Autumn colours in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, United States

The trails' call. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, United States

Today's image features Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, United States. Part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it is preserved as a national park for its long trails and wide, wooded valleys. The quiet rhythm of this landscape finds echoes in India, where the Western Ghats and Himachal's cedar forests hold their own mountain paths through rich ecosystems that link villages and wildlife. Both regions are recognised for their biodiversity and serve as vital corridors for species that thrive in changing mountain climates.

The Blue Ridge Mountains wear their finest colours—golden hickories, crimson maples and oaks brushed in bronze. By November, the air turns crisp and the last embers of autumn cling to the hillsides like whispered secrets. Skyline Drive winds for 169 kilometres, offering vistas where clouds drift like thoughts across endless valleys. Trails—more than 800 kilometres of them—lead to places where waterfalls tumble and summits greet the horizon. Stony Man, Hawksbill, Dark Hollow Falls—each a poem written in stone and leaf, waiting for footsteps to rhyme with the wind.