Caribou react to the approach of a grizzly bear near Highway Pass in Denali National Park.

NPS Photo/Daniel A. Leifheit

Come and experience Glacier’s pristine forests, alpine meadows, rugged mountains, and spectacular lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is a hiker’s paradise for adventurous visitors seeking wilderness and solitude. Relive the days of old through historic chalets, lodges, transportation, and stories of Native Americans. Explore Glacier National Park and discover what awaits you.

Photo: National Park Service

There have been many reports of bear sightings in Great Smoky Mountains National Park recently. If you see a bear, please remember that for your safety, and the bear’s safety, you need to stay at least 150 feet away from the animal. For more information about what to do if you see a bear, check out http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/black-bears.htm, where you can find links to a video about bear safety.

This photo by Sam Hobbs taken with a telephoto lens and cropped to make the cub appear closer.

Sunsets don’t get much better than this one over Grand Teton National Park.

Photo: Robert McKinney (www.sharetheexperience.org)

There have been some beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the past few days in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These times also happen to be the best times to see wildlife, such as white-tailed deer, in Cades Cove.

Photo: Sunset in Cades Cove by Kristina Plaas, © 2014 All Rights Reserved.

The view from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park was not too bad last Friday.

Photo: National Park Service

Looking for something fun and fantastic to do with family and friends? Head out to America’s national parks where millions of stars light up the dark night sky, deer and antelope (and a few other critters!) play on the wide open range, and history is an unbelievable experience, not a boring class lecture.

The National Park Service is proud to once again join with the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, to present on April 19-27, 2014, National Park Week, a presidentially proclaimed celebration of our national heritage.

You can plan your visit by what you want to do, or where you want to go … or you can browse our event calendar and check out the special programs offered throughout the week. On opening weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 19 to 20, every national park will give you free admission!

Photo of Grand Teton National Park by Arianna Grainey (www.sharetheexperience.org)

Today and tomorrow are fee free days on all of America’s National Parks. We hope you can get out and enjoy them!

Photo from Glacier Bay National Park courtesy of the National Park Service.

At the edge of the Kenai Peninsula lies a land where the ice age lingers. Nearly 40 glaciers flow from the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords’ crowning feature. Wildlife thrives in icy waters and lush forests around this vast expanse of ice. Native Alutiiq relied on these resources to nurture a life entwined with the sea. Today, shrinking glaciers bear witness to the effects of our changing climate.

Photo: National Park Service

As spring grows ever-stronger, and snowfall makes way for rain at higher and higher elevations in the mountains, the Cascade Mountains begin to truly live up to their name. Mount Rainier National Park contains hundreds of waterfalls, from tiny seasonal streamlets that curtain the roadside cliffs on the way up to Paradise, to the massive thundering cataracts that plunge off the upper mountain. This is one of my favorites: Silver Falls, a short hike above Ohanapecosh in the southeast corner of the park, photographed in July of last year by Jeff Moore.