Steam rises around you. A giant turntable revolves. Excitement sim­mers in your chest.

It might sound like you’re danc­ing the night away at a trendy club, but the turntable before you (used for posi­tion­ing loco­mo­tives) isn’t manned by a DJ, and here, steam cre­ates power not ambiance.

Winding from Chicago to LA, more than two thou­sand miles all the way, Route 66 is still the place to get your kicks. If you’d like a break from cookie-cutter restau­rants and lodg­ing options, this fabled road remains lined with home­spun busi­nesses and attrac­tions that can only be missed if your eyes are closed.

The National Park Service invites the pub­lic to the 16th annual Native American Heritage Days on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. This event, which cel­e­brates the rich cul­tural diver­sity of the Colorado Plateau, the Arizona Strip and the Grand Canyon, will begin with a morn­ing nature walk on Thursday, August 13, 2009, and will end with a spe­cial evening pro­gram on Friday, August 14.

Planning a trip to New York City’s National Parks of New York Harbor to visit places like Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty? You can now learn more about sec­tions of the New York Harbor park sys­tem before you go by down­load­ing video pod­casts of the Gateway National Recreation Area, Grant’s Tomb and Hamilton Grange.

Visitors to the Statue of Liberty can now get back inside her head, lit­er­ally. The Statue of Liberty’s crown has been closed since 9/11 for secu­rity and safety rea­sons. On July 4, 2009 the National Park Service reopened Liberty’s crown to visitors.