It is often said that the best things in life are free, and there is no better example of that than a morning sunrise. All you need to do is wake up, step outside, and watch the Sun paint beautiful colors around you. If you missed it this morning, here’s one sunrise from each of the 50 States.

Alabama

alabama-sunrise-50-states

The Sun rising over the Gulf of Mexico as seen from Gulf Shores, Alabama. This picture was taken a week before Hurricane Ivan hit the gulf coast of Alabama, damaging much of the area.

If you’re looking for a reason to visit, Gulf Shores is home to two of the highest rated golf resorts in Alabama (Craft Farms and Kiva Dunes), and also hosts the annual Hangout Music Festival. Try the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach.

Image: Brian Jeffery Beggerly (CC BY 2.0)

Alaska

Joseph (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The sun rising over snow covered mountains in Juneau, Alaska.

Photo: Joseph (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Arizona

arizona-sunrise-50-states

Photo of an Arizona sunrise taken at the top of South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona.

Image: Andrew A (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Arkansas

Buffalo Outdoor Center

Morning breaks over the Ozark Mountains in upper Buffalo River country near Ponca, Arkansas.

Image: Buffalo Outdoor Center (CC BY-ND 2.0)

California

™ Pacheco

An early morning sunrise at Inyo National ForestNorth Lake, California.

Image: ™ Pacheco (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Colorado

Bryce Bradford (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Sunrise shining on Mount Meeker and Long’s Peak. Mount Meeker is the second highest summit in Rocky Mountain National Park after its neighbor Longs Peak, 0.7 miles to the northwest.

Image: Bryce Bradford (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Connecticut

slack12

An autumn sunrise as seen through a forest in Guilford, Connecticut.

Image: slack12 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Delaware

Thomas (CC BY-ND 2.0)

A salt marsh sunrise at Bombay Hook Wildlife Preserve in Smyrna, DE.

Image: Thomas (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Florida

amy32080 (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Rose-gold clouds just before the sun rises over Anastasia Island, Florida.

Image: amy32080 (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Georgia

Ronnie (CC BY 2.0)

A beautiful peach colored sunrise over Lake Allatoona, Georgia.

Image: Ronnie (CC BY 2.0)

Hawaii

A sunrise in Maui as seen from the Hana Highway, aka The Road to Hana.

Image: Paul Bica (CC BY 2.0)

Idaho

Matt (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The sun rising over Idaho’s Magic Valley.

Image: Matt (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Illinois

The view of the rising Sun from Chicago’s Navy Pier.

Image: Robert Lowe (CC BY 2.0)

Indiana

The Sun rising in Brown County, Indiana. The hills and valleys of this area were formed more than 250 million years ago during the Mississippian Period when most of southern Indiana was covered by a shallow inland sea. Brown County State Park is Indiana’s largest state park, offering beautiful views of the surrounding landscape year round.

Image: wsilver (CC BY 2.0)

Iowa

A car traveling on the back roads of Iowa at sunrise, during an early morning fog.

Image: Carl Wycoff (CC BY 2.0)

Kansas

This picture was taken on a farm a few miles north of Riley in Northeast Kansas.

Image: Garett Gabriel (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Louisiana

A scenic sunrise at Indian Creek Recreation Area in Woodworth, Louisiana.

Image: finchlake2000 (CC BY 2.0)

Maine

Sunrise over Maine

Taken from the top of Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park. This is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and the first place to view sunrise in the United States from October 7 through March 6. It is one of over 20 mountains on Mount Desert Island that were pushed up by earth’s tectonic and volcanic forces millions of years ago.

Image: Robbie Shade (CC BY 2.0)

Maryland

Maryland Sunrise

Sunrise at Assateague National Park, a protected area on a long barrier island off the coast of Maryland and Virginia. It’s known for its trails that wind through marshland, dunes and pine forest.

Image: Mrs. Gemstone (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Sunrise

Sunrise from Devereux beach in Marblehead, MA.

Image: Matt Casagrande (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Minnesota

Minnesota sunrise

A beautiful sunrise at the Boundary Waters in Ely, Minnesota.

Image: Greg Gjerdingen (CC BY 2.0)

Mississippi

Mississippi Sunrise

Morning sunrise in Pearl River, Mississippi.

