National Park After Dark

3,324

Hosted by two friends who share a passion for the wilderness and a fascination with what can go wrong there, each week hosts Danielle and Cassie explore the darker side of our National Parks and explore these treasured places in a whole new way - because behind the iconic arches and towering trees lie layered histories, grisly encounters, extraordinary stories of survival, tragic ends and so much more. But it isn’t always chills and thrills. By sharing inspiring tales and their desire for protecting our planet’s wild places, they hope the show will inspire listeners to lace up their own hiking boots and take a walk into the wild to create meaningful adventures of their own.

Recent Episodes
  • 282: The Port Chicago Disaster. Port Chicago Naval Magazine National
    Feb 17, 2025 – 56:33
  • 281: Trail Tales 64
    Feb 13, 2025 – 01:06:41
  • 280: The Park That Almost Never Was. Biscayne National Park.
    Feb 10, 2025 – 01:00:32
  • Introducing Blink - Jake Haendel’s Story. Heroin, Secrets. Deadly Betrayal.
    Feb 4, 2025 – 05:20
  • 279: Finding Aubrey. Langtang National Park.
    Feb 3, 2025 – 01:03:33
  • 278: Trail Tales 63
    Jan 30, 2025 – 52:46
  • 277: NPAD Turns FOUR
    Jan 27, 2025 – 02:04:10
  • 276: Til’ Death Do Us Part. Glacier National Park.
    Jan 20, 2025 – 01:09:11
  • 275: Trail Tales 62
    Jan 16, 2025 – 01:04:15
  • 274: Lafitte’s Lost Loot. Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.
    Jan 13, 2025 – 01:09:55
  • 273: Murder on the Appalachian Trail.
    Jan 6, 2025 – 47:09
  • 272: Bringing the Mountain to the Movies ft. Andrew Kightlinger.
    Jan 2, 2025 – 58:57
  • 271: Carrying the Torch with Leitah Mkhabela of the Black Mambas
    Dec 30, 2024 – 58:02
  • 270: Honeymoon From Hell. Manuripi-Heath National Amazon Wildlife Reserve.
    Dec 23, 2024 – 01:14:00
  • 269: Trail Tales 61
    Dec 19, 2024 – 53:59
  • 268: Madness in McCarthy. Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Part 2.
    Dec 16, 2024 – 01:07:12
  • 267: Madness in McCarthy. Wrangell - St. Elias National Park. Part 1.
    Dec 9, 2024 – 01:35:40
  • 266: Trail Tales 60
    Dec 5, 2024 – 01:01:03
  • 265: Taken? Allagash Wilderness Waterway.
    Dec 2, 2024 – 01:20:01
  • 264: National Park After Dark is Scared to Death
    Nov 25, 2024 – 01:22:30
  • 263: Trail Tales 59
    Nov 22, 2024 – 43:28
  • 262: The Queen of the Tetons. Grizzly 399.
    Nov 22, 2024 – 01:23:04
  • Introducing: Mind of a Serial Killer
    Nov 12, 2024 – 20:58
  • 261: The Disappearance of Trenny Gibson. Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
    Nov 11, 2024 – 01:39:46
  • 260: Trail Tales 58
    Nov 7, 2024 – 59:44
  • 259: The Murder of Ranger Robert McGhee. Gulf Islands National Seashore.
    Nov 4, 2024 – 45:27
  • 258: History and Haunts of Oz. Sydney Harbour National Park.
    Oct 28, 2024 – 01:24:13
  • 257: Trail Tales 57
    Oct 24, 2024 – 46:21
  • 256: A Haunted Historic Tour of Antietam National Battlefield.
    Oct 21, 2024 – 57:46
  • 255: Phone a (Dead) Friend. Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
    Oct 14, 2024 – 53:23
  • Listen Now: Kill List
    Oct 8, 2024 – 05:45
  • 254: Rocky Mountain National Park’s Historic Tea Room.
    Sep 30, 2024 – 59:55
  • 253: Trail Tales 56
    Sep 26, 2024 – 01:13:28
  • 252: Death, She Wrote ft. Randi Minetor
    Sep 23, 2024 – 01:15:38
  • 251: Murder of Six. Wells Gray Provincial Park. Part 2.
