Buttes and beasts: amazing US national parks – in pictures

The US’s national parks offer up some of the most dramatic scenery in the world. To celebrate National Park Week (18-26 April), we’ve picked some of the best photographs shared on the Department of the Interior’s Instagram account, showcasing astonishing canyons, mountains and wildlife

  • Summer wildflowers radiate colour in the sunset shadow of Mount Rainier, set in its own national park 54 miles from Seattle, Washington state. The 4,392-metre monster is an active volcano considered to be one of the most dangerous in the western hemisphere. It is a sister volcano to Mount St Helens (which famously erupted in 1980) in the Cascade range. Photograph by Danny Seidman

    Wildflowers on Mt Rainier, Washington

  • A bristlecone pine tree in Great Basin national park, close to the 4,000-metre Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada. The trees grow on rocky glacial moraines and can live for 5,000 years. The area boasts some of the darkest night skies in the US, so is ideal for stargazing.

    A bristlecone pine tree in Great Basin National Park

  • Monument Canyon, in the Colorado national monument, near Grand Junction city. The park, high on the Colorado plateau, preserves some of the classic landscapes associated with the American West. It contains a number of paths, such as the Serpent Trail and the shorter Devil’s Kitchen. Photograph by William Woodward

    Monument Canyon, in the Colorado National Monument

  • A moose grazes while keeping an eye open for danger in Denali national park, Alaska. Usually the animals stay hidden in the park’s forests, which offer some protection to them from predators such as wolves. Alaskan moose form a subspecies, often referred to as giant moose, which ranges between the US state and western Yukon. Photography by Jacob W Frank

    A moose in Denali National Park

  • Pinnacles of rock, part of a large geological feature called the Needles, in Canyonlands national park, Utah. The park is made up of rocky buttes and canyons carved by the Colorado and Green rivers. Photograph by Aaron Sauma

    Pinnacles of rock, part of a large geological feature called the Needles, in Canyonlands National Park

  • Pacific waves break at Point Reyes national seashore, northern California (30 miles north of San Francisco, in Marin County). With some long sandy beaches, ocean views and rocky headlands, the area is a favourite for hikers, who have 150 miles of trails to explore. It is also popular with sea kayakers and birdwatchers. Photograph by James MCool

    Pacific waves break at Point Reyes National Seashore

  • The Milky Way, pictured over the 4,346-metre Longs Peak in the Rocky Mountain national park in Colorado. The peak, 43 miles north-west of Boulder, is the park’s highest but is only Colorado’s 13th tallest mountain – despite being just 60 metres shorter than the top peak, Mount Elbert. Photograph by Pat Gaines

    Milky Way over Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

  • Bison in Yellowstone national park, one of the last nearly intact ecosystems in the world’s temperate zones. The park’s bison herd is descended from a remnant population of 23 individual bison that survived the mass slaughter of the 19th century by hiding out in Yellowstone’s remote Pelican Valley. Photograph by Cameron Parick

    Bison in Yellowstone National Park

  • The Subway at Zion national park, Utah. This extraordinary geological feature – an extreme example of what is termed a slot canyon – was formed by fast moving water rushing through gaps in the rock. A permit is required to explore the area. The nearest town is Hurricane, 25 miles to the south-east. Photograph by Jeremy Stevens

    The Subway, Zion National Park

  • It’s exhausting hanging out in the swamp... this ‘yawning’ alligator was spotted in Cumberland Island national seashore, Georgia, home to over 9,800 acres of congressionally-designated wilderness comprising pristine maritime forests, undeveloped beaches and wide marshes. Photograph by Gary Davis

    An alligator in the Cumberland Islands National Seashore, Georgia

  • Ninety-three-year-old Betty Reid Soskin is the National Park Service’s oldest active ranger. She is the great-granddaughter of a slave and was a file clerk for the all-black boilermakers’ auxiliary union during the second world war. The unions were segregated under Jim Crow laws. She joined the NPS at the age of 85 at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front national historical park, California, where she was a driving force behind the park’s formation.

    Ninety-three-year-old Betty Reid Soskin is the National Park Service’s oldest active ranger

  • The rugged, unforbidding wilderness of Badlands National Park, South Dakota. As well as being home to fossil beds revealing creatures that roamed the planet millions of years ago, the area has a rich Native American heritage and was an important hunting area for tribes over several millennia. Photograph by Harlan Humphrey
    Badlands National Park, South Dakota, US
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