Episodes
Never. Give. Up. Angeles National Forest
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 g…
Trail Tales 77
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 updat…
The Pablo Escobar of Eggs. Matobo National Park.
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. De…
Introducing: CRIME HOUSE DAILY
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 unf…
National Park After Dark X Heart Starts Pounding
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 …
Dying for the Lost City of Z. Xingu National Park.
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 vanish…
Trail Tales 76
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 ful…
Happy Birthday National Park Service, Not Everyone Loves You!
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…
The Murder of Tomomi Hanamure. Grand Canyon National Park.
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 p…
Trail Tales 75
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 …
The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight to Protect Cumberland Island National Seashore.
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 sensatio…
NPAD Goes Lights Out. The Butcher Baker of Alaska.
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 …
Trail Tales 74
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 an…
People Are Food, Too. Kakadu National Park.
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 re…
The Mother of Science Fiction: Inventing Frankenstein
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 …
NPAD X Generation Why
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 …
The Great Flood of 1889. Johnstown Flood National Memorial.
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. Pl…
Our Quarterly Tooth & Claw Collab
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! …
Trail Tales 73
Today’s stories include small town legends, embarrassing young canoodling, haunted cheese factories, Hidebehinds and visits from the great beyond. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! Listen to Watch He…
The Couple Who Lived and Died for Lions. Meru National Park.
George and Joy Adamson lived for lions. After raising a cub they named Elsa and telling the world about it, they were catapulted into the center of conservation and controversy. Their methods were questioned, but their love for the wild was…
Our Weird and Wonderful World with Dylan Thuros Co-Founder of Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura began as a website and global community to catalog and celebrate the world's unusual and obscure places, stories and foods. Since 2009, it has expanded to include six books, group adventures around the world, a Youtube Series …
Trail Tales 72
Today’s stories include debunking aliens, an outdoorsy Maya Rudolph, Hot Springs love, spooky family lore and horny birds. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! WE HAVE NEW MERCH! Listen to Watch Her Co…
Stonewall National Monument’s Uprising. Ft. LGBTQ Outdoors.
Today we are joined by the Founder of LGBTQ Outdoors, Justin Yoder, as we tell the story of Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Uprising. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn ignited a rebellion that wo…
America’s Oldest Ghost Tour. Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park.
In the 1970s Shirley Dougherty moved to Harpers Ferry West Virginia and started experiencing strange occurrences. And she wasn’t alone. Residents were quick to tell her their experiences with the paranormal, and she eventually complied them…
Trail Tales 71
Today’s stories include women in STEM, chirping mountain lions, cabin guardians, simultaneous hauntings, family lore and dead dad signs. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! Listen to Watch Her Cook on …
The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill. White Mountain National Forest.
In the fall of 1961, a couple driving through New Hampshire’s White Mountains encountered something no one could explain. What followed would become the first widely reported alien abduction case in American history — and the blueprint for …
No More Stolen Sisters. Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month.
In the summer of 2021, the world was captivated by the story of Gabby Petito, a young woman who went missing and was later found murdered in Wyoming. While her story is heartbreaking, the widespread media coverage concerning her case reveal…
Trail Tales 70
Today’s stories include life saving coolers, Fyre festival honeymoons, ripples in the space/time continuum, laughing lights, weird guys in the woods and a wilderness medicine origin story. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon …
Revenge of the Tiger. Bikin National Park.
In the winter of 1997, a man-eating tiger terrorized a remote village in the Russian Far East. This wasn’t a defensive attack — the tiger was hunting specific humans, with eerie patience and purpose. What followed is one of the most chillin…
Robbery Gone Wrong. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
On October 11th, 1923, deep in Tunnel 13 high in the Siskiyou mountains of Oregon, four men were killed in a train robbery gone wrong. The trio responsible, the DeAutremont brothers, had planned the crime and dreamed of stealing their way t…
Trail Tales 69
Today’s stories include lighting strikes, protective birbs, family lore, finding yourself, poor planning and a strangely large amount of pet psychics. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! Listen to Watc…
The Deadliest Avalanche in U.S. History. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
In 1910, two trains became stranded in Washington’s Cascade Mountains during a record-breaking snowstorm. After six harrowing nights, a massive avalanche swept them off the mountainside — the deadliest avalanche in U.S. history. More than a…
The Killing of K’iid K'yaas. Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.
In 1997, a lifelong Canadian logger had reached the end of his rope. For years Grant Hadwin attempted to sound the alarm to the dangers of the logging industry, but his attempts to speak for the trees repeatedly fell on deaf ears. Ultimatel…
Introducing: Clues with Morgan Absher & Kaelyn Moore
Join hosts Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore as they take you deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever — where a single clue can crack a case wide open. From shocking murders to serial killers, Clues dives into all the forensic de…
Trail Tales 68
Today’s stories include paranormal protectors, New Jersey karma, close calls, ghost sailors and slip and slides from hell. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spot…
DDT - So Safe You Can Eat It! Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.
Today, more than 1 billion people around the world celebrate Earth Day—but decades before this global movement began, one woman laid the foundation. When aerial pesticide programs drenched the Northeast in chemicals like DDT, devastating ec…
The Conservation President and the Adventure That Almost Killed Him. Part 2.
After over a month of a long, arduous overland journey the Roosevelt-Rondon Expedition finally reaches the waters of the River of Doubt. Their troubles have just begun as they are about to face not only the beauty of the unknown, but its pe…
Trail Tales 67
Today’s stories include disrupting the natural order, shaming tourons, static ghosts, poop strap injuries, hauntings in Japan, Alaskan thank yous, pennies form heaven and cacti-microneedling Brazilian waxes. Outsiders Only bonus stories ava…
Introducing: WATCH HER COOK
Hosts Cassie and Danielle from National Park After Dark are launching a brand new podcast, Watch Her Cook! Watch Her Cook is a weekly podcast that highlights the incredible women throughout history who have shattered the glass ceiling on t…
The Conservation President and the Adventure That Almost Killed Him. Part 1.
Following a crushing political defeat in 1913 former president Theodore Roosevelt turned to what soothed him the most - the wild and pushing his limits within it. Roosevelt is a complicated historical figure - one who is remembered in teddy…