Manzanar National Historic Site

10/05/2026

Today’s homework: thank a teacher.

National parks are places where students can learn about history by standing where it happened, explore science by observing nature, and discover stories that help us better understand the people and places that shaped our world.

Behind those experiences are teachers helping students ask questions, make connections, and learn about the world around them.

On World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate the educators who inspire curiosity, encourage exploration and remind us that learning can happen just about anywhere. (Including places with a really good view.)

Learn more at: https://www.nps.gov/teachers/index.htm

NPS Image

10/05/2026

Every day from October 12 to November 5, 2026, visit Mission San José's granary during park hours (9am-5pm) to view the mission descendant community's family ofrendas.

Ofrendas are an essential part of Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead. The word ofrenda means offering in Spanish. They are also called "altares" or altars, but not for worship. These altars are not only full of family pictures, but of symbols and meaning, honoring the ancestors who have passed, and offering them items of the celebration such a "pan de mu**to" and marigold flowers.

NPS Photo

10/04/2026

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” — Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

And we’re rather glad there are national parks to experience them in. Fall is a great time to get outside and enjoy the spectacular spectacle (say that five times fast) of changing leaves. There is plenty of room for imagination when you find yourself surrounded by forests painted in brilliant shades of red, orange, and gold. In our experience, you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will. So consider this your invitation to find a little wonder, a little enchantment, and perhaps a kindred spirit among the trees.

Forests, woods, and shrublands in national parks put on their autumn colors from September through December. There’s a whole world of beauty waiting to be explored!

Image 1: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Image 2: Great Smoky Mountains NP
Image 3: Great Sand Dunes NPP
Image 4: Rocky Mountain National Park
Image 5: TheodoreRooseveltNPS

10/03/2026

“On October 3rd, he asked what day it was.” — Cady Heron

It’s October 3rd.

October is kind of a big deal around here. The autumn months splash many national parks with a rich array of fall colors, while cooler temperatures have wildlife getting ready for winter. Some are migrating. Some are gathering food. Some are putting on extra layers.

Same, honestly.

So whether you’re here for the foliage, the wildlife, or simply to judge the leaves on their color palette, national parks are a pretty fetch place to experience fall. Fetch? We’re making it happen.

And if you want to keep up with what’s happening in parks this season, you can find more ways to connect with your national parks at the link below.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/fall-season.htm

Image: Red Osier Dogwood leaves stand out against aspen trunks at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. NPS/Patrick Myers

10/02/2026

10/02/2026

Wherever military life takes you, there’s likely a park adventure nearby.

Active-duty military members, Veterans, and Gold Star families can get a free America the Beautiful Pass, providing access to national parks and federal recreation sites across the country.

Active-duty military families can also find free events, nearby outdoor opportunities, and resources for exploring national parks, public lands, and waterways through the Military Families Outdoors Program, wherever military life takes them. Visit: go.nps.gov/mfo

Whether you’re PCSing, exploring near your duty station, or looking for a weekend adventure, your next park visit may be closer than you think.

NPS Photo: Rangers at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park recently teamed up with Blue Star Families and community partners for a day of fishing, outdoor fun, and family time at Fletchers Cove.

Blue Star Families Defense Public Health

10/01/2026

Fat Bear Week has officially lumbered to a close.

What a week. As they say, a journey of roughly 3,000 to 4,500 calories begins with a single salmon. Something like that. There might be some steps involved too.

In the end, 16 bears entered. Bear 89 “Backpack” became champion. Talk about the hunger games. And several ate their way into our hearts. Figuratively. And thousands of us humans spent an unreasonable amount of time judging bears for being excellent at being, well, bears.

It was a week of big bellies, bigger appetites, and absolutely no regrets. We shared some science, learned about the Alaskan ecosystem, stood around for hours watching large mammals eat, and found multiple way to incorporate “chonk” in everyday vocabulary.

Now the bears have more important things to do, such as eating then sleeping, a bit more eating, sleeping, and finally preparing to sleep after eating. As for the rest of us, we all return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Must we?

We must.

We will miss you, Fat Bear Week. Until next year: stay chunky, stay hungry, and remember: there’s always room for one more salmon.

