Spread across the 3.3 million acres of Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve in Alaska are rugged mountains, dynamic glaciers and deep forests. Winter is harsh and services are extremely limited, but for intrepid explorers, the park dressed in frost and snow is a sight you’ll never forget. Photo by National Park Service.
Winter at Bryce Canyon National Park brings new ways to experience one of Utah’s premier parks. Besides gorgeous views, adventurers can enjoy snowshoeing, skiing and sledding through a world of white. From November through March, the park also offers ranger-led full moon snowshoe hikes. Before you go, be sure to check with the park for conditions and closures. Photo by National Park Service.
Few sights evoke the American West more than the saguaro cactus, found only in the Sonoran Desert. Saguaro National Park, close to the urban center of Tucson, Arizona, protects these majestic cacti. At the park, you can hike through fantastic desert scenery year-round. #Sunset photo courtesy of David Olsen.
Yosemite National Park in California by National Park Service.
Paria Canyon in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument by Bob Wick, BLM.
Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona by National Park Service.
Adventure awaits this holiday season! Give the America the Beautiful pass, which gives you access to 2,000+ national parks and other lands. It’s the perfect way to explore all that America has to offer: on.doi.gov/pass
Can you spot the hikers in this picture from Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve in Colorado? It’s easy to lose your perspective when looking at the tallest sand dunes in North America. A park of year-round adventure, there’s a particular beauty about this special place in winter, when snow hides in the curving shadows of the dunes. Photo by Patrick Myers, National Park Service.
What’s winter like at Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park? The mountain’s landscape undergoes a dramatic transformation. Its colorful subalpine meadows and lush old growth forests are draped with a thick blanket of snow for much of the year. The sometimes dusty-looking glaciers are freshly covered in white and the snow-covered roofs of the rustic historic buildings are rimmed with icicles – creating a picture perfect setting. Learn more about winter at the park: http://on.doi.gov/2glvuS5
This heron at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware has the right idea. It’s always nice to find a good perch and enjoy the peaceful beauty of a fall sunset. As urban development increases along the Atlantic Flyway, protected lands for migratory birds becomes even more important. With more than 16,000 acres of forests, fields and wetlands, the birds can find a place to relax; and maybe you will, too. Photo by Tim Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The winter view of Longs Peak from the Dream Lake Trail at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is an epic sight. The wind kicks up a flurry of snow, sweeping the massive mountain and sending a chill we can feel through the screen. Does this make you want to put on your boots or slide under a blanket? Photo by Brandon Selinsky (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
Denali National Park in Alaska is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along the road see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America’s tallest peak. Called The Mountain by locals, Denali stands 20,310 feet tall. Photo by National Park Service.
In southern New Mexico, surrounding the city of Las Cruces in the Río Grande’s Mesilla Valley, five iconic mountain ranges rise above Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. These mountain ranges and lowlands form the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, which was established in May 2014 to protect the area’s significant prehistoric, historic, geologic and biologic treasures. Photos by @mypubliclands.
Sig Nordal 