Some of the wildest and most remote land in Oregon, Steens Mountain Wilderness covers more than 170,000 acres of rugged beauty. The area offers an extraordinary landscape of volcanic uplifts, deep glacier-carved gorges, stunning scenery, rushing rivers and rich diversity of plant and animal species. Popular activities include camping, picnicking, nature photography, hunting, fishing and exploring the open country on foot and horseback. Photo by Bureau of Land Management.
On their famous expedition, Lewis and Clark passed through Idaho’s Lemhi Range, marvelling at the quick landscape transitions and gorgeous scenery. The area is still well-known for its colorful wildflowers like these arrowleaf yellow balsam-roots, lupine and purple delphinium. Captain Lewis collected several new plant species in Idaho including mountain maple, common snowberry and Lewis’s monkey flower. Modern day explorers can follow in the expedition’s footsteps on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and experience the same awe without the 19th century hardship. Photo of moonrise by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management (@mypubliclands).
The landscape of Badlands National Park in South Dakota is rough mix of rugged rock formations and grassy prairie. The striking scenery of the stripped spires and jagged canyons may draw your attention, but as you spend more time in this place, the soft prairie comes alive. Stay awhile and get to know the prairie plants and animals as well as the stark badlands and fossil resources. Photo by Sara Feldt, National Park Service.
Many mountains and streams go unnamed on maps of Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve in Alaska. The wilderness is vast and untamed, forcing the people who explore this gorgeous landscape to depend on themselves. Maintaining its wild and undeveloped character, the park offers opportunities to experience both quiet solitude and thrilling recreation. Photo by National Park Service.
Is it just us or does it look like these sunrise clouds are getting ready to fight? The forces of nature are powerful indeed, and the rugged landscape of City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho is testament to more than two billion years of geologic upheaval. Faults stretch, mountains rise, ranges extend and wind and rain scour and smooth everything. The park’s unusual rock formations tell these ancient stories, leaving room for future tales under the ever-changing sky. Photo by National Park Service.
It’s National Park Week! From sea to shining sea, from North America’s lowest point at Death Valley National Park in California to the highest peak on the continent at Denali National Park in Alaska, your national parks showcase some of the most stunning landscapes in the world. If you need another example, here’s an incredible view at Glacier National Park in Montana. Check in with us throughout the week to see if we feature your favorite park. Photo by Jacob W. Frank, National Park Service.
Whooping cranes are the tallest and some of the most rare birds in North America. Adults are mostly white and stand almost five feet tall with a wingspan of seven feet. Never an abundant species, the total population dwindled to a low of 16 birds in 1941 due to hunting pressures and habitat loss. Now there are about 600 in the world. These three adults and one juvenile were spotted at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas. Photo by Barry Jones, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Big enough to be overwhelming, still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock and craggiest spires in North America. This western Colorado landmark was sculpted by the Gunnison River and the forces of weather over 2 million years. Photo of a snowy and fog-filled canyon by National Park Service.
Enjoy the beautiful sky over Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, an area with some of the highest densities of archaeological sites in North America. The monument protects an abundance of well-preserved evidence of native cultures reflecting many aspects of past human life. From villages, cliff dwellings and field houses to sacred springs, agricultural fields and petroglyphs - the area is incredible to explore. Be sure to stop first at the Anasazi Heritage Center (Monument headquarters) in Colorado for maps, guidebooks, current information about trail and road conditions and general orientation. Most of the monument is open to exploration on foot, but marked foot trails are few and limited to specific areas. Photos by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management (@mypubliclands).
Today is International Owl Awareness Day, a day that’s especially important because owls are fantastic at disguise — making awareness of them challenging. Fierce hunters, owls fly silently and have excellent hearing and eyesight. There are 19 species of owls found in North America and plenty of opportunities to spot these birds on public lands or in your backyard.
Burrowing owl (owl in the photo) awareness facts:
- They hiss when frightened to mimic a snake
- They will sometimes decorate their burrows with dung to attract their favorite food, dung beetles
- Sometimes they dig their own burrows and sometimes they’ll use the burrows dug by other animals like tortoises or prairie dogs.
Whoo has seen an owl on a national park, national wildlife refuge or any other public lands? We want to know!
Photo of a burrowing owl at Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in California by Sarah Chan (www.sharetheexperience.org).
