Inspired by a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, this gallery contains some of the country's most spectacular national parks, as seen from space.

Yellowstone's geothermal features are strange enough from the ground, but from orbit they seem even more incongruous (above). The Landsat 7 image below shows Yellowstone Lake and the entire park in false color, which highlights certain features that might not stand out in true color. Water appears dark blue or black, and snow is light blue. Grass fields appear light green, the dark red-and-green is mature forest, and young forest, such as has grown back since the 1988 wildfires, is pink.

This collection of 21 national parks and one monument includes many of our favorites we've visited and a few we hope to add to the list someday.