Yosemite Falls webcam joins park-peeking cameras across the U.S.

Need a quick, soul-reviving fix of Yosemite? A webcam pointed at one of Yosemite National Park’s main attractions, soaring Yosemite Falls, went live this week. It joins Yosemite cameras already in place at Half Dome and El Capitan. Find them here.

“In a lot of ways I equate it to all of the beautiful picture books that we’ve had on our coffee tables, or the art from the 1870s that made Yosemite exciting to people around the world when they saw it for the first time,” said Michael Tollefson, president of the nonprofit Yosemite Conservancy, which placed the cameras.

The cameras are positioned to maximize the changing light and seasons.

Associated Press reports that the camera joins a smattering of others across the nation. One of the most popular webcams in a national park has been one showing sled dog puppies at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

But not all are quite so fetching. At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a webcam shows traffic on the boat launch ramp at Bullfrog, Utah. One webcam at Sequoia Kings Canyon national park provides a view of a single oak tree so students can monitor its life cycle. At Little Bighorn National Monument, a camera offers a distant, grainy view of the military cemetery.