America is full of landscapes that look too strange to be real. From narrow canyons carved by water to beaches covered in smooth glass, these places show how unusual nature can be. Here are ten of the most surprising ones.
1. Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Antelope Canyon is a narrow slot canyon in northern Arizona, near the town of Page. It was carved over time by water flowing through sandstone, leaving smooth, wavy walls. Sunlight falling into the canyon creates shifting bands of light and shadow. The canyon is famous for its flowing shapes and warm red, orange, and pink colors.
2. Fly Geyser, Nevada
Fly Geyser is a small, colorful geyser in northern Nevada, on private land in Washoe County. It formed accidentally when a well was drilled in the 1960s, and hot water began rising to the surface. Minerals in the water built up into cone-shaped mounds in bright red, green, and yellow. The geyser sprays water continuously, making it look like a strange, living sculpture.
3. The Wave, Arizona
The Wave is a swirling sandstone rock formation in northern Arizona, near the Utah border. Wind and water shaped the rock into smooth, flowing lines of red, orange, and white. It looks like a frozen ocean wave made of stone. Because the area is fragile, only a limited number of visitors are allowed to hike to it each day.
4. Thor's Well, Oregon
Thor's Well is a natural hole in the rocky shoreline at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon coast. At high tide, waves rush into the hole and spray upward, making it look like the ocean is draining away. The well is thought to have formed when the roof of a sea cave collapsed. It is most dramatic, and most dangerous, during rough seas, so visitors should watch it from a safe distance.
5. Painted Desert, Arizona
The Painted Desert is a region of colorful badlands in northern Arizona, partly within Petrified Forest National Park. Its hills and mesas show layers of red, orange, pink, and purple rock. The colors come from different minerals in the soil and rock. Over time, wind and rain have carved the soft rock into ridges, buttes, and flat-topped mesas.
6. Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a vast, flat plain of white salt in northwestern Utah, near the Nevada border. They are the dried bed of an ancient lake that once covered much of the region. After rain, a thin layer of water can turn the flats into a giant mirror. The perfectly flat, white surface is also famous as a place where land-speed records are set.
7. Glass Beach, California
Glass Beach is a beach near Fort Bragg in northern California, covered in small, smooth pieces of sea glass. The glass came from trash dumped into the ocean decades ago, and years of waves smoothed the sharp edges. Today the shore is covered in frosted pieces of green, white, brown, and blue glass. Collecting the glass is discouraged, so visitors are asked to leave it where it lies.
8. Devils Tower, Wyoming
Devils Tower is a huge, flat-topped rock tower rising above the plains of northeastern Wyoming. It stands about 867 feet tall and is made of rock with tall, vertical columns. Native peoples of the region have long held the tower as a sacred place, and it is known by different names in different traditions. It was the first place in the United States to be declared a national monument, in 1906.
9. Mono Lake, California
Mono Lake is a large, salty lake in eastern California, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Its most famous feature is the tufa towers: strange, pale limestone spires that rise from the shore and shallow water. The towers formed underwater where fresh springs met the salty lake water. Because the lake has no outlet, its water is very salty and alkaline, and it supports huge numbers of brine shrimp and birds.
10. White Sands, New Mexico
White Sands is a vast field of white gypsum sand dunes in southern New Mexico. The dunes cover about 275 square miles and are the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Unlike most desert sand, gypsum sand stays cool to the touch, even in summer heat. Wind constantly reshapes the dunes, so the landscape always looks fresh and new.
0 Comments