NPS Images

10/01/2026

10/01/2026

Now that Fat Bear Week is over, it's time for Chunky Puppy Day! Tune in to the Puppy Cam tomorrow, Thursday, October 1, at 2pm AK time to find out how big the America's Best Idea litter got this summer.

How much do you think they weigh now? Share your guesses in the comments below.

NPS Photo: Graupel from the Weather litter during a weigh-in last year.

09/30/2026

This is the ideal marmot body. You may not like it. You may not understand it. But this is what peak performance looks like.

Now that Fat Bear Week is over, we’re returning to our regularly scheduled programming: other fat mammals.

The tundra-dwelling yellow-bellied marmots have been preparing for hibernation for the last couple of months. Since marmots spend more than half their lives hibernating, they’ve developed some impressive adaptations for surviving the winter:

✅ First, they’ve been building up healthy fat reserves (sound familiar? Bears. Us too, but that’s another post) to sustain them for up to eight months. Basically, a nice winter savings account.

✅ When they finally enter hibernation, they become true hibernators, slowing their heart rate from around 200 beats per minute to as low as 30. It’s an impressive energy-saving strategy.

✅ Speaking of saving, they also save on utilities by cuddling up with the colony in a communal burrow. Because heating is expensive, and roommates are the answer. Was that on the lease?

NPS Photo: A rotund marmot standing on a rock at Rocky Mountain National Park

09/26/2026

Orchards have been part of the landscape at Manzanar from the early 1900s. The incarceration camp was placed at Manzanar partially to utilize leftover infrastructure from the orchard town that had existed for a short time at the same location.

When Japanese Americans were forced into incarceration here, they started caring for the orchards and incorporating them into the lives they lived behind barbed wire. In an oral history, Sue Kunitomi Embrey recalled, “ But [my mother] never talked about what happened, until many years later when we were talking and she said, ‘You know, the first couple of weeks we were in Manzanar, I used to walk all the way up to the orchard and I used to sit there and cry, but after a couple of weeks I decided that was not very productive and stopped doing that.’ “

People used the fruit produced by the orchards for all sorts of culinary purposes. Though there were rules around the harvest. Kenji Suematsu, who was incarcerated at the Manzanar Children’s Village, shared this story, “And the other incidents that I recall was going into the orchard and grabbing pears on a tree and then getting punished for it because we were supposed to stay out of the orchard and not take any pears…I don’t know what the rules were but for the children, we were supposed to stay out of there…But when we got caught our punishment was to get a spoonful of cod liver oil. I don’t know if you know of cod liver, well, some people do but it’s a horrible taste.”

You can learn more about the Manzanar Oral History Program on our website at: https://www.nps.gov/manz/learn/historyculture/manzanar-oral-history-interviews.htm

Today, the National Park Service cares for orchards at Manzanar to honor their importance in the story of Japanese American incarceration. If you visit and fruit is in season, as pears are now, feel free to safely collect small amounts of fruit around the site for your personal use.

Image text: A pear tree, loaded with fruit, in one of Manzanar’s historic orchards. [NPS Image]

09/25/2026

Please join Manzanar National Historic Site on Saturday, October 24, 2026, for a screening of the new documentary, Little Guayule: The Lost Manzanar Rubber Project.

Two showings of the approximately one-hour film will take place, one at 12:00 noon and another at 2:00 p.m. Each screening will be followed by a moderated panel discussion, featuring film director Cory Shiozaki and others, who will share additional information about the making of the film and the history of guayule cultivation at Manzanar.

Attendance is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Guayule, a plant native to the desert Southwest, is a natural source of non-latex rubber. During World War II, the Japanese Empire’s occupation of much of Southeast Asia meant that the Allies lost access to major sources of natural rubber.

In a remarkable story of skill, resilience, and ingenuity, Japanese Americans incarcerated at Manzanar and elsewhere worked to cultivate guayule and dramatically improve methods for extracting rubber from the plant. Little Guayule: The Lost Manzanar Rubber Project helps bring this little-known chapter of Manzanar history to light.

Image 1: Walter Watanabe, one of the project workers, holds two guayule plants while incarcerated at Manzanar. [Photo courtesy of the National Archives]

Image 2: Members of the Manzanar Guayule Project survey a field of guayule and temporary lath structures.
[Photo courtesy of the National Archives]

09/21/2026

Thank you to the Japanese American Museum of Oregon for organizing last weekend's special screening of the 1976 film adaptation of "Farewell to Manzanar." We also wish to thank the panelists for sharing their insights on the film and its impact over the past fifty years.

