A brilliant summer sun rises over Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, shining golden light through the limbs of an old burl oak and burning away the morning fog. The refuge runs for almost 70 miles along the Minnesota River, providing visitors a unique opportunity to enjoy wildlife observation and recreation in the shadows of skyscrapers, grain elevators and towering trees. Photo by Erik Fremstad (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

Sometimes there are just no words to describe the beauty of Glacier National Park’s high alpine meadows. Video from Glacier’s Boulder Pass Trail by Ranger Amanda, National Park Service. 

Join us August 25 at the Glacier Instameet to celebrate the National Park Service’s 100th birthday. We’ll meet at Apgar Village at 6 pm – we hope to see you then!

Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is the second largest wilderness area in #Arizona. A campaign by the Arizona Boy Scouts helped establish the refuge in 1939 to protect desert bighorn sheep and other wildlife. The refuge’s name – Kofa – comes from an acronym for one of the area’s most notable mines, the King of Arizona gold mine. Photo of mountains, palo verde & brittlebush by Brian Powell (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

Have you ever seen lightning make such crazy shapes? This bolt looks like a Tyrannosaurus rex getting ready to chomp a formation at Blue Mesa in Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. Monsoons usher in summer lightning, so explore safely and be sure to check the weather. Photo by Hallie Larsen, National Park Service.

Under the sunshine of an Alaska summer, glacial runoff flows over rocks and swells streams and rivers across the state. The waters allow salmon to make their annual spawning runs, which in turn feed the bears and eagles of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. This pristine wilderness is a nature lover’s paradise. Photo by Zachary Spira-Bauer (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a rolling landscape of badlands in New Mexico, which offers some of the most unusual scenery found in the Southwest. Time, water and wind have etched a fantasy world of strange rock formations made of layered sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal and silt. The weathering of the sandstone forms hoodoos – carved rock in the form of pinnacles, spires, cap rocks and other unusual forms like these “cracked eggs” recently captured by photographer Matt Beckmann under a purple sunset. Photo courtesy of Matt Beckmann.

Summer in the PNW? Yes, please! And there’s no better place to explore than North Cascades National Park in Washington. The park is part of more than 2 million acres of wilderness, including nearby Mount Baker Wilderness (pictured here). Enjoy the solitude, peace and challenge that hiking in this beautiful park and surrounding wildernesses offer. Remember to walk lightly in all wilderness areas, so that many generations more may discover this place too. Photo courtesy of Dene Miles.

Cuteness alert: four adorable bear cubs go on a walk with their mother in Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. It’s rare to see a mother bear with that many cubs – they usually only have two or three baby bears. Next Friday, August 19, marks the 75th anniversary of the refuge, which was created to protect Kodiak bears and their habitat. Video by Lisa Hupp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wolverines are well known, but rarely seen animals. Famously fearless and incredibly tough, wolverines can travel over almost any terrain and will take on prey many times their size. Because they thrive in remote areas, it’s difficult to get good photos of these amazing animals. Luckily, on a recent boating trip on the Noatak River at Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska, National Park Service staff were able to get some pictures of this curious wolverine. Photo by S. Behrns, National Park Service.

Hey everyone, my name is Jacob W. Frank, aka Ranger Jake, and I am lucky enough to work as the visual information specialist at Glacier National Park in Montana. Interior thought it might be cool for me to take over its Instagram account today and share ranger tips on how to make a trip to Glacier memorable. Let’s get started:

Tip: Get into the Backcountry
Some places are too hard to reach during those golden hours without having to hike in the dark. The better solution is to backcountry camp. Yes it’s slower, heavier, and more of a challenge logistically with permits and planning, but sticking your head out of a tent with a view like this from Cracker Lake or any one of the other 60+ backcountry sites makes everything worthwhile. Backcountry camping also allows you to see some places that might be too far to hike in a single day. 🏃 

Check out more tips today on @USInterior’s Instagram: http://ift.tt/1lMi3Jl

 -Ranger Jake