    Sep 16, 2024 – 01:03:41
  • 250: Trail Tales 55
    Sep 12, 2024 – 01:00:11
  • 249: Murder of Six. Wells Gray Provincial Park. Part 1.
    Sep 9, 2024 – 01:08:23
  • 248: The Mann Gulch Fire Tragedy. Helena National Forest.
    Sep 2, 2024 – 01:04:24
  • 247: Trail Tales 54
    Aug 29, 2024 – 40:37
  • 246: Lights on the Mountain. Pisgah National Forest.
    Aug 26, 2024 – 01:03:36
  • 245: Grizzly Confidential ft. Kevin Grange
    Aug 19, 2024 – 52:04
  • 244: Trail Tales 53
    Aug 15, 2024 – 01:03:06
  • 243: Undercover in an Asylum. Blackwell Island.
    Aug 12, 2024 – 01:10:35
  • 242: The Valley Killings. Alpine National Park.
    Aug 5, 2024 – 01:26:57
  • 241: Trail Tales 52
    Aug 1, 2024 – 47:40
  • 240: Ranger Gone Missing. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
    Jul 29, 2024 – 01:05:30
  • 239: Titanic of the West. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
    Jul 22, 2024 – 01:24:25
  • 238: Trail Tales 51
    Jul 18, 2024 – 43:30
  • 237: The Heroine of Niagara Falls.
    Jul 15, 2024 – 01:00:50
  • 236: On Our Signal. Virgin Islands National Park.
    Jul 8, 2024 – 01:00:50
Recent Reviews
  • HaileyZacharski
    Love this show!!!
    I’ve been listening to NPAD for about a year now after my husband first introduced me to it. As lovers of hiking/national and state parks/the great outdoors, and as a huge fan of true crime myself, he thought I would love the stories that Cassie and Danielle share in each episode and he was completely right! I’ve become truly obsessed with tuning in to episodes as I walk on my walking pad, clean the house, and drive to various destinations. I cannot recommend it enough!
  • eholnope
    Love this pod
    I love NPAD! Literally my only issue is that the hosts misspeak rather often. They use words incorrectly at least a few times per episode. Ex: “he interjected himself into their lives” when it should be “he inserted himself into their lives”. the words they choose sound similar, but don’t mean the same thing.
  • hundreds of listens
    LOL and Great.
    Great work. Laughed out loud at pale, black choker, and about to kill someone, and ending with “Watch you back”. You could scare Nino Brown. Great show.
  • Hghuug
    Thank you
    I love Cassie and Danielle. They are genuine and excellent story tellers and I love the variety from true crime, survival, history and Trail Tales. Your friendship and banter is genuine and fun. So glad I found this podcast .
  • gabagabaga
    Most recent episode is completely mislabeled ?
    Most recent episode is completely mislabeled ? It’s a story, at least the beginning, about Jake but the title says it’s about a woman. Disorganized…
  • HangryHiker
    Used to be one of my favorites, ads have gotten out of hand.
    10 minute ad to start the show and three breaks within the first 20 minutes. This pod used to be top of the list, hate to see it run down with ads like this.
  • emily_e42069
    Swooning for NPAD
    An awesome listen that is funny, informative, and makes me want to hike (while watching my back of course) 😉
  • Adele 123
    Great podcasts for the outdoorsy
    Ladies I absolutely love listening to your podcast. I too love all things nature! Listening to your podcasts on those days I can’t get to the outdoors, has been a lifesaver. Keep up with the amazing stories, research, and listener tails. 🖤
  • Asciguy
    'NEMO'
    'nobody', 'no one' and the belief in woo is not appealing..'abducted by aliens'🤣🤣goodbye💀
  • indyyxo
    Ian wrote & played the music?!
    What a special, eternal, memento from Ian. I absolutely love the music. Thank you for sharing your story’s this last episode. Loved listening. ♥️
  • rissaloro
    Great show!
