Honking horns and eroticism, violence, and sacrificecatcalls getting you down? Not to worry, city dwellers — the National Park Foundation is here to help.
The National Park Foundation (NPF) has launched PARKTRACKS, an audio portal that lets visitors play a 12-minute-long track of sounds captured at national parks across the country. In honor of the National Parks Service's 102nd birthday, it's also hosting a pop-up listening event in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. But anyone can turn on, tune in, drop out — with nature — on the website.
SEE ALSO: The best places to stargaze around the world"We hope people will take a moment to pause, listen, and let their imaginations be captivated by the natural and cultural sounds of our national parks," Alanna Sobel, a National Park Foundation representative, told Mashable over email.
There is actually a whole division of the National Park Service that's devoted to capturing the more ephemeral features of nature: The Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division. That NPS department places microphones in national parks for a month at a time, capturing and analyzing audio from the likes of Yellowstone or the Hawaii Volcanoes. The Natural Sounds division has its own catalogue of sounds, organized by park and even animal, in a portal via Colorado State University.
But the track released Friday is more like the radio-ready remix of park sounds. It's a combination of birds chirping and squawking, rivers rushing, thunder, lightning, rain, and even the occasional human chant, captured from multiple parks and edited together into one soothing soundscape. It shows that nature doesn't mean silence — it means life.
"Nature is alive with sound," Sobel said. "People explore nature and parks for a variety of reasons, parks are very personal. Some go in seek of solitude, others go for recreation and movement. Some go to reconnect with our shared heritage, others go to experience a dark night sky. The National Park Foundation’s goal with PARKTRACKS is to bring parks to people through actual natural and cultural sounds."
A recent trip to the Pacific Northwest reminded me of how being in nature, surrounded by soft sound and dappled light, provides a warm feeling of calm, but also vigor, that I'd been missing from my urban life.
Listening to the NPF's track doesn't quite replicate the feeling of tranquil awe that being among trees, rivers, and the open sky provides. But if you shut your eyes and press play, the audio forces you to take a breath. It offers a glimpse at the natural world, in repose, and a reminder of your part in it.
Topics Music Nature
Amazon Prime Grubhub deal: Save $10 off orders of $20 or more
The Philips Hue Outdoor Lightstrip lands in fall 2018
RIP Luigi (1983
We asked festival
Things Intel Needs to Fix
Twitter is worried about what Brexit means for the United States
Weird Al Yankovic joined Weezer on stage for a cover of Toto's 'Africa'
Samsung announces Bixby
Patched Laptops: Testing Meltdown & Spectre Patches on Ultraportable
The Philips Hue Outdoor Lightstrip lands in fall 2018
Parental Controls: How to Lock Down Your Kids' iOS Devices
Rolled ice cream videos are the mental summer vacation you need
Verizon may be misleading the FCC about 4G LTE coverage in rural areas
Magic Leap's first mixed reality headset is finally here for $2,295
Patched Laptops: Testing Meltdown & Spectre Patches on Ultraportable
Bulldog and fish caught repeatedly smooching in the koi pond
Amazon's Alexa will be built directly into cars for your driving needs
J.K. Rowling, Zayn, Lin
A Decade Later: Does the Q6600 Still Have Game in 2017?
Tesla's vehicle engineering chief returns to Apple
Why the Palm phone might be the perfect tech product for 2018Michael Phelps' circular bruises are due to 'cupping therapy'Audio of Jamal Khashoggi's death probably didn't come from Apple WatchTesla makes its 100,000th Model 3Jon Favreau teases his Star Wars TV series with an alarming set photoTwitter under investigation for not complying with a GDPR requestRestaurant offers free pizza every time Australia wins gold in RioGoogly eye bandit is wanted in Georgia for defacing monumentI drove my first allAdobe's new experiment turns tone deaf humming into real musicEveryone is freaking out over this weird Twitter notificationAustralian trans model Gemma Cowling is a secret social media geniusThis week on Twitter was all Harry Potter and cargo shortsVeteran raises money to send Trump to a war zone so he can earn an actual Purple HeartSudden price drop shows largest 'stablecoin,' Tether, isn't so stable after allBored Olympics lifeguard is the spirit animal for those bored at workWalmart's purchase of Jet.com, by the numbersPeugeot says selfVeteran raises money to send Trump to a war zone so he can earn an actual Purple HeartThis British Olympic swimmer's name is really confusing some Americans How to functionally abandon email This $350 Baby Yoda will not love you back 2019 was a phenomenal year for cryptocurrency (scams) The only Melania in the White House is this photograph How Google Assistant routines changed my nighttime regimen 'The Social Dilemma' and 'Coded Bias' docs sound the alarm on AI Snapchat's Bitmoji TV premiere was fittingly weird (and ironic) Samsung Galaxy S20 reservations are now open. Yes, reservations. If you turn Baby Yoda into a snowman, you get an adorable Baby Snowda Disney+ announces lineup of a variety of unscripted series The EU might try to force Apple to ditch the Lightning port. Will it work? Netflix confirms 'The Crown' will end with Season 5 starring Imelda Staunton Lincoln's first all Pornhub scares everyone to death with its terrifying April Fools' Day prank Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg doesn't need to be 'liked' Bed Bath & Beyond is the latest chain to dump Trump Amazon is recruiting social media celebrities to start their own stores on its site Sheryl Sandberg's #20PercentCounts is your new Equal Pay mantra Here's what Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg meant by being 'understood' Chinese woman gets her wish to undergo gender confirmation surgery at 72
2.6719s , 10194.0390625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【eroticism, violence, and sacrifice】,Inspiration Information Network