Deep in the hills of central West Virginia, the Gauley River National Recreation Area is built around one of the mid-Atlantic region's most demanding white-water streams.

Unfortunately, due to water controls on the Summersville Dam upstream, the white-water season is relatively short, running just a handful of weeks in the early fall. But if you like getting wet and enjoy adrenaline sports, this is an experience not to be missed.

If you're old enough, you just might remember Misty of Chincoteague, the story by Marguerite Henry about the wild horses of Assateague Island.

Here's the backstory from the National Park Service:

The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park is one of the more poignant settings in the National Park System. Testament to the tenacity, and workmanship, of a civilization long vanished, the rooms and kivas that are tucked into a cliff have largely stood the test of time and remain today to spark our imagination and curiosity.

One of the great mysteries of the National Park System is how the rocks in a far off corner of Death Valley National Park manage to scoot along the ground.

Unfortunately, due to the teeth-jarring, rig-wrecking washboard road you have to negotiate for 27 miles to see the Racetrack, not many folks actually get to ponder this mystery while gazing at the rocks and their trails.

The hallmark of Arches National Park is Delicate Arch, but that's not the only reason to visit the park. Landscape Arch is just about as famous, the Fiery Furnace is a great stone maze to tour with a ranger, and Balanced Rock continues to bedevil gravity...at least for now.

Some interpretive tours in the national parks require more group participation than others. Take the visit to Balcony House in Mesa Verde National Park. The rangers actually ask you what kind of shape you're in and whether you're afraid of heights.

Along with jaw-dropping scenic beauty, the National Park System carries many cultural footprints, such as the Palmer Chapel hidden away in the Cataloochee Valley of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yellowstone National Park is well-known as the home of elk, bison, and grizzly bears, but visit in summer and you likely won't associate the park with bighorn sheep. That's because the sheep head for the cooler temperatures of the high country. But in winter they come down to the river valleys to escape the deepest snows and to forage.

To have a palette as dazzling as Bryce Canyon National Park in your backyard is tough to beat. Marion Littlefield gets to see the park in so many moods and seasons, and fortunately most of the time he has his camera with him.

This recent shot of Natural Bridge shows that the park is having a pretty good winter, snow-wise.

Visit Death Valley Ranch, home of Scotty's Castle, in Death Valley National Park and your eye can't help but be drawn to Chimes Tower. When construction got under way in November 1928, Albert Johnson already had purchased a 16-tone carillon chime to be installed in the tower.

According to National Park Service records, in April 1930 Johnson purchased nine additional tones and an automatic roll player for the tower. The first set of chimes was installed that year, and a second set was installed in 1946.