A book that certainly entertained and educated, but didn't stick to what it might have done. Do you count amongst the unexplained mysteries of our life the genetic smarts of the giant redwood and sequoia trees? Does the production history of "Heaven's Gate" stand in the selection of arcane mysteries you'd thought to be reading about? Probably not, but our history with relation to the tree species is reported here, and we go get the low-down on the dubious glories of Hollywood excess. Speaking of Hollywood, the true story behind "The Revenant" is here, so that's hardly a mystery, unless you count the one about that bloke that left him who possibly grew up to be famous.

This is as diverse as the locations, from deep forests and coastal slaver forts to St Louis' arch. Some bits definitely hit better than others, but that is probably down to personal taste – I certainly took to chapters about what is commonly thought of as a mystery, and the stories here I'd never heard of, such as errant aircraft.

Towards the end you see reminders that this is not universally great. The bit on a rock face found in the mid-80s is much more travel guide than mystery writing – each chapter has told us about finding the source of the intrigue ourselves in each specific park. After two such examples of what look like filler to wrap the book up we get Pocahontas, and the truth of the story is countered by this calling her a princess, which remains a clunky shorthand for what the woman actually was. Things close with a perhaps overly-earnest look at the sources, and what the author did with them and why.

All told it's well worth a look, but it's not the tautest study of Fortean things going, by a long chalk. The American audience is, it goes without saying, much better served by the travel guidance than others are, but when the main stories leave the world of meh behind they can be great value for a little frisson of drama. Three and a half stars all told.

This was a very interesting book about mysteries in National Parks. Some of the cases we have all heard about, some were very new to me.

There's a story in this collection for everyone. Ranging from true crime to paranormal happenings to geology. Some fell flat for me. (The connection between UFOs and Mount Rainer NP felt forced.) And others I adored! (Josie Bassett is one of my new favorite historical figures!)

Some of my other favorites:
Excellent history about ancient people, discovery, and development of Mesa Verde.
Spine-tingling murder for Great Smoky Mountains.
What-the-nematodes history at Shiloh National Military Park.

My least favorite part was the lack of indigenous history in the Denali chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of this book! This is my honest review.

This collection of stories was, well, an...interesting collection. The title leads one to believe there will be truly unusual accounts, perhaps some true crime and murder or aliens with a little Sasquatch possibly. And while there were a few along these lines, mostly it was random little occurrences, some of which have no determined ending. It was just a little frustrating. Then there were descriptions of the parks current day, such as hours and methods of entrance and routes to take.
I did learn some things and would recommend this for National Park enthusiasts for sure, but overall it was just a little lackluster for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

Mysteries of the National Parks is an interesting walk through some of the odd and fun things that have happened around our national parks. This book was easy to read and broken down the sections of the country if you wanted to skip around. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history or oddities.

If you are one who loves being outside and camping but also loves to watch creepy mystery shows, this one is for you. There are 35 spine-tingling and “huh, really?” stories in here that are entertaining as much as they are puzzling. There is bound to be one for the national park nearest to you. I personally love to camp but am not one who likes to be freaked out while I am out in the wilderness with no cell signal. But – to each his own!
​For the rest of you who grew up telling scary stories around the campfire, this is an amazing book for you to back in your RV or your backpack the next time you decide to sleep under the stars.

35 stories of unique mysteries that occurred in the National Parks. Mike Bezemek brings each story to life as he carefully builds the communities that surround the parks. As always in a book full of stories, some are better than others, but each story adds a unique touch to a traveler's adventures. Absolutely necessary if you are planning to visit the parks.

