The Wave, an area of fantastic eroded sandstone featuring beautiful swirls, wild colors, countless striations, and bizarre shapes set amidst the dramatic surrounding North Coyote Buttes of Arizona and Utah. The sandstone formations of the North Coyote Buttes, including the Wave, date from the Jurassic period. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Wave is located in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness and is accessible on foot by permit only.
Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona
Image ID: 20608
Cathedral Rocks reflected in a meadow flooded by the Merced River, historical snowmelt following record snowfall floods Yosemite Valley in May 2023.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 39375
New Point Loma Lighthouse, situated on the tip of Point Loma Peninsula, marks the entrance to San Diego Bay. The lighthouse rises 70' and was built in 1891 to replace the "old" Point Loma Lighthouse which was often shrouded in fog.
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 22295
Hiker views Vogelsang Lake, and Vogelsang Peak (11516') at sunrise in Yosemite's High Sierra.
Location: Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 23201
Giant redwood, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park. The coastal redwood, or simply 'redwood', is the tallest tree on Earth, reaching a height of 379' and living 3500 years or more. It is native to coastal California and the southwestern corner of Oregon within the United States, but most concentrated in Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California, found close to the coast where moisture and soil conditions can support its unique size and growth requirements.
Species: California redwood, Coast redwood, Giant redwood, Sequoia sempervirens
Location: Redwood National Park, California
Image ID: 25795
Bridalveil Falls at sunset, with clouds and blue sky in the background. Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite drops 620 feet (188 m) from a hanging valley to the floor of Yosemite Valley.
Location: Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 12646
The bisons massive head is its most characteristic feature. Its forehead bulges because of its convex-shaped frontal bone. Its shoulder hump, dwindling bowlike to the haunches, is supported by unusually long spinal vertebrae. Over powerful neck and shoulder muscles grows a great shaggy coat of curly brown fur, and over the head, like an immense hood, grows a shock of black hair. Its forequarters are higher and much heavier than its haunches. A mature bull stands about 6 1/2 feet (2 meters) at the shoulder and weighs more than 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). The bisons horns are short and black. In the male they are thick at the base and taper abruptly to sharp points as they curve outward and upward; the females horns are more slender.
Species: American bison, Bison bison
Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13120
A rainbow appears in the spray of Riverside Geyser as it erupts over the Firehole River. Riverside is a very predictable geyser. Its eruptions last 30 minutes, reach heights of 75 feet and are usually spaced about 6 hours apart. Upper Geyser Basin.
Location: Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 13367
Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Falls is one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in Olympic National Park, seen here from a bridge that crosses the canyon just below the falls. Surrounding the falls is an old-growth forest of hemlocks and douglas firs, some of which are three hundred years in age.
Location: Sol Duc Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington
Image ID: 13747
Upper Yosemite Falls near peak flow in spring. Yosemite Falls, at 2425 feet tall (730m) is the tallest waterfall in North America and fifth tallest in the world. Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16066
Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below.
Location: Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16114
Yosemite Falls rises above the Merced River, viewed from the Swinging Bridge. The 2425 falls is the tallest in North America. Yosemite Valley.
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16143
Bridalveil Falls with a rainbow forming in its spray, dropping 620 into Yosemite Valley, displaying peak water flow in spring months from deep snowpack and warm weather melt. Yosemite Valley.
Location: Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
Image ID: 16160
Delicate Arch, dusted with snow, at sunset, with the snow-covered La Sal mountains in the distance. Delicate Arch stands 45 feet high, with a span of 33 feet, atop of bowl of slickrock sandstone.
Location: Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
Image ID: 18104
Panorama of the Teton Range reflected in the still waters of Schwabacher Landing, a sidewater of the Snake River.
Location: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Image ID: 19129
Panorama dimensions: 3104 x 27272