Fall at Denali National Park in Alaska means gorgeous autumn colors and hungry brown bears. To get ready their long winter sleep, bears spend the summer and fall packing on the pounds – gorging themselves on salmon, berries and grass. Sleeping snugly in their dens, breathing only once a minute and dropping their heart rate to 8-10 beats a minute, bears will live on their fat stores during the dark, cold winter. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, National Park Service.

Scenic panoramas of the Rogue Valley and surrounding mountains await you at the Table Rocks Area of Critical Environmental Concern in Oregon. This 3,172-acre area is cooperatively managed by the Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy to provide educational opportunities and protect special biologic, geologic, and scenic values. Steep hiking trails lead to the top of Upper and Lower Table Rocks, while a half-mile accessible trail at Lower Table Rock provides visitors with a less strenuous option. Photo by Bob Wick, @mypubliclands.

Endless views stretching to the sea await adventurers in Maine’s Acadia National Park, which has more than 150 miles of trails to explore. To guide hikers and protect fragile plants and soils, trail builder Waldron Bates created small, artfully arranged rock piles, or cairns. Bates cairns have shown hikers the way for more than a century – by walking at Acadia, you’re following in the footsteps of history. Photo courtesy of James Kaiser.

Endless views stretching to the sea await adventurers in Maine’s Acadia National Park, which has more than 150 miles of trails to explore. To guide hikers and protect fragile plants and soils, trail builder Waldron Bates created small, artfully arranged rock piles, or cairns. Bates cairns have shown hikers the way for more than a century – by walking at Acadia, you’re following in the footsteps of history. Photo courtesy of James Kaiser.

As if Fantasy Canyon isn’t already a great name, this remote wonderland in Utah has also been called “The Devil’s Playground” and “Hades Pit.” Off the beaten path of more famous Southwestern sites, Fantasy Canyon is protected by the Bureau of Land Management and boasts some of the most amazing erosional features you will ever see. Sunrise photo courtesy of Brock Slinger.

“There’s just something about a winding road that ignites wanderlust,” says photographer Kathryn Dyer, and we couldn’t agree more! At an impromptu stop in California’s Yosemite National Park, Kathryn captured this incredible shot of Half Dome shining golden from a beautiful alpenglow and framed by trees. When you visit public lands, you never know what amazing vistas you’ll find! Photo courtesy of Kathryn Dyer.

Happy National Public Lands Day! America’s public lands give us so much, like this epic view at Great Smoky Mountains National Park that’ll leave you breathless. Check out more of our favorite things about public lands: http://on.doi.gov/2cTEbk6. Photo courtesy of Bob Carr.

Are you and your friends excited for the weekend? Whatever you’re up to, we hope you have as much fun as these elk at Tule Elk San Luis National Wildlife Refuge. Once estimated to have a population of less than 30 individuals, these unique California Tule elk now number more than 4,000. See them – and other terrific wildlife – just two hours outside of San Francisco. Photo by Lee Eastman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Happy first day of Fall! Are you ready for the smell of campfires and the glorious transition of leaves to orange, red and yellow? We hope the change of season will take you to public lands across the country to experience gorgeous colors like these at Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. The park buffers the Cumberland River as it runs across the Kentucky-Tennessee border, boasting miles of scenic views and lovely wooded trails. Photo by National Park Service.

As you enter Zion National Park from the east, Mt. Carmel Highway offers spectacular views and ever changing landscapes as you zig-zag your way down into the park’s canyon. Ian Barin captured this pic from above the winding road at sunset this past June. Photo courtesy of Ian Barin.