Image: Loco Steve (CC BY 2.0)

Missouri

Missouri Sunrise

A beautiful post-peak sunrise over Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Missouri.

Image: Heath Cajandig (CC BY 2.0)

Montana

Montana Sunrise

A beautiful sunrise at Glacier National Park, a wilderness area in Montana’s Rocky Mountains. The park features more than 700 miles of hiking trails through glacier-carved peaks and valleys running to the Canadian border.

Image: Glacier NPS, Tim Rains (Public Domain)

Nebraska

Nebraska Sunrise

Sunrise over the Missouri River, as seen from the Florence neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. The Missouri River, North America’s longest, flows on the eastern edge of Omaha, creating a natural border between Nebraska and Iowa.

Image: Shelby Bell (CC BY 2.0)

Nevada

Nevada Sunrise

Sunrise over Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Image: Trevor Bexon (CC BY 2.0)

New Hampshire

New Hampshire Sunrise

A New Hampshire Sunrise at Silver Lake in Madison, NH.

Image: BenFrantzDale (CC BY-SA 2.0)

New Jersey

New Jersey Sunrise

A view of Atlantic City from Longport, NJ.

Image: Kevin Jarrett (CC BY 2.0)

New York

New York Sunrise

A Bridges and Tunnels Maintainer took this photo, of the Robert F. Kennedy Triborough Bridge Queens span at sunrise, while bicycling around Randall’s Island during a break.

Image: Marvin Springer, MTA / Bridges and Tunnels (CC BY 2.0)

North Carolina

North Carolina Sunrise

An Outer Banks Sunrise, Nags Head, NC.

Image: Tori Behr (CC BY 2.0)

North Dakota

North Dakota Sunrise

A July sunrise in Richardton, North Dakota.

Image: Darla Hueske (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Sunrise

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Southwest Oklahoma.

Image: Larry Smith (CC BY 2.0)

Oregon

Oregon Sunrise

The United States Congress designated the Hells Canyon Wilderness in 1975 and it now has a total of 217,927 acres. Hells Canyon Wilderness is a subset of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (HCNRA), which straddles the border of northeastern Oregon and western Idaho. It is split into two distinct halves by the Wild & Scenic Snake River.

Image: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington (CC BY 2.0)

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Sunrise

Sunrise over the Pell Bridge on the way into Newport, Rhode Island.

Image: 6SN7 (CC BY 2.0)

South Carolina

South Carolina Sunrise

Pier 14 Sun Rays. A beautiful sunrise in paradise along the Myrtle Beach boardwalk.

Image: Fran Trudeau (CC BY-SA 2.0)

South Dakota

South Dakota Sunrise

The morning Sun rises over Badlands National Park, South Dakota.

Image: Navin Rajagopalan (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tennessee

Tennessee Sunrise

The beginning of Sunrise at Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains.

Image: Xiaojia He (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Texas

Texas Sunrise

Sunrise, West Texas Style.  Taken in the fields just south-west of Lubbock, Texas.

Image: Stuart Seeger (CC BY 2.0)

Utah

Utah Sunrise

Sunrise at Bryce Canyon National Park, a sprawling reserve in southern Utah, is known for crimson-colored hoodoos, which are spire-shaped rock formations.

Image: PiConsti (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Vermont

Vermont Sunrise

The sunrise shining on Mount Ellen, a 4,083-foot high mountain in Vermont’s Green Mountains.

Image: Albert Lew (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Virginia

Shenandoah National Park Sunrise in Virginia

The sun makes its grand entrance above the fog in the foothills of Shenandoah National Park, as seen from Buck Hollow Overlook.

Image: Shenandoah National Park (CC BY 2.0)

Washington

Washington Sunrise

Seattle at Sunrise Mount Rainier in the background. Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington, and is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.

Image: Jason Rigden (CC BY-SA 2.0)

West Virginia

West Virginia Sunrise

An autumn sunrise scenery from the Bear Rocks area of the Dolly Sods Wilderness near Davis, West Virginia.

Image: Nicolas Raymond, (CC BY 2.0)

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Sunrise

A misty sunrise over a lake in Oneida, Wisconsin.

Image: wplynn (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park Sunrise

A stunning shot of the sunrise over Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park.

Image: Yellowstone National Park, Neal Herbert

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