Kurt Repanshek: Hi San Francisco. What's new in the parks? Well, probably the "newest" park west of the Mississippi is the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in eastern Colorado some 2 to 3 hours from Denver.

Dedicated just about a year ago by National Park Service Director Mary Bomar, Sand Creek tells the sad tale of the U.S. Army's slaughter of members of Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes on November 29, 1864. If history interests you, this would be a great "new" Park Service site to visit.

And while you're in the area, I'd highly recommend a visit to nearby Great Sand Dunes National Park. Although it gained national monument status back in 1932, it wasn't until 2000 that an act of Congress bestowed national-park status on Great Sand Dunes.

This park offers not only has sand dunes—30 square miles of dunes, some of which climb 750 feet—but also alpine peaks rising to 13,000 feet, high-country lakes, and forests of aspen and conifers. In other words, you get quite a bit of bang for your buck when you visit Great Sand Dunes National Park.

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New York, N.Y.: When does it pay off to buy a year-round parks pass from NPS? And what are the pros and cons? In other words, how many trips do you need to take to make it worth considering--or are there other perks? much obliged

Kurt Repanshek: New York, New York. These days, if you plan to visit three or more parks in a year's time, the $80 investment in an America The Beautiful Pass generally is worth it, as more and more parks are charging either $20 or $25 for entry.

Now, I was pretty disappointed when they went from the National Parks Pass to the ATB Pass. With the National Parks Pass, you knew your $50 was going right to the National Park Service and the national park system. With the $80 ATB Pass, it all depends on where you buy your pass.

Since the ATB Pass covers entry to "fee lands" on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, AND the National Park Service, fees currently are distributed to the agency that sells the pass. In my case, the nearest Forest Service office is about a 25-minute drive away, while the nearest NPS unit is about an hour. So if I didn't care which agency my money went to, I'd buy the ATB Pass at the Forest Service office. Since I want my dollars to go the parks, I make a point to buy the pass at a Park Service site.

Now, if you're planning to visit the same park over and over again over the course of a year, you can save money by buying that specific park's "annual pass" instead of shelling out for the ATB. For instance, at Acadia National Park the annual pass costs just $40, or half the ATB.

There is talk in Congress of bringing back the National Parks Pass, but I'm not holding my breath.

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Boston, Mass.: What's your favorite, must-bring, most indispensible tool for backpackers in the parks?

Kurt Repanshek: Boston, I'm gonna guess that you're exempting tents, sleeping bags, water bottles, matches, and that sort of thing.

I guess something along the line of a Leatherman multi-tool would be one of the best things to pack, ounce-for-ounce. After all, a good one has a can opener, a knife or two, scissors, awl, file, screwdriver, pliers, bottle opener, and on and on. Seems like a no-brainer.

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D.C.: Hello, Getting my young boys (8, 11) to pull their eyes up from their playstations is almost impossible. I worry about hyping up the chances of seeing bears because they may get disappointed. What advice do you have about engaging kids in the National Parks? Thanks!

Kurt Repanshek: Hi D.C. Actually, you needn't worry too much about "hyping up the chances" of seeing bears in the national parks. Black bears are fairly common sights in Grand Teton (look along the Moose-Wilson Road where berry bushes lure them in), Mount Rainier (I've seen them in the Ipsut Creek Campground just inside the Carbon River Entrance as well as at Reflection Lakes), Sequoia and Yosemite parks, and on occasion in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Grizzly bears often are visible in the early summer in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley, too.

I would think Yellowstone's geyser basins with their spouting geysers and sputtering fumaroles and mudpots would prove engaging to your boys, too. On the East Coast, I'll never forget running into a 7-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister, and their parents, of course, atop the Beehive, a rocky promontory in Acadia National Park. The Beehive can be a somewhat challenging climb, especially for youngsters under 10, because it entails climbing vertically up, hand-over-hand, on iron rungs for short distances. Making it to the top, as a result, delivers a real sense of accomplishment. And the view ain't bad, either!

Many Western parks offer horseback riding—another lure for many kids—and canoeing. And there are plenty of lakes, which kids seem to enjoy tossing rocks into.

Something you might try is surfing with your boys through the park system on the Internet to look at various parks and the activities they offer and see what resonates with them. I'll bet you can find something that intrigues them.

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Bronston, Ky.: Where can I get a senior pass?