Author Archives: Josh Palecki

Picture Worthy and Vacation Ready Starved Rock Lodge and State Park

JANUARY 19, 2023 “We’ve always assumed that Starved Rock State Park was one of the most beautiful places in America, but now that Travel Lens has completed a study ranking it the seventh most-instagrammed state park in the country we can brag about it.” Said Frank Pikus, CEO of ExplorUS. Starved Rock is located in LaSalle County, Illinois, along […]

Illinois Beach Hotel Welcomes New Manager

JANUARY 18, 2023 Zion, IL,  – The Illinois Beach Hotel is pleased to welcome Donald Hamilton as the new General Manager for the hotel located in the Adeline Jay Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park.    Originally from Sonoma County California, Don earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at […]

New Company to Manage Echo Bluff Lodge Concessions

JANUARY 11, 2023 EMINENCE, MO, JAN. 11, 2023 – ExplorUS, formally Ortega National Parks, a hospitality management company operating in parks across the country, will manage the lodging, dining, retail and banquet facilities at the Echo Bluff State Park beginning this year. Echo Bluff started out as a summer youth camp called Camp Zoe over […]

Hawaii Volcano House | Halema’uma’u Crater

JANUARY 6, 2023 Hawaii Volcano House Hotel in Hawaii is a historical retreat with 33 guest rooms, 10 cabins and 16 campsites located in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Halema’uma’u crater continues to erupt here in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Our incredible staff at Hawaii Volcano House snapped the photo of the crater erupting. The […]

Tourism Management Company Redefines Service

DECEMBER 14, 2022 Overland Park, KS – During the holiday season, customer service isn’t just about providing great service at hotels, restaurants, and marinas. At least not for ExplorUS, an Overland Park company that manages several tourism related businesses in national and state parks across the country.   Last week 38 members of the corporate team volunteered […]

Kansas Based Company Manages Interesting and Diverse Sites

OCTOBER 1, 2022 When you’re featured in People Magazine, it must be a thing, right?  Have you ever thought about sledding, without snow?  Or how about sledding in shorts, with no shoes or mittens? People Magazine recently featured the White Sands National Park in New Mexico as #5 out of 25 Things to Do, Eat & See! The park […]

New Restaurant, Nolan’s, Open Inside Illinois Beach State Park

JULY 26, 2022 Nolan’s Restaurant at the Illinois Beach Hotel officially opened on July 5th, 2022, and is already getting great reviews. Open to the public, Nolan’s offers a full menu for lunch and dinner. The dinner menu features some locally sourced products and includes items such as: Wisconsin White Cheddar Cheese Curds, Nolan’s Signature […]

Hottest Place on Earth Managed by Overland Park Company

JULY 26, 2022 All the news for the past few weeks has been about the heat.  The Economist published “Heat is causing problems across the world”.   China reported that a bridge was buckling because of the heat. There are triple digits across the United States causing fires and a city park in Pennsylvania extended their pool hours […]

ExplorUS will operate Lake Wappapello State Park concessions

JULY 6, 2022 JEFFERSON CITY, MO, JULY 6, 2022 —  ExplorUS, formally Ortega National Parks, a hospitality management company operating in parks across the country, will manage lodging and limited retail operations in Lake Wappapello State Park for Missouri State Parks beginning this year.  Covering more than 1,800 acres in southeastern Missouri, Lake Wappapello State Park […]