The Milky Way rises over Long’s Peak (14,259 feet) as seen from 9,600 feet up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Photo: Pat Gaines

This view is waiting for you in Arches National Park every night. What are you waiting for?

Photo: Jacob W. Frank

We have posted a lot of photos from the west lately, so how about one from the east? Here is the Assateague Lighthouse with a beautiful night sky behind it in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.

Photo: Darren Barnes 

Our celebration of International Dark Sky Week continues on with this beauty from Jeff Berkes over the Grand Canyon. Here’s what he had to say about this photo:

“I love our night skies and often travel far from home to see it in all its glory from National Parks all over the U.S. I took this picture in late May 2012 while on a road trip to photograph the ultra rare Annual Solar Exclipse at Horseshoe Bay. To create this photograph, I used special light painting techniques to illuminate the foreground and then let the #milkyway do the rest! One of my favorite pictures I have taken. Thanks Grand Canyon!”

We couldn’t agree more!

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

Congratulations to Death Valley National Park on their certification as the largest International Dark Sky Park. Judging by this photo, it is well deserved!

Photo: Tyler Nordgren

Keith Ramos took this stellar photo of the Arora Borealis over the Nowitna River in the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This photo was submitted to the 2012 National Wildlife Refuge Association photo contest. To see more entries, click here.

The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Refuge is located along the central coast of California, in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and farmland to the east, the refuge encompasses one of the largest coastal dune systems remaining in California.

The refuge was established to protect breeding habitat for the endangered California least tern and the threatened western snowy plover. The refuge also provides habitat for other endangered species, including the California tiger salamander (recently listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act), California red-legged frog, Morro blue butterfly, shoulder band dune snail, and 16 rare or endangered plant species.

Photo: USFWS/Shive 

Earlier this year, the Royal Gorge Recreation Area staff had a photo contest on their Facebook page and here is one of the great photos that was submitted. Here’s what photographer, Shannon Diszmang, had to say about it.

“This is BLM land in Northwest Colorado (Little Snake River district). I fell in love with this place. The red haze in this photo is the smoke coming from the wildfires on the west coast at the time. This is one of the lowest light pollution spots in our state which makes star gazing the absolute best.”