    I love this show! The hosts are great storytellers. I learn so much about our parks, history, new places, interesting and inspiring people and new books to read. Thank you NPAD!!!
  • cassridung
    Amazingness
    These ladies bring me so much joy with their stories. My favorite thing to do is listen to them!
  • Lillerslol
    Insufferable
    Was looking for something to listen to while knitting and this is not it.
  • Neil Josten
    too many ad breaks
    I like this show. But I genuinely can't listen to it sometimes because of how they do ads. It's normal to do 2-3 breaks with 2-3 ads for each break... They do like 7 breaks every episode with just one ad each, interrupting the flow of the podcast badly. Drives me absolutely bonkers.
  • catfish rap
    Too far
    Usually a fan of the podcast but Cassie’s apparent infatuation with Luigi mangione went a bit too fan girl. I thought you all were all about being independent/strong women? Swooning over a handsome murderer seems to be off brand even if it was a poorly timed joke—your intro to this episode recognized the massacre in NOLA but you didn’t feel it might be smart to cut a joke about glorifying the cold blooded killing of an innocent person (1% or not)? Sure you won’t read this, but you’ve lost a listener.
  • Jess2menot
    My fav pod
    My absolute favorite podcast! My brother in law introduced me back in 2021 and I’ve been hooked since. Love the stories, the banter, love it all!
  • 4kids2cats1dog
    The Lugi comment.
    You lost me on the Lugi comment. He is a murderer and not someone to be hailed as a hero.
  • TS the Language Lady
    Usually love it, but not today.
    Ok. Usually I love the podcast, but the show from 1/13, not so much. Let’s not glorify Luigi Mangioni. No one should be murderered. Period. Gun violence and murder is never ok. Please think about what you’re saying before you say it to hundreds of thousands of people. Ughh.
  • lexwollin
    Favorite Pod
    Been here since the very beginning, and the love I have for these girls and their story telling skills is insane! I always felt so drawn to them like they’re my sisters. I even got to talk to Danielle and tell her things i never thought I’d be able to say directly to her. Cass I’m here for you too! I cheer up getting to hang with them especially in the subscriber community. 🥰Despite the podcast having darker story topics sometimes- they do so so well at keeping it PG-13 This is the only podcast I will listen to with my 7 year old because they are so mindful about the way they talk & how much they cuss as well!! Don’t ever stop doing what you girls are doing!!!!💜 can’t wait to finally MEET YALL 😭🥰
  • JBirkenstock
    Obsessed!!
    Started listening yesterday and already 12 episodes in. It’s like a book I can’t put down. Edge of your seat story telling with perfect amounts of witty side banter/comments. I can’t figure out how I missed this. Even though some of these are horrific stories, it has reignited my dream of working for the parks department.
  • Irishgal44
    My favorite
    Love the story telling…so great. I also love the banter between the hosts now and then. It adds a personal touch. I look forward to every Monday when a new episode is released.
  • Gisele.o_jello
    Love it so much
    Discovered this podcast recently and jumped right in. I love the topics they cover and how much research they do ahead of time. Although people complain about them interjecting in the storyline I think it makes it more personal and it’s easier to connect to these faceless voices. Put my bf onto this podcast and we listen every week!!!
  • MorbidOutdoorsPodcast
    been a listener for years
    I love learning facts about parks and our public lands. And I love the mix of stories/topics from NPAD. You guys are the ones who inspired me to start my own pod! Much love from Elyse at Morbid Outdoors Podcast! ❤️
  • Kcherry89
    Terrible story tellers
    Interesting story but terrible story tellers. Tried to listen to the Madness in McCarthy episode after reading a positive review on it but couldn’t make it through the first episode. They take forever to get to the point and continuously interject.
  • Gear smear
    Used to be a better show…
    One of these hosts is so condescending to the other. The one with the deep voice is kind of a jerk.
