstream, the approaches to the bridge over the river on Navajo Route 71 near Bird Springs will flood, and Leupp will be within 3 feet of flooding problems. The river will crest at Navajo Route 71 approximately 18 hours after the river crests at Winslow. Minor lowland overflow on right bank at Winslow. At 18.0 feet: Flow above this level for approximately...

In the high alpine terrains of the US, thousands of mountain goats call some mountains home. These cloven-footed animals with thick grey and white double coats can be found hopping around mountains primarily in the western parts of the states. Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington has one of the largest populations, while Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests have these furry four-legged creatures in steep river canyons and high country. With a good pair of binoculars, you, too, can spot some mountain goats in one of these five national forests. This isn't an exhaustive list of mountain goat populations in the US, but these national forests give you a better chance of finding them in the wild. Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington In the North Cascades of Washington, nestled on the border with Canada, is a national forest with a surprising number of mountain goats. About 3,000 mountain goats live in Washington, with the vast majority in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The national forest is heavily involved in managing the goat populations, moving some in and out of various areas for ecosystem harmony. For the Oreamnos americanus species of mountain goat, they prefer to spend their time on steep, rocky...

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is planning prescribed fire operations this Wednesday, October 21, 2026. We estimate this work could continue through Thursday, October 22, 2026, as weather conditions allow and pending all required approvals. The planned prescribed fire projects will be in the Weaverville Ranger District. Prescribed fires planned for the area include: Weaverville Community Forest, Garden 2 and 3. East side of weaver bally road, north of Trinity High School. (37 acres) Those areas may close to the public for several days for public safety. Watch for warning signs along roads near all prescribed fire areas before and during burns. Residents may experience smoke during the prescribed burns. For more detailed information about air quality, go to AirNow online or download the app. When driving, slow down and turn on your headlights when you encounter smoke on the road. We will evaluate weather conditions in the hours before a burn begins. If conditions warrant, scheduled prescribed fire activities may be canceled...

To most Americans, the coyote is a cartoon: forever chasing a roadrunner, forever undone by another faulty gadget from Acme. The real animal is far more formidable. A close relative of wolves, dogs, and foxes, the coyote (Canis latrans) has spread across nearly all of North and Central America, thriving in city suburbs as readily as in remote backcountry, which is why the IUCN lists it as a species of "Least Concern." Coyotes roam America's National Forests too, though not in equal numbers. Because the species isn't threatened, no agency formally tracks it, so sightings are the only real measure. These four forests offer some of the best odds of spotting one in the wild. Allegheny National Forest Located on Pennsylvania's Allegheny Plateau, and spanning more than 500,000 acres, Allegheny National Forest is the only National Forest in Pennsylvania. There are plenty of opportunities in Allegheny National Forest for birdwatching, but the wildlife in the forest includes mammal species like black bears and North American river otters, as well as a very particular type of coyote. The Allegheny National Forest coyotes are specifically eastern coyotes. These animals, which are notably larger than the coyotes found in the western United States,...

In 1995, wolves were released back into Yellowstone, decades after being hunted out of the American West. They didn't stay put. Their descendants have since fanned out into national forests across the region, from Wyoming's Shoshone to Idaho's Salmon-Challis. These are the forests where the packs have come back. Shoshone National Forest In Wyoming, Shoshone National Forest stretches across 2.4 million acres of mountains, forests, and wide-open country just east of Yellowstone National Park. It is also one of the places where wolves have been part of the landscape for decades. Wolves began moving into the forest after the 1995 Yellowstone reintroduction, and the Washakie Pack denned here in 1996, producing five pups. It was the first wolf pack to den outside Yellowstone in Wyoming. The forest's size gives wolves more than enough room to roam. A Forest Service estimate from 2021 put the population at roughly 72 to 112 wolves in 12 to 14 packs, although that is not a current count. More recent figures are tracked at the state level; Wyoming had at least 253 wolves in 37 or more packs at the end of 2025. Most visitors won't see a wolf, but there's still plenty to explore...

Water moccasins, the venomous snakes better known as cottonmouths, are at their thickest in the swampy national forests of the Southeast and lower Midwest. Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois has a gravel road the Forest Service closes twice a year so cottonmouths and other snakes can cross between a swamp and the bluffs. Tuskegee National Forest in east-central Alabama has beaver ponds where cottonmouths are the most common snake. Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle, Francis Marion on the South Carolina coast, and Croatan on the North Carolina coast all have cypress swamps and shrub bogs where these snakes live. Each forest below also has roads, trails, or paddling routes that pass right through that habitat. Shawnee National Forest, Illinois Snake Road runs between LaRue Swamp on its west side and the limestone bluffs of Pine Hills to the east. The 2.5-mile gravel road lies directly across the seasonal route between wetland feeding grounds and winter shelter. Cottonmouths accounted for 63 percent of snake sightings recorded here by naturalist John Palis between 1996 and 2015. The swamp occupies an old channel of the Big Muddy River. Above it, snakes spend the cold months in cracks and crevices in the bluffs...

Deep in the woods of Colorado, a long-lost predator has returned and thrived: the Canadian lynx. Known for their long tufts on the top of their ears that make them resemble a slightly wilder version of a house cat, Canadian lynx are a hidden predator, growing up to 36 inches long and up to 35 pounds. They hide amid high-altitude areas, feeding on snowshoe hare, while using their large paws to navigate snowy mountains. Although named after Canada, its range extends up into Alaska and south towards several northern states in the U.S., although they were reintroduced to Colorado in the early 2000s. National forests have played a crucial role in providing protected environments for these big cats, both for reintroduction and to protect existing populations. Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest This 3.8 million-acre national forest is located on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range in the state of Washington. It has wet mountain tops that receive 70 inches of rain a year, along with a drier steppe country that has less than 10 inches of rain. The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest also has the largest population of Canadian lynx still existing in Washington. Due to habitat loss, there are now...