Farewell to Manzanar holds profound importance for Japanese Americans as the first major film adaptation to portray the wartime incarceration camps. Based on Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir, the film gave voice to over 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes and detained during World War II. For many survivors and their descendants, this film represented the first time their families’ experiences were validated and shared with mainstream America.

Here are some photos of the film's behind-the-scenes, taken by panelist Wes Fukumori.

Image 1 Description: 1975 photo of the cast of Farewell to Manzanar in their roles as members of the Wakatsuki Family. [Photo courtesy of Wes Fukumori]

Image 2 Description: Farewell to Manzanar movie set at Tule Lake, 1975. [Photo courtesy of Wes Fukumori]

Image 3 Description: Members of the cast in period clothing on the Farewell to Manzanar set at Tule Lake (actors from left to right: Akemi Kikumura, Seth Sakai, Momo Yashima, Dori Takesh*ta, Tane Daijogo). [Photo courtesy of Wes Fukumori]

Image 4 Description: Left to right: Louis Frizzell (a teacher in Manzanar who played himself in the movie), Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (a child incarcerated in Manzanar, author of Farewell to Manzanar, Sue Kunitomi Embrey (young adult incarcerated at Manzanar, co-chair of the Manzanar Committee). On the set of Farewell to Manzanar at Tule Lake in 1975. [Photo courtesy of Wes Fukumori]

09/11/2026

Reminder: Please join the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and Manzanar National Historic Site, tomorrow, September 12, for a special 50th Anniversary film screening of Farewell to Manzanar at the actual site where the film took place.

The day will feature three events. First, at 11 am, a slideshow of photos from the making of the film curated and delivered by Wes Fukumori. Second, at 1 pm, a screening of the film Farewell to Manzanar. Third, after the film concludes, Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong will moderate a panel discussion with Cory Houston, Josh Houston, Wes Fukumori, and James Saito to talk about the making of the film and its impact. The event will take place at the Manzanar NHS interpretive center in the west theatre. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Farewell to Manzanar holds profound importance for Japanese Americans as the first major film adaptation to portray the wartime incarceration camps. Based on Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir, the film gave voice to over 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes and detained during World War II. For many survivors and their descendants, this film represented the first time their families’ experiences were validated and shared with mainstream America.

Farewell to Manzanar Film Screening Saturday, September 12, 11 am – 4 pm, Manzanar National Historic Site 5001 Highway 395 Independence, CA 93526

[Image Text] – Reproduction of the sign at the official entrance to the Manzanar. Anyone who entered or exited the camp passed this sign and armed military police at the nearby sentry post. (NPS Image)

09/05/2026

Reminder: Please join the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and Manzanar National Historic Site, on Saturday, September 12, for a special 50th Anniversary film screening of Farewell to Manzanar at the actual site where the film took place.

The day will feature three events. First, at 11 am, a slideshow of photos from the making of the film curated and delivered by Wes Fukumori. Second, at 1 pm, a screening of the film Farewell to Manzanar. Third, after the film concludes, Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong will moderate a panel discussion with Cory Houston, Josh Houston, Wes Fukumori, and James Saito to talk about the making of the film and its impact. The event will take place at the Manzanar NHS interpretive center in the west theatre. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Farewell to Manzanar holds profound importance for Japanese Americans as the first major film adaptation to portray the wartime incarceration camps. Based on Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir, the film gave voice to over 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes and detained during World War II. For many survivors and their descendants, this film represented the first time their families’ experiences were validated and shared with mainstream America.

Farewell to Manzanar Film Screening Saturday, September 12, 11 am – 4 pm, Manzanar National Historic Site 5001 Highway 395 Independence, CA 93526

[Image Text] – Reproduction of the sign at the official entrance to the Manzanar. Anyone who entered or exited the camp passed this sign and armed military police at the nearby sentry post. (NPS Image)

08/29/2026

There are many roles needed to take care of a National Park Service site. Manzanar National Historic Site has about a dozen staff members who: clean bathrooms, remove tumbleweeds, answer visitors’ questions, write exhibits, maintain administrative records, order supplies and equipment, care for the site’s historic orchards, make repairs in the buildings, take in donations for the museum collection, catalogue artifacts found during archeology projects, and more.

