You drive up onto a high-desert mesa of piñon and juniper, and the quiet arrives before the first cliff As night came on, the cold rose from the canyon and the first stars showed over the piñon.

The Tetons rise straight off the valley floor with no foothills to soften them, so the first glow hits Pack a layer more than you think you need, and give the first hour of light your full attention.

website for current options Timing Tip Day trips give you only a few hours on the island, so snorkel first Beach: Looking across to Bush Key and the bird colonies, best at sunset The flight or ferry in: The first

Whether you are embarking on your first visit or returning to explore backcountry terrain, this travel Riding the Park Road Private vehicles are normally allowed only on the first 15 miles of the park road

Photo: Frank Kovalchek / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) Top 3 Must-See Sights Jenny Lake: The classic first Morning light hits the peaks first, and the water is calmest before the wind picks up.

began with ethereal anticipation as we ventured to Cadillac Mountain, its peak renowned for being the first It was made Lafayette National Park in 1919, the first national park east of the Mississippi, and renamed Photo: Thomsonmg2000 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) Otter Cliff at first light. Photo: Thomsonmg2000 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) Otter Cliff at first light.

Both operate on a first-come, first-served basis; fees are payable via recreation.gov.

In summer, do everything in the first few hours after sunrise. In summer, do everything in the first few hours after sunrise.

The first thing I saw of American Samoa was green: steep ridges of rainforest dropping straight into

southern Black Hills of South Dakota, near Hot Springs Established: A national park since 1903, the first Culture of Wind Cave For the Lakota, the cave is a sacred place, tied to their story of how the people first

out-and-back road to Oxbow Overlook, with River Bend Overlook along the way Maltese Cross Cabin: Roosevelt's first Roosevelt in the Badlands Theodore Roosevelt first came to the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison

Mesa Verde Fast Facts Mesa Verde was the first national park set aside to protect the work of people They farmed corn, beans and squash on the mesa tops, first living in pithouses and later in stone villages