Sequoia National Park

Ooh! Ahh! Dive! Dive! Is it a bus? Is it a boat? It's a duck! New York Splash Tours now offers amphibious tours of the Big Apple. Its new fleet of AquaBuses ferries visitors from Times Square through the streets of New York before driving into the Hudson River for a view of the famed Manhattan skyline. Enter the river through a short tunnel ride that simulates a stormy sea voyage. Join the captain for a one-hour tour. Adults $29, children 3 to 11 $20. Info: (877) 527-4691, www.coachusa.

After a five-hour haul up to Sequoia National Park with a tent and cooler stuffed for a weekend camping sojourn in big-tree country, you wouldn't dream of pulling into Lodgepole campground at dusk without a reservation. More than 200 chock-a-block campsites occupy this unofficial Mission Control for car campers in one of the country's most popular parks.

A giant sequoia thought to be more than 2,900 years old has sprouted new shoots and branches in what park rangers are calling a landmark recovery for a tree predicted to die from rot and fire damage. The Washington tree, which measures more than 100 feet in circumference at its base, is touted as the world's second-largest living tree, eclipsed only by the neighboring Gen. Sherman tree.

Controversial logging legislation by a San Joaquin Valley congressman would hasten several timber projects in the Sequoia and Sierra national forests, environmentalists say. The plan by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) has been presented as a way to keep forests healthy and sawmill workers employed. But environmentalists say it threatens vulnerable species, as well as Giant Sequoia National Monument. A House hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

NO pain, no gain. That's what people always say to get you to do something hard, like carry 30 pounds of gear on your back, sleep on the ground, eat freeze-dried food and go without a bath. But if you had the chance to get into the wilderness without such hassle -- be honest now -- wouldn't you take it? Some die-hard lovers of the great outdoors claim to appreciate the hardships of backpacking.

A just-unearthed cave formed more than 1 million years ago could yield new insight into the geological history of the American West, according to scientists, who called the discovery a major find. Four amateur cave explorers uncovered the vast caverns, stretching more than 1,000 feet into a remote mountainside, in August. Visitors to the cave, dubbed Ursa Minor, described seeing millions of crystals that shimmered like diamonds lodged in its walls.

The world's second-biggest tree, a sequoia known as the Washington Tree, has become a fractured shadow of its former self. But officials at Sequoia National Park say they don't know for sure if it is dying. The tree, which is probably at least 2,500 years old, has lost more than half its 254-foot height in a forest fire and recent winter storms and doesn't have many branches with green growth left.

Weed whacking has taken on a whole new flavor at Sequoia National Park, as the park completes a monthlong project to restore natural conditions to 180 acres damaged by marijuana growers. Marijuana growing in the park has increased dramatically. In 2001, 5,000 plants were discovered, and last year, 44,000 plants with an estimated street value of $170 million were found.

Spring visitors can see the big trees of Sequoia National Park and save on their room rates. The $79 per-room rate is good Sundays through Thursdays until May 19 at Wuksachi Lodge in the Central Sierras park. The rate, which is subject to space availability, is valid for up to two people per room. Children 12 and younger can stay free in their parents' room. For information or reservations, call (888) 252-5757 or see www.visitsequoia.comv.

The ready aren't so rough anymore. Fueled by baby boomers' preference for warm beds and showers in the wilderness, more Americans appear to be giving a cold shoulder to camping in the nation's parks. Camping at national park sites slid 12% between 1999 and 2004, according to the Park Service. Long a prime demographic for the parks, boomers are increasingly opting for more outdoors amenities, including lodges, hotels or cabins.