  • BMBHLH
    Wish there was less swearing
    I love this podcast and I try to only listen to certain stories around my kids that seem like they’d be appropriate. The stories like the survivor stories for example. Otherwise I wear my headphones. Well I thought they would be appropriate until the f bombs started rolling on. I wish there wasn’t as much swearing and it was more respectful for families
  • NP Tim
    Too Much Subscriber Focus
    I’ve been listening to this podcast for a little while now and have mostly enjoyed it. The unsolved murder mysteries are the best and the latest one about the Pilgrim family in Wrangell-St Elias had me on the edge of my seat! Even a little of the paranormal can be a fun diversion at times. I don’t like that there are so many subscriber-only episodes, but I also understand they’re trying to make money. However, I was shocked when I pulled up the latest episode that I had been waiting for — the second part about the Pilgrim family only to find out it’s subscriber-only. I get you’d like people to have the paid subscription to your podcast, but any leanings I had in that direction are now gone.
  • ShadyPines89
    Quality drop in new episodes
    I’ve listened to at least 40-50 episodes, and a lot of the older ones are great. The past year or so, the episodes are far too saturated with ads and plugs for their merch/patreon/events. I understand that is part of building a brand and business, but it’s over the top at this point. The hosts also get off topic consistently and take about 10 minutes to actually start talking about the story they are telling.
  • Darkone88123
    One of my favorites
    My girlfriend actually told me about this podcast because we are the type that are into paranormal/mystery podcasts. I have to say you two do an awesome job at mixing in history, folklore, mystery, and tragedy. I will admit some times the episode can hit harder than others but I still enjoy every minute.
  • annie11808
    Feels like I’m talking about morbid things with my besties
    Love their story telling!
  • Isthisnametakenyet74837483
    It’s something to listen to
    Some of the stories are very very interesting. Most of them I drift in and out of because I feel like I am being read an entry from Wikipedia but with grating grammatical errors peppered through out. “Her and her mom” is never the right way to start a sentence. (Objects used as subjects is a constant annoyance). It sounds as if they are reading from a script, which is fine, but run the grammar check on it beforehand please. I really like some of the stories but it is downright hard to listen to.
  • tracyforeman
    Like it but don’t love it
    I enjoy learning about history of parks and the crimes/incidents that happe. However sometimes you two go so far off the story into your own personal stories that it’s just annoying.
  • GataBlancaTara
    Coy Wolf Mass
    I saw a coy Wolf in my parents back yard last year. On the outer Cape. I whistled and it stopped , looked in my direction, then moved on( I was inside by the window, behind a window screen..
  • kacienc
    You learn something new every episode
    I love this show and these ladies so much. I have listened from the very beginning and have enjoyed every episode so much. I love the outdoors but don’t do much adventuring, however, you don’t need to, to enjoy this podcast. I love learning about the history of national parks and so much more. Thank you for all that you do and share with us all!
  • Thobbs3
    Natural Decline
    I’ve been listening to this pod for a few years now. If I were reviewing them 1-2 years ago, I probably would have given them a 4 star rating. The topics they used to cover were fascinating and I am in love with our Nation Parks so this was naturally a good fit for me. However, in recent months/the past year, I feel as though their focus has drifted to more spiritual nonsense and other topics that I could not care less about. Essentially, if you are enamored by the personalities of the hosts, I think you will enjoy this pod. I cannot say I ever really loved their personas. Their utter lack of historical knowledge coupled with their often times unnatural scripted delivery has really sullied this pod for me. I know pods are scripted but I don’t like when it feels like they’re reading their notes to me. In between the scripted readings, they genuinely connect and share anecdotes that can be enjoyable. So, if you identify or truly enjoy their personalities, I think you’ll still love this pod. But it you aren’t fully on board, it can feel tedious at times.
  • AudiGeorge
    Great stories told by great humans.
    Thank you, ladies.
  • MAJORVSCOFAN
    I tried to like this but the hosts are obnoxious
    I really tried to get on board but the hosts constant senseless input made it impossible for me to continue listening. They spend half the time stating the obvious and giving their personal opinion or input… just tell the story. They sound ignorant most of the time since they don’t seem very educated on most of the matters they comment on.
  • Catd1964
    Great podcast
    This is my new favorite podcast! I love the stories. I also enjoy hearing all the information about each park they cover.
