Episodes
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…
The River Ladies of the Grand Canyon.
Botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter changed the stereotype of women in botany when they found a love for not the delicate flowers, but the cacti with thorns and the vegetation that thrived in the most inhospitable environments. They set…
Oh, the Places You Won’t Go. Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park.
In July of 1897, three men were carried into the sky inside a hydrogen balloon with the goal of being the first to reach the North Pole. The fate of their ambitious expedition remained a mystery for decades until the 1930’s, when a chance d…
Trail Tales 66
Today’s stories include slapping the bag, a mother’s intuition, geocaching gone wrong, being saved by spirits, synchronicities and sibling pranks. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For the latest NPA…
Peak Danger with Cecilie Skog
In todays episode, we had the incredible opportunity to speak with Cecilie Skog. Cecilie has cemented her place in the world of extreme adventure sports as being the first person in the world to have skied across both the North and the Sout…
A Love Worth Fighting For. Speaking Up For Our Public Lands.
On Valentine’s Day 4,400 Public Land workers were abruptly and illegally terminated from their positions and since then, news of executive orders threatening to exploit our public lands for their natural resources have been flooding headlin…
Trail Tales 65
Today’s stories include dumpster lemons, haunted marathons, national park first dates, night hippos, hero dads and being saved by science. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For the latest NPAD update…
Introducing: CRIME HOUSE TRUE CRIME STORIES
Crime House True Crime Stories is the ultimate destination for true crime fans. Every episode features two notorious cases from that week in crime history, tied by a common theme like infamous serial killers, mysterious disappearances, tra…
The Year Without a Summer. Mount Tambora National Park.
On April 10, 1815 the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history was recorded on an island in Indonesia. The ash cloud that formed by its explosion was as large and the entire country of the United States and hovered close to 12 miles…
The Port Chicago Disaster. Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial.
On July 17th, 1944 the worst home front disaster of WWII unfolded in an instant when a munitions base exploded with the force of 5,000 lbs of TNT just outside of San Fransisco. The catastrophic incident killed 320 people instantly and injur…