WITH THANKS

Image credits.

Real landscapes, with a trail back to their sources.

Photographs are hosted locally and credited below. Source and usage details were checked on 9 November 2026. These photographs illustrate the collection; they are not personal travel photographs.

Landscape background is linked on the individual place and note pages. ExploreCC is an independent personal website and is not affiliated with the National Park Service.

Granite cliffs framing Yosemite Valley and its conifer forest, seen from Tunnel View.

Yosemite Valley

NPS / C. Jacoby

NPS photograph, credited without a copyright notice; public-domain use under the NPS ownership policy.

Original photograph · Usage information
Fog softening the tall trunks of an ancient coast redwood forest.

Coast redwood forest

National Park Service

Public domain: Full Granting Rights, as listed in the asset metadata.

Original photograph · Usage information
Sweeping sand dunes beneath snow-covered Cleveland Peak in Colorado.

Great Sand Dunes

NPS / Patrick Myers

NPS photograph, credited without a copyright notice; public-domain use under the NPS ownership policy.

Original photograph · Usage information
Blue water surrounded by the caldera rim at Crater Lake in Oregon.

Crater Lake

NPS staff

Public domain, as listed in the asset metadata.

Original photograph · Usage information