North Cascades National Park, Washington, USA

© Ethan Welty/Tandem Stills + Motio

America’s backyard. North Cascades National Park, USA

This stunning natural landscape can be found in North Cascades National Park, one of three national parks in the US state of Washington. Our homepage image shows the Triplets and their taller neighbour, Cascade Peak, which stands 7,428ft (2,264m) high. Craggy peaks and deep glacial valleys are the order of the day here in one of the USA’s most rugged national parks. North Cascades contains more than 500,000 acres of steep mountain peaks, vast forests, many waterways and the most expansive system of glaciers in the USA, outside of Alaska.

Most of the park is protected as wilderness so there are few roads, structures or signs of human impact. It is relatively isolated even though it’s within 100 miles (as the crow flies) of Seattle and Vancouver in Canada. It is one of a vast system of 63 national parks in the USA, and more than 400 protected areas.