It's Wild Out There: National Park Animals You Can See in the Fall

You're up for seeing large terrestrial animals this fall but want more time to get there before park facilities close. No problem. Among the 390 parks run by the National Park Service are several renowned for fall wildlife viewing opportunities. While there are never guarantees you'll see wildlife, these parks will give you more than a fighting chance.

If you're partial to moose, say, or bears, or any other particular animal, you might want to consult this Web page from the National Parks Conservation Association, http://www.npca.org/wildlife_protection/wildlife_facts/ . Click on any animal -- say, a moose -- in the left-hand column and you'll be taken to a page that lists the national parks in which that animal can be found. (Moose are found in North Cascades National Park in Washington state, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, among others.)

You can also look up any individual park on the National Park Service Web site ( http://www.nps.gov/parks.html ) to see what wildlife it is known for.

Here are seven national parks besides Grand Teton and Yellowstone that offer excellent chances of wildlife viewing this fall, according to National Park Service biologist Gary Johnston -- and some of the animals you may be able to see there:

· Badlands National Park (South Dakota): bison, bighorn sheep, elk. Info: 605-433-5361, http://www.nps.gov/badl.

· Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina): black bear, deer, elk. Info: 865-436- 1200, http://www.nps.gov/grsm.

· Olympic National Park (Washington): black bear, elk. Info: 360-565-3130, http://www.nps.gov/olym.

· Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado): elk, mule deer, moose, bighorn sheep, black bears, coyotes, cougars. Info: 970-586-1206, http://www.nps.gov/romo.

· Shenandoah National Park (Blue Ridge Mountains near Luray, Va.): black bear, white-tailed deer. Info: 540-999-3500, http://www.nps.gov/shen.

· Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota): bison, elk, wild horses. Info: 701-623-4466, http://www.nps.gov/thro.

· Yosemite National Park (California's Sierra Nevadas): mule deer, black bear. Info: 209-372-0200. http://www.nps.gov/yose.

-- Susan Morse