Camping next to Devil’s Tower. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Photo: Jolanta Surowiec

Many visitors come to appreciate the most beautiful view of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park by hiking a 3-mile round trip trail and waiting until the last light shines on it. However, most of them leave after sunset, only a few knows the secret charms of the dark. With some little tricks of artificial lighting and long exposure, the prominent southwest landmark also shines under a starry night sky.

Photo: Wan Shi

Grand View Point in Canyonlands National Park at night — in honor of International Dark Sky Week. Did you know that Canyonlands has world-class star gazing? Our remote location limits light pollution and provides an unimpeded view of the universe.

Photo: National Park Service

Ever wonder what it would be like driving through Denali National Park with the Northern Lights dancing overhead? While this is no substitute for seeing it in person, we thought we’d share this stunning image taken this winter.

Photo: National Park Service

In the shadow of 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, 5,000 year old bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines. Come to Great Basin National Park to experience the solitude of the desert, the smell of sagebrush after a thunderstorm, the darkest of night skies, and the beauty of Lehman Caves. Far from a wasteland, the Great Basin is a diverse region that awaits your discovery.

Photo: Ken Koenig, NPS

Some images are just plain extraordinary — and often, the photographer has invested a great deal of time and effort to make that image happen. Photographer Dave Morrow describes the process of making this image from Mount Rainier National Park in early October 2012:

“I went up to Sunrise Point at Mt. Rainier last weekend with my buddy Keith. After a lame sunset, we waited for the Milky Way to come out. The placement was just perfect & the sky was pitch black! Time to jack up the ISO and shoot some stars… This was one of many from the night:)”

Visit Rainier on a beautiful day, and you’ll get a great photograph. Stick around for the sunset, and you’ll often get an exceptional photograph. Wait till the chill of October sets in on a clear night, and stand around fiddling with your camera for a few hours in the dark… and the results just might be extraordinary.

Photo by Dave Morrow - www.DaveMorrowPhotography.com

Saturday was International Observe the Moon night and our public lands provided some of the best views across the country. This cool moon shot was taken in Glacier National Park.

Photo: National Park Service 

Another great photo from our friends at the Bureau of Land Management.

mypubliclands:

The summer night sky in the Piper Mountain Wilderness Area in Inyo County, California.  Alluvial fans cover large portions of the eastern side of the wilderness, with plains and hills also part of the landscape. Desert bighorn sheep habitat can be found in three areas within this wilderness. Sagebrush and juniper-pinyon woodland are the common vegetation, with conifer trees on the higher elevations. At the base of the Inyo Mountains lies one of the northernmost stands of Joshua trees, as seen in this picture.  Piper Mountain Wilderness and many other BLM land areas are far from city lights and offer incredible night sky viewing opportunities.

Photo credit: Bob Wick, BLM-California

Today the massive buildings of the ancestral Pueblo peoples still testify to the organizational and engineering abilities not seen anywhere else in the American Southwest. For a deeper contact with the canyon that was central to thousands of people between 850 and 1250 A.D., come and explore Chaco Culture National Historic Park through guided tours, hiking & biking trails, evening campfire talks, and night sky programs.

Photo: National Park Service