It might be fall, but now is a good time to start planning your summer trip to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone hosts over 4 million visits a year and more than half of these happen June-August. Arrive early, stay late and if you walk half a mile from your car, you’ll leave the crowds behind (in most cases). And be sure to take the #YellowstonePledge to protect this park for current and future generations. Summer photo of Trout Lake by Jacob W. Frank, National Park Service.

The beauty of autumn attracts large numbers of sightseers to the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia. People often ask when “peak” season will occur. In a park that is nearly 470 miles long and varies over 5,000 feet in elevation, there is no simple way to predict fall color. The intensity and timing of changes are determined by complex environmental factors and the genetic makeup of the plants themselves. For those with lucky timing, the view is incredible. Photo by Philip Varney (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

Twenty miles outside of Boston, Massachusetts, and not far from the historic battlefields of Lexington and Concord, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge features 3,800 acres of wetlands and forests – perfect habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Over 200 species of birds have been sighted here, and white-tailed deer, beaver, fisher, otter, muskrats, red fox, weasels and various small mammals all find a home in the refuge. Photo by Deb Della Piana (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).