Continuing with Staff Saturday, here are some photos of Manzanar staff preserving and interpreting the site throughout the year.

Image descriptions:
1) Sarah, a park ranger, talks to a group of college students about Manzanar’s history.
2) Roger, a maintenance worker, repaints the outer walls of the Interpretive Center.
3) Naomi, the site’s administration assistant, excitedly poses with a pair of STOP signs purchased for events.
4) Jeff, the site’s archeologist, supervises the excavation of the historic Block 6 garden during a community archeology project.
5) Gil, a maintenance worker, rebuilds the reconstructed basketball hoop after a windstorm.
6) Jesse, the site’s archeology technician, measures a ceramic fragment for cataloguing.

NPS Photos

08/28/2026

Please join the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and Manzanar National Historic Site, on Saturday, September 12, for a special 50th Anniversary film screening of Farewell to Manzanar at the actual site where the film took place.

The day will feature three events. First, at 11 am, a slideshow of photos from the making of the film curated and delivered by Wes Fukumori. Second, at 1 pm, a screening of the film Farewell to Manzanar. Third, after the film concludes, Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong will moderate a panel discussion with Cory Houston, Josh Houston, Wes Fukumori, and James Saito to talk about the making of the film and its impact. The event will take place at the Manzanar NHS interpretive center in the west theatre. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Farewell to Manzanar holds profound importance for Japanese Americans as the first major film adaptation to portray the wartime incarceration camps. Based on Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir, the film gave voice to over 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes and detained during World War II. For many survivors and their descendants, this film represented the first time their families’ experiences were validated and shared with mainstream America.

Farewell to Manzanar Film Screening Saturday, September 12, 11 am – 4 pm, Manzanar National Historic Site 5001 Highway 395 Independence, CA 93526

[Image Text] – Reproduction of the sign at the official entrance to the Manzanar. Anyone who entered or exited the camp passed this sign and armed military police at the nearby sentry post. (NPS Image)

08/27/2026

For Thankful Thursday, we are grateful to the many volunteers who have contributed to the preservation of Manzanar National Historic Site and the interpretation of its history.

Volunteers-in-Parks (also known as VIPs) have participated in community archeology projects, the restoration of Merritt Park, and the reconstruction of the baseball field. They also engage with visitors in the Interpretive Center, tend to the rose garden, direct traffic at the annual pilgrimage, and help maintain archival materials, including oral histories.

Many of these VIPs have personal connections to World War II incarceration, including relatives who were at Manzanar. Others may join through an interest in archeology, baseball, or local community service. Altogether, VIPs are an important part of Manzanar’s legacy and play a vital role in the stewardship of public lands. Thank you for what you do!

Image descriptions:
1) Three volunteers provide maps and answer questions as visitors enter the interpretive center.
2) Four volunteers scoop out dirt in the historic Block 6 garden during a community archeology project.
3) Three volunteers sift dirt to uncover small artifacts during a community archeology project.
4) A volunteer, wearing an oversized origami hat made by a staff member, scans historic documents.

NPS Photos

08/23/2026

Manzanar is located in a high desert environment where temperatures can reach over 100F degrees during the summer. For Safety Sunday, here are a few tips to prevent heat-related illnesses during your visit:

- Check the weather forecast. In the desert, air temperature above 90F degrees is a risk factor for heat illness.
- Wear breathable clothing and sun protection, such as hats and sunscreen.
- Drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated. Drink before you are thirsty.
- Check in with your travel companions and look out for signs of heat illness, such as dizziness or rapid breathing.
- Learn more about heat-related illnesses and how to prevent them by visiting https://www.nps.gov/articles/heat-illness.htm

Image description: Incarcerated Japanese Americans rest in the shade of a barrack. In the summer heat, their living quarters in the tar-papered barracks were often hotter and more stifling than the air outside. [Photo by Dorothea Lange, courtesy of the National Archives]

08/22/2026

The interpretive center and Block 14 exhibits are open again as scheduled.

The interpretive center will continue to be open 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM Friday - Monday. The Block 14 Exhibits will continue to be open 9:00 AM - 4:15 PM daily.