Sequoia National Park. Mineral King Road closes for the winter on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and crews are cutting hazard trees along the Generals Highway, so plan for delays on weekdays. Roads: The Generals Highway is open. On weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., expect delays of up to 30 minutes between the Crystal Cave Road junction and the accessible General Sherman Tree parking, and more delays north of Wuksachi toward Kings Canyon. Mineral King Road has daytime closures and delays until it closes for the season Wednesday. Crystal Cave Road is closed for the season. Moro Rock and Crescent Meadow Road is open. Trails: Trails in Giant Forest and Lodgepole are open. Crystal Cave tours are over until late spring. Stage 1 fire restrictions are in effect: no wood or charcoal fires in campgrounds below 3,000 feet, and no smoking below 6,000 feet outside a vehicle or a campground or picnic area where fires are allowed. Camping and fees: Lodgepole and Potwisha are open, reservations only on recreation.gov. Buckeye Flat, South Fork and Dorst Creek are closed. Entrance is $35 per vehicle for 7 days, good for Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Non-U.S. residents 16 and older also pay a $100 fee unless they have an annual or America the Beautiful pass. Entry is free Tuesday, Oct. 27, for Theodore Roosevelt's birthday. Best hike: Moro Rock, a quarter mile each way, 300 feet of gain on a stairway of more than 350 steps, short but steep. It's known for a 360-degree view: the foothills and San Joaquin Valley to the west and the Great Western Divide to the east. Tip: the summer shuttles are done, and the small lot fills, so go early or near sunset on a weekday. Skip the climb if there's ice or snow on the steps. TRACE take: This is a great week to go. The National Weather Service has Giant Forest sunny with highs in the low 50s through Wednesday and lows near 40. Go before 8 a.m. or on the weekend to miss the tree-work delays, and bring layers.

Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia National Park, California.

Sequoia National Park. Recent wildfires killed as much as 19% of the world's large giant sequoias, and the work to bring the groves back is still going. Sequoia Parks Conservancy, the official nonprofit partner of Sequoia and Kings Canyon, is raising a $1 million KNP Complex Fire Recovery Fund and says it's 60% of the way there. The Conservancy, the Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service collected giant sequoia cones from burned groves, and nurseries grew 110,000 seedlings from that seed. The Park Service is planting them only where too few big trees survived to reseed the ground, including 65,000 seedlings at Redwood Mountain Grove in Kings Canyon in a single season. Work on the ground right now: crews are removing hazard trees along the Generals Highway in Giant Forest, and a 482-acre prescribed burn in Grant Grove, next door in Kings Canyon, began Oct. 17 to cut wildfire risk. The Conservancy also funds trail work across more than 1,000 miles of trail, bighorn sheep and Sierra Nevada red fox recovery, and search and rescue. TRACE take: Planting a sequoia is a bet measured in centuries. A seedling going in this season won't look like the trees in Giant Forest for a very long time, and that's exactly why the work can't wait.

Yellowstone National Park. #1 of 64. The world's first national park now has a permanent $105 million fund behind it. Yellowstone Forever, the park's official nonprofit partner, set up the Conservation and Stewardship Fund with the National Park Service and Tallgrass, a Blackstone-backed energy infrastructure company. It was announced Oct. 19. The fund has three priorities: conservation and research that extend the park's science, better access and visitor facilities, and new ways for Wyoming students and community members to experience the park. The Park Service keeps full authority over how the park is managed. Yellowstone Forever already funds wildlife studies, restoration projects and education programs in the park, and it runs the park's bookstores and field courses. TRACE take: Yellowstone has about 1,114 miles of trail and more than 10,000 thermal features to look after, and that work never takes a season off. A permanent fund is the right kind of money for a park this big.

Yellowstone National Park. #1 of 64. This is the last week to drive most of the park until spring. Saturday, Oct. 31 is the final day for regular vehicles on most roads. Roads: Most park roads, plus the West, South and East entrances, close to regular vehicles on Nov. 1. Dunraven Pass (Tower Fall to Canyon) stays open through Oct. 31, weather permitting. The only road open to cars all winter runs from the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Junction and the Lamar Valley to the Northeast Entrance. Snowmobile and snowcoach season starts Dec. 15. Expect up to 15-minute delays at the single-lane Gardner River High Bridge through late October. Trails: Biscuit Basin, north of Old Faithful, is still closed after a hydrothermal explosion. The elk rut is on, so stay at least 25 yards from elk and bison and 100 yards from bears and wolves. Camping and fees: Mammoth is the only campground open now, first-come, first-served until April 1. Entrance is $35 per vehicle for 7 days. Non-U.S. residents 16 and older also pay a $100 nonresident fee unless they have an annual or America the Beautiful pass. Entry is free for U.S. citizens and residents on Oct. 27, Theodore Roosevelt's birthday. Best hike: Grand Prismatic Overlook, 1.2 miles round trip, about 105 feet of gain, easy. From the Fairy Falls Trailhead, 1 mile south of Midway Geyser Basin, it climbs to a view straight down on Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the U.S. Tip: parking is very limited, and cold mornings fill the basin with steam, so go late morning on a sunny day. That road closes Nov. 1. TRACE take: Go early in the week. The National Weather Service has Old Faithful sunny and near 52 today after morning fog, then rain and snow showers Monday night into Tuesday with highs in the 30s. Pack cold-weather gear, keep the tank full.

Yellowstone National Park. #1 of 64.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.