Avalanche Lake at Glacier National Park in Montana is your perfect summer escape. Surrounded by old growth cedar and hemlock forests, the cool water of the lake takes the edge off the warmth of the sun. Marvel at the reflections in the lake and listen as the wind plays its symphony in the trees of this natural amphitheater. Photo by Tim Rains, National Park Service.

Dinosaurs once roamed here, and visitors today can see the fossils of these ancient creatures embedded in the rocks of Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado. The park also preserves petroglyphs (patterns chipped or carved into rock) and pictographs (patterns painted on rock) of designs shaped like lizards, birds, spirals and more. Photographer Dustin Baugh captured this beautiful photo before cooking dinner at his campsite: “The meadow was full of deer and Canadian geese wandering the swollen river banks, with one large bighorn sheep grazing near the cliffs.” Photo courtesy of Dustin Baugh.