Sep 13 2026
Few wildlife encounters capture the spirit of the North Dakota Badlands quite like watching a band of free-roaming horses cross the grasslands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Stallions stand watch over mares and foals, young horses chase one another across open prairie, and entire bands sometimes appear along distant ridges framed by colorful badland formations. …
Sep 11 2026
Death Valley National Park is famous for scorching temperatures, immense salt flats, sculpted badlands, and seemingly barren mountains, so the sight of entire desert hillsides covered with yellow, purple, pink, and white flowers can feel almost impossible. Yet beneath the gravel and sand lies an enormous seed bank waiting for the right combination of rain, …
Aug 25 2026
Giant Forest is the heart of Sequoia National Park and one of the most extraordinary forests anywhere in the world. Hundreds of mature giant sequoias rise above the Sierra Nevada landscape here, including the General Sherman Tree, the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth by volume. The grove contains far more than one famous …
May 12 2026
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park protects one of the steepest, darkest, and most dramatic river canyons in North America. In western Colorado, the Gunnison River slices through ancient Precambrian rock, creating sheer cliffs that plunge more than 2,000 feet in places while narrowing to only a few dozen feet near the river. The …
May 10 2025
Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park protects some of the most dramatic landscapes in California’s Sierra Nevada, from enormous giant sequoia groves to a glacial canyon deeper than many of the better-known canyons of the American West. Located immediately north of Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon combines towering granite walls, rushing rivers, alpine …
Jan 01 2025
Bale Mountains National Park protects one of Africa’s most extraordinary mountain landscapes: a vast highland wilderness of Afro-alpine moorland, volcanic peaks, glacial lakes, grasslands, bamboo forest, cloud forest, deep river valleys, and some of the rarest animals on Earth. Located in the Oromia Region of southeastern Ethiopia, the park rises from lush Harenna Forest to …
Jan 01 2025
Simien Mountains National Park protects one of Africa’s most dramatic mountain landscapes: an immense highland world of sheer escarpments, knife-edged ridges, deep valleys, isolated volcanic pinnacles, grassy plateaus, waterfalls, Afro-alpine vegetation, and wildlife found almost nowhere else on Earth. Located in the Amhara Region of northern Ethiopia, the park forms part of the Ethiopian Highlands …
Oct 05 2024
Galápagos National Park protects one of the most remarkable natural environments on Earth. Located roughly 1,000 kilometers west of mainland Ecuador in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Galápagos Islands are famous for giant tortoises, marine iguanas, penguins, flightless cormorants, Darwin’s finches, sea lions, blue-footed boobies, and dozens of other species that evolved in long isolation …
Oct 01 2024
Wind Cave National Park may be best known for the vast cave system hidden beneath the Black Hills of South Dakota, but some of the park’s greatest attractions live above ground. Rolling mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, rocky hills, and prairie dog towns support an impressive collection of wildlife that includes American bison, elk, pronghorn, …
Oct 01 2024
White Sands National Park may look almost empty at first glance. Miles of brilliant white gypsum dunes stretch across New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin, with few trees, little standing water, and summer temperatures that can make the landscape seem far too harsh for abundant wildlife. Yet White Sands supports a surprisingly diverse animal community. More than …
