As evening falls over Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, the sunset sends light streaming over the silhouetted Teton Range. It’s one of the most beautiful sights you’ll ever see. Until sunrise lights up the mountains the next morning. Photo by Robert Warrington (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

About 30 minutes from Palm Springs, California, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument rises abruptly from the desert floor and reaches an elevation of 10,834 feet. Providing a picturesque backdrop to local communities, visitors can enjoy magnificent palm oases, snow-capped mountains, a national scenic trail and wilderness areas. It’s the perfect place to #OptOutside this weekend! Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management, @mypubliclands

Happy Thanksgiving! We’re thankful for public lands and all the wonder they provide. Did you know that Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey to be our national bird? Thankfully, the majestic bald eagle was chosen instead. Photo from Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska by Stewart Brackett (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

If you’re looking for fall colors on public lands, Blue Hen Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park has to be on the list. An easy drive from Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, the falls are one of the most popular spots in the park and a great place to #OptOutside. Decked in orange and yellow leaves, the forest around the picturesque falls is peaceful and welcoming. Photo by Jennifer Lhost (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

It’s a great time to flock to Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. An hour’s drive north of California’s state capital, the refuge provides critical habitat to migrating waterfowl. Duck and geese numbers peak in November and December with huge groups filling the sky. It’s an amazing experience, and another great reason to #OptOutside. Photo of snow geese by Steve McDonald, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Here are some fall colors that won’t fade away. At Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, 200-million-year-old petrified logs lie strewn across rolling clay hills. Each piece is like a giant quartz crystal. As impurities like iron and carbon oxidized, they permanently colored these ancient trees shades of red, yellow and purple. It’s a rare and beautiful sight that you’ve got to see for yourself. Photo by National Park Service.

Happy birthday, Zion National Park! On this day in 1919, Zion National Park was established. Utah’s first national park, Zion protects some of the most scenic canyon country in the United States. It includes 229 square miles of high plateaus, a maze of sandstone canyons and waterfalls with colorful hanging gardens that are so stunning they look surreal. Photo by Kuang-Yu Jen (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

It doesn’t take long for fall to turn into winter at Glacier National Park in Montana. While the falling snow brings road closures and smaller crowds, it also opens the season for skiing and snowshoeing in the park. There are options for all ability levels and trails that offer access to spectacular scenery cloaked in winter’s blanket of white. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, National Park Service.

It’s National Take A Hike Day! Some of the best places in the country to enjoy a walk outdoors are on public lands. National parks, wildlife refuges and recreation areas – as well as National Scenic Trails, National Recreation Trails and National Historic Trails – are amazing places to exercise, marvel at stunning landscapes, learn incredible stories and make lasting memories. Here’s a great view from the famous South Kaibab Trail at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Where will you #FindYourWay? Photo by Michael Quinn, National Park Service.

Dive into adventure at Biscayne National Park in Florida. Stretching out from a shoreline fringed with mangrove forest, the majority of the park covers the aquamarine waters of Biscayne Bay and extends into the Atlantic Ocean. Boating and fishing are popular activities, but some of the best views of Biscayne are found under the water, exploring the third largest coral reef in the world. Photo by Shaun Wolfe, National Park Service.