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Listen to the sounds of the US National Parks with ParkTracks

Listen to the sounds of the US National Parks with ParkTracks

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Chirping birds, dramatic thunder

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Trail Ridge Road Opens In Rocky Mountain National Park
Photo by Kevin Moloney/Getty Images

There’s no shortage of “nature soundtracks,” but how many of them are the actual sounds from a US National Park?

To celebrate its 102nd birthday, the National Park Service is offering ParkTracks, a 12-minute mix of sounds from across various national parks. The sounds were captured by the NPS’s (wonderfully named) Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, and the mix is available to download now.

If that’s not enough, head over to the website of the Sounds and Night Skies Division where they have plenty of audio clips and soundscapes, many with evocative titles.

Thunderstorm Soundscape from Black Canyon Trail” has some dramatic thunder claps and is better than any fake “relaxing rain” site. The windy, moody tundra soundscape could be used as white noise, and see how many birds you can hear in this soundscape recorded at Sun Valley Trail at dawn. Happy listening!