Once the sun goes down and the crowds disperse, nature comes alive. On a trip to Southern Utah, writer Jamie Spain finds a new way to see America’s parks after dark.

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I’ve spent the majority of my life doing outdoor activities: camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, you name it. It’s intrinsically part of who I am, something that defines my siblings and I so deeply it feels like it’s braided into our DNA.

Perhaps that’s because, when I was just two-and-a-half years old, my parents took my siblings and me on a two-month-long road trip from New York to Arizona, hitting dozens of state and national parks on the way. We still talk about that adventure, lovingly referred to as the Out West Trip.…