National Park After Dark

National Park After Dark

Hosted by two friends who share a passion for the wilderness and a fascination with what can go wrong there, each week hosts Danielle and Cassie explore the darker side of our National Parks and explore these treasured places in a whole new way - because behind the iconic arches and towering trees lie layered histories, grisly encounters, extraordinary stories of survival, tragic ends and so much more. But it isn’t always chills and thrills. By sharing inspiring tales and their desire for protecting our planet’s wild places, they hope the show will inspire listeners to lace up their own hiking boots and take a walk into the wild to create meaningful adventures of their own.

Episodes

327: Trail Tales 78

October 9, 2025 • 63 mins
Today’s stories include traumatizing rites of passage, calls for help, wedding dress ghosts, missing friends and anonymous letters. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!

For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes

For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:

Instagram: @nation...
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326: Short Life, Long Legacy. The Vision of George Meléndez Wright.

October 6, 2025 • 83 mins
In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s episode is dedicated to George Meléndez Wright, the first Hispanic person to occupy a professional role in the National Park Service. His life was cut tragically short, but his holistic approach to wildlife management in the National Parks has left an indelible mark.

To submit a business for the Outsiders Gift Guide, please email assistant@npadpodcast.com by October 2...
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325: Never. Give. Up. Angeles National Forest

September 29, 2025 • 83 mins
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. Stranded in a blizzard on alpine terrain more than 8,500 feet up, he drew on the skills and grit he’d learned from his father to make his way out.

Sources: Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, by Norman Ollestad (2009).

For a full list of our sources, visit n...
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324: Trail Tales 77

September 25, 2025 • 61 mins
Today’s stories include being locked in taxidermy museums, meeting legends, lightning escapes, ghostly hikes and trolling blue butterflies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!

For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:

Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark

Supp...
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323: The Pablo Escobar of Eggs. Matobo National Park.

September 22, 2025 • 82 mins
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 wildlife crime - scaling cliffs to steal and then smuggle falcon eggs around the world. Despite multiple arrests, steep fines and various investigations - he just couldn’t quit. What motivated him? How did his dedication to birds turn to destruction? This is the story of the “Pab...
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Introducing: CRIME HOUSE DAILY

September 15, 2025 • 7 mins
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 House Daily is
coming to you twice every weekday, covering the biggest crime stories as they unfold. Morning episodes give you the need-to-know. The latest headlines, breaking developments, and where things are going next. Evening episodes go deeper. Into the people, the evidence, ...
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322: National Park After Dark X Heart Starts Pounding

September 15, 2025 • 82 mins
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 and unexplainable topics from around the world on her show, but today we all dive into the Reddit world (which is scary in and of itself) to bring you some tales of scary and strange happenings from where we know best ... the forest.

For a full list of our sources, visit ...
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321: Dying for the Lost City of Z. Xingu National Park.

September 1, 2025 • 79 mins
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 side were his 21-year-old son Jack and Jack’s best friend, Raleigh Rimell. All three vanished without a trace. What began as a quest for discovery became one of the most enduring mysteries in the history of exploration.

Sources:
The Lost City of Z, film (2016).
Th...
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320: Trail Tales 76

August 28, 2025 • 53 mins
Today’s stories include lightning drama, peeing with friends, and choosing the bear. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!

Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on Instagram

For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes

For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials...
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319: Happy Birthday National Park Service, Not Everyone Loves You!

August 25, 2025 • 80 mins
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 are straight up silly, some are maddening and others prove that just because National Parks are for everyone, not everyone are for National Parks.

Sources: All reviews found on Yelp, NPS History

For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes
<...
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318: The Murder of Tomomi Hanamure. Grand Canyon National Park.

August 18, 2025 • 60 mins
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. Her return journey to the Grand Canyon was a way to mark another year around the sun, to a place she felt so personally drawn to. Tragically, the date that marked her entrance into this world would also be the day someone violently ripped her out of it.

More info on WFA cl...
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317: Trail Tales 75

August 14, 2025 • 42 mins
Today’s stories include traumatizing children, urns in odd places and a day of the grizzlies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!

Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on Instagram

For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes

For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and ou...
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316: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight to Protect Cumberland Island National Seashore.

August 11, 2025 • 68 mins
She’s been called the wildest woman in America—and with good reason. Carol Ruckdeschel has wrestled alligators, dissected roadkill in the name of science, and lived off the grid in the wilderness she vowed to defend. But behind the sensational headlines is a sharp, fearless conservationist whose tireless efforts helped protect one of the last truly wild places in the Southeast: Cumberland Island National Seashore. Taking on po...
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315: NPAD Goes Lights Out. The Butcher Baker of Alaska.

August 4, 2025 • 164 mins
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 recent trip to Denver to discuss the extremely disturbing case of Robert Hansen aka The Butcher Baker.

Listen to Lights Out wherever you listen to your favorite shows!

For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes

For the latest NPAD updates...
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314: Trail Tales 74

July 31, 2025 • 44 mins
Today’s stories include getting schmacked, stinky ghosts, victorian asylums, salty situations and rescues from beyond the grave. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!

Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on Instagram

For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:

Instagram: @na...
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313: People Are Food, Too. Kakadu National Park.

July 28, 2025 • 62 mins
Val Plumwood was an Australian philosopher, environmental activist and crocodile attack survivor. During a 1985 trip to Kakadu National park, Val was attacked repeatedly by a crocodile but miraculously survived. The experience completely reshaped her life and her perspective of her role within it.

Sources:

Book: The Eye of the Crocodile 

Documentaries: Kakadu: Land of the Crocodile 

Articles...
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The Mother of Science Fiction: Inventing Frankenstein

July 21, 2025 • 54 mins
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 a few surprising NPAD tie ins, and we are so excited to share it with you all. We will be back to our regularly scheduled National Parks programing next week! - Cassie and Danielle

What began as a vivid dream on a stormy night during the “Year Without a Summer,” after a ...
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312: NPAD X Generation Why

July 17, 2025 • 51 mins
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 crime and mysterious disappearance cases, provide some updates and discuss what makes them so intriguing.  Aaron also brings us a story we have never covered that remains one of the most puzzling cases to ever come out of Yosemite.

Listen and follow Generation Why wherever y...
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311: The Great Flood of 1889. Johnstown Flood National Memorial.

July 14, 2025 • 59 mins
Editors Note and Content Warning: This episode was recorded in June before the devastating floods that took place in Texas on July 4th. Listeners should be aware that this episode includes descriptions of mass death, including children. Please take care while listening. Our hearts are with the families and communities affected by the floods. For more information about how to help the survivors and families impacted by the Tex...
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    310: Our Quarterly Tooth & Claw Collab

    July 7, 2025 • 105 mins
    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 of Animal Attacks here, snag some fun merch here, and keep an eye on their upcoming trips here!

    For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes

    For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.co...
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