NEWS: New Volcano & Geyser Eruptions, Border Wall May Go Through Big Bend, Big Sur Wildflowers Destroyed

This week in national park news:

Mount Rainier National Park has officially dropped its timed entry reservation system for 2026 — joining Yosemite, Arches, and Glacier in abandoning the pandemic-era crowd management experiment.

Meanwhile, one of Yellowstone’s most unusual geothermal features — Echinus Geyser — has suddenly begun erupting again after years of dormancy.

We also cover:

• A fatal incident near the Kīlauea caldera in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park • A controversial proposal to build new border barriers through Big Bend National Park • One of the best wildflower blooms in Death Valley since 2016 • A strange act of vandalism at Big Sur’s famous Calla Lily Valley • Possible campground closures in Washington state parks • And the opening of a brand-new Texas state park for the first time in 24 years

00:00 Intro 00:46 Mount Rainier Drops Timed Entry 02:01 Hawaii Volcano Fatal Incident 02:57 Yellowstone Geyser Returns 04:47 Big Bend Border Wall Proposal 06:58 Death Valley Wildflower Bloom 08:14 Big Sur Flower Vandalism 09:46 Washington Campground Cuts 10:58 Texas Opens New State Park 12:05 Wrap Up