Stunning images of America's public lands
The U.S. Department of the Interior's America's Great Outdoors initiative is to promote and support innovative community-level efforts to conserve outdoor spaces and reconnect Americans to the outdoors. Here, stunning images of America's public lands. To view more photos, follow the U.S. Department of the Interior on Instagram.
Olympic National Park
Credit: Jayasimha Murthy / sharetheexperience.org
Washington's Olympic National Park has nearly 1 million acres, with several distinctly different ecosystems. Visitors can take in scenic vistas of snow-capped peaks and subalpine forests at Hurricane Ridge, the park's most easily accessed location in high country.
Yellowstone National Park
Credit: Jacob Frank
A spectacular moonrise over Yellowstone National Park.
Big Southern Butte
Credit: Devin Englestead
Big Southern Butte in Idaho is one of two domes rising from a sea of basalt near the center of the eastern Snake River Plain. The butte is one of the largest volcanic domes in the world, but at 300,000 years old is also one of the youngest. Hikers who trek to the 7,550-foot-high summit are rewarded with spectacular panoramic views.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Credit: sharetheexperience.org /Katherine Hawkins
Stretching for hundreds of miles from Arizona to Utah, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area encompasses scenic vistas, geologic wonders and a vast panorama of human history. With 1.2 million acres of golden cliffs, lush hanging gardens, impossibly narrow slot canyons and the brilliant blue waters of Lake Powell, it's definitely worth the visit.
Denali National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Dan Leifheit
Amazing shot of the northern lights dancing over Denali National Park in Alaska. In this picture, the aurora borealis shares the night sky with a meteor, the constellation Orion and the planet Jupiter.
Death Valley National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Steve Perry
Watching the sun rise from Death Valley National Park's Zabriskie Point is a must. Located in the park's Furnace Creek Area, Zabriskie Point provides spectacular views of the park's wildly eroded and vibrantly colored badlands with the flat salt plains and the Grapevine Mountains visible in the distance.
Canyonlands National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Ryan Engstrom
The Mesa Arch Trail at Canyonlands National Park in Utah is a popular place to capture the sunrise over the park's countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
Glacier Bay National Park
Credit: TizzyLish Photography / Michael Hogan
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Bosque del Apache
Credit: USFWS / Marvin DeJong
Flights of sandhill cranes arrive daily to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, which means "Woods of the Apache." Situated between the Chupadera Mountains and the San Pascual Mountains in New Mexico, the 57,331-acre refuge has become a critical home for waterfowl that migrate here every winter.
Joshua Tree National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Manish Mamtani
A sunset at Joshua Tree National Park in California. Joshua Tree is also known for its unique rock formations (perfect for climbing) and its Joshua tree forests (rumored to be the inspiration for Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax").
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge
Credit: National Wildlife Refuge Association / Mark Sullivan
A Hawaiian monk seal yearling takes care of an itch at the northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Credit: U.S. National Park Service
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve in Alaska is dotted with hot springs, ancient lava flows and the largest maar lakes in the world.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Nick Showalter
A beautiful sunset at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge
Credit: USFWS / Tom Koerner
Lightning striking Horsehoe Bend on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming.
Denali National Park
Credit: Daniel A. Leifheit
The Milky Way and the Northern Lights dwarfed Thoroughfare Mountain in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Raul Ruiz
Kilauea Point Lighthouse in the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii.
Shenandoah National Park
Credit: Department of the Interior
A view from Buck Hollow Overlook at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Located just 75 miles from Washington, D.C., Shenandoah offers an escape to nature with its cascading waterfalls, spectacular vistas and quiet wooden hollows.
Paria Canyon
Credit: Max Seigal
The Wave in Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness in Arizona.
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
Credit: USFWS / Jim Maragos
An image of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, one of the most intact, ecologically sound marine environments in the world.
Great Basin National Park
Credit: National Park Service
The upper section of the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive in Great Basin National Park.
Badlands National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Kevin Palmer
The rugged beauty of the Badlands National Park in South Dakota contains one of the world's richest fossil beds.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Credit: Amjad Zwaid
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a short distance from the urban areas of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, is a refuge for native plants and wildlife, and provides routes of discovery for visitors. This photo captures Brandywine Falls.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Credit: National Park Service / Patrick Myers
Gold season continues with aspens starting to change colors above the dunes in Great Sand Dunes National Park in San Luis Valley, Colo.
Glacier National Park
Credit: USGS / Kim Keating
St. Mary Lake sits within the St. Mary Valley in Glacier National Park in Montana.
Acadia National Park
Credit: Kristopher Schoenleber / sharetheexperiece.org
A sunrise from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Credit: Charlie Choc / sharetheexperience.org
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee contains some of the largest tracts of wilderness in the East and is a critical sanctuary for a wide variety of animals.
Arches National Park
Credit: National Park Service
The Milky Way over Arches National Park in Utah.
Great Basin National Park
Credit: National Park Service
Great Basin National Park in Nevada.
Grand Teton National Park
Credit: sharetheexperience.org / Christina Adele Warburg
Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Yellowstone National Park
Credit: National Park Service
Uncle Tom?s Trail in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
Skyline Rim
Credit: Brandon Jolley, BLM Rangeland Management Specialist
Skyline Rim near Factory Butte provides incredible, expansive views of the deserts of eastern Utah. The Henry Mountains offer a stout backdrop.
Crater Lake National Park
Credit: National Park Service
Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.
Grand Canyon
Credit: Darren Barnes / sharetheexperience.org
Grand Canyon National Park's Bright Angel Point is located on the North Rim in Arizona.
North Cascades National Park
Credit: Department of the Interior
The alpine landscape of the the North Cascades National Park in Washington is home to jagged peaks crowned by more than 300 glaciers -- that's more glaciers than any other park in the lower 48 states.
Yosemite Falls
Credit: Tiffany Nguyen
Skies over Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park, taken in the spring when the waterfall was at its peak.
Mount Rainier National Park
Credit: Bob Noble
Reflection Lakes in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.
Yosemite National Park
Credit: Department of Interior
Rising nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, Half Dome is a Yosemite National Park icon.