What an interesting unique book! Filled with so many stories and rich history, you are bound to learn something new and also be inclined to visit more national parks. It's evident the author did extensive research in writing this book as its chock full of fun facts and trivia. I'm ready to rent an RV and head cross country to check out these parks for myself! My thanks to Sourcebooks for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I love National Parks. I love mysteries. This sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Spoiler alert! You are so right! Some of these had known about, This book did NOT disappoint! The stories were well written and pretty much invited you to look into the mysteries yourself. Not going to lie, I totally did with a few. This made me want to visit some of the lesser known parks as sometime too. Win-win! The NPS is getting free press and getting people to visit. The range is true crime, to mysterious people, to mysterious happenings. I promise you there is a chapter in here for you. The book is wonderfully written, sometimes there are pictures added so you can see what is being talked about. This would be a fun book club book, I think. 5/5 stars, would recommend! Ages 16+.

This was an entertaining and novel look at the National Parks of the USA. There was a good mix of paranormal, criminal and historical stories here and simple tips for travelers who plan to visit the park in question. Overall, I had a lot of fun with it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I found the book interesting. However, I was expecting something more along the lines of the missing 411 stories. I am sure the travel advice was helpful to some. I completely skipped over it though and felt it clashed with the theme of the book.

This was interesting. I am so glad I got this ARC. It is just a lot of good stuff. I love National Parks, lore, and real mysteries. It is just perfection.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

I am a huge fan of mysteries and the unexplainable. I saw this book and knew it would be right up my alley. I really liked the stories in this book and thought the author did a great job explaining everything and including first hand accounts. I found the stories to be intriguing and although I was familiar with a few stories, it was mostly all new to me.

It’s evident that a lot of research went into crafting this book; there’s plenty of stories to keep you interested for hours. While I have read a variety of books about the national parks, most of these stories were new to me. I would have liked more of the ghost stories but I’ve had plenty of those from other books. This one has a nice mix of exactly what it says: disappearances, unexplained phenomena, and all-around interesting stories about a myriad of characters and creatures. Recommended if you’re a fan of the parks or you’re planning on visiting one or two of them.

As someone who enjoys unexplained mysteries AND national parks this was a fun read. The author mixes up the types of odd stories — sightings, hoaxes, and just odd histories. Some of the chapters are stronger than others, like the recounting of John Muir’s hunt for giant redwoods or the Peary’s Denali summit claim. Others feel like they were included to make sure certain parks made the book. Overall, it’s packed of fun facts both about the weird history and about visiting today.

I was so excited to start reading, as conspiracy theories & national works are some of my major interests! I find myself getting lost in the google rabbit hole when it comes to a case or story I’m particularly interested it. So, when I saw this book I KNEW it would be up my alley! It had the potential to be gripping and informative, however, the choppiness of the storytelling made me lose interest quite quickly. I wish some cases would have been more fleshed out. Overall, it just felt unorganized and rushed. Still interesting which is why I gave 3 stars, but not the kind of read I would pick up again!

The audiobook is almost 14 hours long, but it goes pretty quickly since it’s a collection of short tales. Each mystery is 20-30 minutes and some even shorter, so I listened to one or two on my morning drive to work and it felt like listening to a podcast.

Each story is different, and they span across the United States. I really liked the hoax stories and how they were debunked, the true crime ones (there are for sure bodies in the Hoover Dam, nothing can convince me otherwise), and the aliens and haunting stories.

Overall this was fun, historical, and engaging. I really loved the audiobook!

Mysteries of the National Parks is a collection of 35 nonfiction mysteries that occur in national parks throughout the United States. The stories are divided into sections by region, each section containing at least 5-6 mysteries.

The stories were of varying interest and length. I found some compelling, others I just skimmed. The travel advice was useful and important for visitors, but those paragraphs were inserted at odd times within the telling of the stories. Since each chapter is a self-contained story, this can be read a bit at a time or all at once. Not all of the stories appeal to me, so I just read the ones that did. The focus is definitely more on the mystery than the history, so something readers should take into account depending on preference.

These books should be at every National Park gift shop.

~Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for giving me access to the ARC of this book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I enjoy visiting and hiking the national parks when I get the chance and try to read everything on national parks that I can. This book was right up my alley and an interesting read. I’d heard about a few of these mysteries in the national parks but most were new to me.