Vermilion Cliffs, Justin Beaulieu. (All Images: Courtesy Chronicle Books/ Creative Action Network)
America's national parks have been enthralling visitors for over a century. The very first park to be established was Yellowstone, which was described by Ferdinand Hayden in his 1871 survey as a "land of wondrous beauty." There are now 58 national parks around the U.S., covering an astonishingly diverse 84 million acres of land. It's not hard to understand why some ambitious tourists make the effort to visit every single one of them.
This year, as the National Parks Service celebrates its centenary, the dramatic landscapes also inspired a striking series of posters. Taking inspiration from the iconic "See America" posters created under the Work Projects Administration (WPA) of the 1930s, artists from around the world have participated in a new visual celebration of America’s parks and monuments. The crowd-sourced initiative led to the creation of over 1,000 posters.
A selection of this work has now been brought together in the new book, See America: A Celebration of Our National Parks and Treasured Sites. Behold some of the most beautiful posters, below.
One of the WPA posters, created by Alexander Dux in the late 1930s. (Photo: Library of Congress/LC-USZC4-4243)
Statue of Liberty, Shane Henderson.
Congaree Park, Vikram Nongmaithem.
Gettysburg National Park, Matt Brass
California Coastal Monument, Cabbage Creative
Muir Woods, Shayna Roosevelt
Channel Islands, Scott Smith
San Antonio Missions, Joshua Sierra
The cover for See America: A Celebration of our National Parks and Treasured Sites. (Photo: Courtesy Chronicle Books)