  • jandrzoo
    Couldn’t get any better!
    What do you get when you add the outdoors, true crime, paranormal and toss in some aliens for fun? The perfect podcast aka National Parks After Dark! You constantly learn something new, whether it’s a new place to explore OR a place to avoid! I cannot begin to tell you how many hours I’ve spent with my besties! Last summer my hubs starting telling about a story from his new favorite podcast, until I rudely interrupted him by laughing and finished the story and said “Let me guess, National Parks after Dark?” He laughed and said he should have known I would be a long time listener and then chewed me out for not sharing!
  • xXCrystalWarriorCatsXx
    Gripping stories!!
    Absolutely love this podcast! The storytelling is so well paced, well researched and fascinating !!
  • Papa John 2017
    Many good episodes, but some elements are problematic
    I enjoy many of their episodes. The ones regarding true crime capture my interest often times. The challenge is that forgive me… These are two kids, and it is evident from a production standpoint that this is the case. What I mean is, they speak as they might have in high school or younger. They really haven’t put any effort into speaking in a grammatically, correct, professional context. I don’t mean that as insulting but hopefully helpful. For example, the word “anyway “never ever has an S at the end of it. This is habitual. Another common grammatical error that would be easily corrected. Is when they misuse “I“ and “me”. They overuse eye when they should be using to term me. Whenever a first person pronoun follows a preposition, it should be me (hardly ever I). So if one states “from you and me.” Me should never be substituted with “I.” it’s easy to figure this out. Simply remove the “you” in front of it and see, which sounds better. The other fact that is annoying is that they speak often times in a way that overly tilts their worldview. For example, I am a strong affinity with them for nature and protection of our natural resources and good stewardship. I diverge with them, seemingly on social and economic issues, it is my view that a that the best of podcasts do not have the hosts over the sharing such views on a non-political podcast. Doing so alienates many listeners.
  • OnlyTVthatmakesmehappy
    Such great story telling!
    They really explore interesting stories about places we are all familiar with. Worth a listen and subscribe.
  • janet.e.allen
    Older episode
    I just listened to an older episode from April 2022, In The Crosshairs. I’m in tears, 06, my heart. I’ve spent time in Yellowstone, my favorite park! I’ve been in Jacksonhole during a demonstration to support the wolves. I’ve signed partitions to support wolves. To me it’s just common sense! Almost, a complete no brainer! Protect all wildlife! But never have a felt a connection to a wolf! Your story telling in this episode is beautiful! To draw one into her life was so well done! I’m a national park junky and you have added many to my “list”. Well done!
  • Christina050203
    Great podcast
    I’ve been listening for a few years and love the podcast! However I have noticed the sound quality for the podcast has worsened these past few episodes- I’m not sure if this is due to you guys also uploading to youtube now, maybe you’re already working to fix it. But great stories and I still listen to every episode!
  • Seattlestacey
    Love
    This is my favorite podcast - look forward to it every week. Good stories and love the chats between the hosts. My mom now listens religiously too :)
  • okiug67
    The hosts voice needs work.
    I can listen while on my long walks. I can not get through with Cas creaky voice sounds underwhelmed and disengaged as if she’s running out of breathe. Thank you.
  • Marlin954
    You keep on swearing
    I love both of y’all, you keep it real. I laugh out loud and learn from you. Keep it up, and be natural (organic). I’ve been listening for ever; but since you said something about swearing. Here I am ; you don’t swear that much and it’s natural. Just stay the same (true) , and of course learn and move forward.
  • Dissatisfied 1234567
    Murder of six
    I’ve listened to more than a dozen of your podcasts. This one with repeated mentions of sexual abuse to minors was just too much for me. I get that that was a part of the crime but addressing it once and not inputting your speculation regarding such would have been more appropriate in my opinion. This is not what I came for.
  • JenJD77
    So many books yay
    I love this podcast. They effortlessly reference full-length books pertaining to each case. It’s clear they put the work in and love doing research.
  • Fanny Briggs
    You go girls
    Love this podcast! I look forward to the next one as soon as this one is over. Good story tellers.
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