FRESNO, Calif. – Imagine being the only driver on a two-lane asphalt highway as the stark desolation of Death Valley National park passes on each side and the crystal blue sky stretches up from the horizon.

Or picture a tight left turn on Yosemite’s Glacier Point Road where in the east iconic Half Dome suddenly appears against a backdrop of the snow-capped High Sierra.

The Google Street View service that has brought us Earth as we might not be able to afford to see it – as well criticism that some scenes along its 5 million miles of the globe’s roadways invade privacy – this month has turned its 360-degree cameras on road trips through five national parks in California.