Our friends at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are currently running a fan favorite photo contest on their Facebook page. This photo of Aster Lake by Scott Toste is one of the favorites. To vote, click here.

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park hasn’t frozen over this winter, but this rock is giving it a good try.

Photo: T. McCracken, National Park Service

The Lake Clark National Park and Preserve recently held a photo contest on their Facebook page. Congratulations to Kevin Kifer and his winning photograph above! You can see the full list of entries here.

The popular overlook at Wild Goose Island in Glacier National Park has a different look this week with fresh snow on the trees and mountains. Fall has definitely arrived!

Photo: National Park Service 

Nothing like taking a boat out on Lake Clark in Alaska. Truly one of the most beautiful spots one will find anywhere in the world.

Photo: National Park Service 

Your visit to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve might include a quiet moment watching coastal Alaskan brown bears graze on the protein rich sedges at Silver Salmon Creek or Chinitna Bay. It could include a visit to Dick Proenneke’s historic cabin on upper Twin Lake. Or maybe your visit will be a rigorous backpacking trip with friends over tundra slopes and past turquoise lakes.

Whatever your adventure includes the first step in planning a trip to the park is to choose your experience. Whether you have a day or a week there are a variety of on-line services offered at the link above to help you plan your visit.

Photo: National Park Service 

If you are not following the mypubliclands Tumblr, we suggest you go over and do so today. They’re posting a lot of great photos (like the ones posted here) from lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (which is part of the Department of the Interior.

Alaska Autumn foliage offers amazing colors and spectacular scenery. The changing of leaves makes for one of the most popular getaways for families. Checkout www.blm.gov/ak for fantastic Fall camping ideas. (Photos: Matt Vos and Craig McCaa)

-Matt Vos

As part of President Obama’s initiative to fuel the economy and create jobs by promoting travel and tourism, the administration today announced a new design, improved navigation tools and expanded content for Recreation.Gov, the interagency website that guides visitors to 90,000 sites on federal lands such as national parks, wildlife refuges, waterways, forests and recreation areas.

The redesign of www.recreation.gov is an initial step in a multi-year strategy to engage visitors with enhanced interactive content and more multimedia, mobile, trip-planning tools. The seven million visitors who use the web site every year will be able to make reservations, see ready-made itineraries for destination cities, and search for activities on an interactive map.

We put together this short video to show all the amazing places you can visit through www.recreation.gov. 

We know we recently posted a photo from Glacier National Park a couple of weeks ago, but this photo is too amazing not to post. Is there a more stunning view than this one? If there is, we’d love to see it.

Photo: National Park Service 

Crater Lake has inspired people for hundreds of years. No place else on earth combines a deep, pure lake, so blue in color; sheer surrounding cliffs, almost two thousand feet high; two picturesque islands; and a violent volcanic past. It is a place of immeasurable beauty, and an outstanding outdoor laboratory and classroom.

Photo: National Park Service