Yellowstone National Park’s winter season wraps up early March as roads begin to close to snowmobile and snowcoach travel. By March 16, most visitor services and park roads will be closed including the South, West and East entrances. The park annually closes most roads at this time of year to prepare them for a spring opening for the public.

There’s a four-armed saguaro living on the western edge of Tucson that has one broken arm, one newborn arm, one thick older arm pointing to the Arizona sky and one slender younger arm pointing towards the Sonoran Desert soil.

March and April are traditionally the busiest months of the year at Joshua Tree National Park in California. The park expects high visitation this coming spring based on recent trends. A typical spring day includes limited parking, full campgrounds, and lines to get into the park.

As the sun set over the Sonoran Desert, the animals came out to play. The deer grazing among the saguaro were probably mule but could have been white-tailed — it was tough to say at dusk with only mini red-light flashlights in hand instead of binoculars. The bird that perched on a tree branch for a few seconds before flying away had the distinctive silhouette of an owl. There was no mistaking the yips and howls of coyotes.