

National Park After Dark
Audioboom Studios
Hosted by two friends who share a passion for public lands and a fascination with what can go wrong there, each week hosts Danielle and Cassie explore the darker side of our National Parks. But it isn’t always chills and thrills. By sharing inspiring tales and their desire for protecting our planet’s wild places, they hope listeners will be inspired to take a walk into the wild and create meaningful adventures of their own.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 12, 2026 • 1h 3min
347: The Cost of Survival: The Cordillera Huayhuash Reserved Zone (Part 2)
In a gripping tale of survival, Joe fights to escape a crevasse with a shattered leg while Simon grapples with an agonizing decision made high on Siula Grande. As night falls, the stakes soar with Joe’s struggle for water and warmth, leading him to a breakthrough that could mean life or death. Forgiveness unfolds between the two climbers, even amidst the chaos of recovery. From the horrors of isolation to the camaraderie of friendship, this harrowing journey portrays resilience against nature's brutal challenges.

Jan 5, 2026 • 60min
346: The Cost of Survival: The Cordillera Huayhuash Reserved Zone (Part 1)
High in the Cordillera Huayhuash Reserve of the Peruvian Andes, two British climbers attempt the first ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande. The mountain is remote, unforgiving, and lethal to mistakes. After reaching the summit, a catastrophic accident during the descent forces a decision that places survival and death on opposite ends of a single rope.
For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
Quince: Use our link to get free shipping and 365-day returns.
IQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products and free shipping.
Smalls: Smalls New Year’s Special - get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/NPAD.
BetterHelp: National Park After Dark is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off.

Jan 1, 2026 • 1h
345: Trail Tales 84
Today’s stories include pizza in Zion, getting stalked, mule saviors, mysterious trapezoids, and pooping lake water. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!

Dec 29, 2025 • 1h 26min
344: Willing to Risk Death Daily: Pony Express National Historic Trail
Not many of us would accept a job that risked life and limb, but for a brief moment in time, young men did just that - just to carry the mail. It may have only been in operation for 18 months, but the legacy of the Pony Express has lasted generations. A 2,000 mile horseback ride from Missouri to California posed risks of all kinds, but with no telegraph wires or trains connecting the coasts, brave men and their trusty steeds stepped up and battled the elements, warring nations and each other to keep the nation connected.
Banff Film Festival Tickets
The Pony Express Re-Ride / Letters!
For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
Ka'Chava: Go to https://kachava.com and use code NPAD. New customers get twenty dollars off an order of two bags or more, January 1st through 31st!

Dec 22, 2025 • 1h 24min
343: Murder or Kidnapping in a Gateway Town: New River Gorge National Park.
Fayetteville, West Virginia sits on the edge of the New River Gorge, a small Appalachian town now known as a gateway to one of America’s newest national parks. But on Christmas Eve in 1945, it became the setting for one of the most haunting unsolved mysteries in American history. After a house fire destroyed the home of George and Jennie Sodder, five of their children vanished without a trace, leaving behind conflicting investigations, reported sightings, unsettling clues, and a decades-long search for answers.
For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
Cash App: Download Cash App Today: [https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/ejy661fu] #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Direct Deposit, Overdraft Coverage and Discounts provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.
Rocket Money: Use our link to get started saving.

Dec 18, 2025 • 1h 6min
342: Trail Tales 83
Today’s stories include snubbing trail magic, spider inflicted injuries, railroad watchers and unexplained orbs. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
Hollow Socks: For a limited time Hollow Socks is having a Buy 2, Get 2 Free Sale. Head to Hollowsocks.com today to check it out. #Hollow Sockspod
Nutrafol: Get $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you use promo code NPAD.
Ka'Chava: Go to https://kachava.com and use code NPAD for 15% off your next order.

Dec 15, 2025 • 1h 30min
341: Death on a Painted Lake: Algonquin Provincial Park
In July of 1917 a pioneering landscape painter paddled out onto Canoe Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park and never returned. His death was initially ruled an accident, but in the following decades peculiar “evidence” and claims from the locals raised a lot of questions. Theories began to arise that maybe it wasn’t an accident after all. Tom Thomson’s death may have happened nearly 100 years ago, but it remains one of Canada’s most enduring mysteries.For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to the week’s partners!Hello Fresh: Use our link to get up to 10 FREE meals and free breakfast for life.IQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products and free shipping.Soul: For 30% off your order, head to GetSoul.com and use code NPAD.BetterHelp: National Park After Dark is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off.

Dec 8, 2025 • 1h 16min
340: Grand Canyon’s Most Daring (and Foolish) Stunts
The Grand Canyon has always been a magnet for the bold, the reckless, and the people who look at a mile-deep chasm and think... yeah, I can take that. In this episode, we race through a century of jaw-dropping stunts, from a 1922 biplane pilot who somehow landed inside the park’s early boundaries to Nik Wallenda balancing across tribal land on a high-wire without a harness. Along the way we unravel how thrill-seekers dodged rules, rewrote them, or ignored them entirely in a quest to outdo nature itself.
For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
Smalls: For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/NPAD.
Blueland: Use our link to get 15% off your first order.
Rocket Money: Use our link to get started saving.
Quince: Use our link to get free shipping and 365-day returns.
Against The Odds: Follow Against The Odds: Tsunami in Thailand on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge all episodes early and ad-free right now on Wondery+.

Dec 4, 2025 • 59min
339: Trail Tales 82
Trail Tales 82 - Today’s stories include cemetery tales, childhood tubing trauma almost felonies and ghostly protectors. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
Bellesa: EVERYONE who signs up wins a FREE WhisperVibe™ OR a FREE Rose toy with any Whisper™ order! https://www.bboutique.co/vibe/nationalparkafterdark-podcast
Jones Road Beauty: Use code [NPAD] at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Cool Gloss with your first purchase! These sell out fast so get them while they last! #JonesRoadBeauty #ad
Hollow Socks: For a limited time Hollow Socks is having a Buy 2, Get 2 Free Sale. Head to Hollowsocks.com today to check it out. #Hollow Sockspod
BBC History's Toughest Heroes: Listen to History’s Toughest Heroes at BBC.com or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Dec 1, 2025 • 1h 18min
338: Your Leg or Your Life: Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park
In November of 2024, 65 year-old Valdas Bieliauskas was on a rafting trip with a group of friends in the wilds of Tasmania when he did something we all have - he stumbled. But that trip landed him in an impossible situation. With his leg pinned between boulders in fast moving cold water, options were running out. A decision had to be made - a limb or his life.
Sources:
River Rescue Documentary
Franklin River Documentary
ABC News
For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes
For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:
Instagram: @nationalparkafterdark
TikTok: @nationalparkafterdark
Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!
Thank you to the week’s partners!
IQBAR: Text PARK to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products and free shipping.
Ollie: Take the guesswork out of your dog's well-being. Go to ollie.com/npad and use code npad to get 60% off your first box!
Naked Wines: To get 6 bottles of wine for $39.99, head to NakedWines.com/NPAD and use code NPAD for both the code AND PASSWORD.
Uncommon Goods: Use our link to get 15% off your next gift.


