26 Breathtakingly Beautiful Places You Need To Visit In America

Some of these places are awe-inspiring.

1. Garden Of The Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / Kyle May
image – Flickr / Kyle May

The Garden Of The Gods formations were created from crust upheavals millions of years ago. The park is a popular destination for hikers, rock climbers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. There are more than 15 miles of trails and the park attracts more than 2 million visitors a year.

2. Palouse Falls, Washington

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / Ramanathan.Kathiresan
image – Flickr / Ramanathan.Kathiresan
image - Flickr / Vineesh Devasia
image – Flickr / Vineesh Devasia

Palouse Falls is located in southeast Washington, located 4 miles upstream of the Snake River. It is 198 feet in height — on April 21, 2009, Tyler Bradt rode his kayak over the falls setting an unofficial world record for the highest waterfall run.

3. Grand Tetons, Wyoming

image - Flickr / jeffgunn
image – Flickr / jeffgunn
image - Flickr / tombabich24
image – Flickr / tombabich24
image - Flickr / jeffgunn
image – Flickr / jeffgunn

Grand Teton is the highest mountain (13,775 feet) in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. It is considered a classic destination for mountaineering.

4. Fly Geyser, Black Rock Desert, Nevada

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock

Fly Geyser is actually man-made. It was created accidentally from well-drilling in 1964. Water is released reaching up to 5 feet in the air.

5. Sedona, Arizona

image - Flickr / AndrewEick
image – Flickr / AndrewEick
image - Flickr / tiarescott
image – Flickr / tiarescott
image - Flickr / amerune
image – Flickr / amerune

Sedona glows red when the sun sets over the red sandstone formations.

6. Valley Of Fire State Park, Nevada

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image – Flickr / Alaskan Dude

The oldest park in the state of Nevada, Valley Of Fire State Park covers almost 42,000 acres. Its red sandstone formations were formed from shifting sand dunes millions of years ago.

7. Painted Hills, Oregon

image - Flickr / Misserion
image – Flickr / Misserion
image - Flickr / H Dragon
image – Flickr / H Dragon
image - Flickr / H Dragon
image – Flickr / H Dragon

There is an abundance of fossils embedded throughout the hills, making it valuable to paleontologists and scientists.

8. Oneonta Gorge, Oregon

image - Flickr / jeffgunn
image – Flickr / jeffgunn
image - Flickr / jeffgunn
image – Flickr / jeffgunn
image - Flickr / ColbyOtero.com
image – Flickr / ColbyOtero.com

Oneonta Gorge was named after Carleton Eugene Watkins, an Oneonta native who traveled out west during the 1849 gold rush. Watkins is said to be the first person to ever have photographed the gorge.

9. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / daveynin
image – Flickr / daveynin
Flickr / YellowstoneNPS
Flickr / YellowstoneNPS

The Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States. It was discovered in 1871 by geologists who noted its striking colors.

10. Dixie National Forest, Utah

image - Flickr / britsinvade
image – Flickr / britsinvade
image - Flickr / JefferyTurner
image – Flickr / JefferyTurner
image - Flickr / bumeister1
image – Flickr / bumeister1

Dixie National Forest occupies almost 2 million acres and is the largest national forest in Utah.

11. Bass Harbor Lighthouse, Maine

image - Flickr / Chris Potako
image – Flickr / Chris Potako
image - Flickr / Madeleine_H
image – Flickr / Madeleine_H
image - Flickr / Madeleine_H
image – Flickr / Madeleine_H

Bass Harbor Lighthouse marks the entrance to Bass Harbor and Blue Hill Bay. It is a private residence today.

12. Antelope Canyon, Arizona

image - Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image – Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image - Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image – Flickr / Alaskan Dude
Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image – Flickr / Alaskan Dude

Located on Navajo land, Antelope Canyon is perhaps the most photographed geological formation in the American southwest.

13. Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

image - Flickr / Yuya Sekiguchi
image – Flickr / Yuya Sekiguchi
image - Flickr / markbyzewski
image – Flickr / markbyzewski
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock

Bear Lake was formed by a glacier during the ice age.

14. Thor’s Well, Oregon

image - Flickr / Bill Young
image – Flickr / Bill Young
image - Flickr / W Mustafeez
image – Flickr / W Mustafeez
image - Flickr / snowpeak
image – Flickr / snowpeak

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkFXXbFAl6E&w=584&h=390%5D

Thor’s Well is a deep hole that fills up with seawater as waves come crashing in, sending water up 20 feet into the air.

15. Coyote Gulch, Utah

image - Flickr / snowpeak
image – Flickr / snowpeak
image - Flickr / snowpeak
image – Flickr / snowpeak
image - Flickr / mnemophobe
image – Flickr / mnemophobe

Coyote Gulch is a tributary of the Escalante River and is about 25 miles long.

16. Lake McDonald, Montana

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / GlacierNPS
image – Flickr / GlacierNPS
image - Flickr / Gary_Koelling
image – Flickr / Gary_Koelling

Lake McDonald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park. It is approximately 10 miles long and 500 feet deep.

17. Watkins Glen State Park, New York

image - Flickr / andyarthur
image – Flickr / andyarthur
image - Flickr / andyarthur
image – Flickr / andyarthur
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock

Previously a private tourist resort, until its purchase by New York State in 1906, Watkins Glen State Park’s main attraction is its narrow gorge left behind by glaciers of the ice age.

18. Denali National Park, Alaska

image - Flickr / exquisitur
image – Flickr / exquisitur
image - Flickr / Threat to Democracy
image – Flickr / Threat to Democracy
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock

Denali National Park circles around the tallest mountain in North America – Mount McKinley. The park is estimated to be 6 million acres in size and home to tundras and glaciers.

19. Anza-Borrego Badlands, California

image - Flickr / John Loo
image – Flickr / John Loo
image - Flickr / rmalouf
image – Flickr / rmalouf
image - Flickr / mikebaird
image – Flickr / mikebaird

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park takes its name from an 18th-century Spanish explorer named Juan Bautista de Anza. Anza-Borrego is the largest park in California and second largest in the United States.

20. Skagit Valley Tulip Fields, Washington

image - Flickr / Mr Padraig
image – Flickr / Mr Padraig
image - Flickr / Evil Erin
image – Flickr / Evil Erin
image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock

Skagit Valley Tulip Fields is home to a Tulip Festival held every April.

21. Hamilton Pool, Texas

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / rubengarciajrphotography
image – Flickr / rubengarciajrphotography
image - Flickr / TexasTravelGal.com
image – Flickr / TexasTravelGal.com

Located about 20 miles west of Austin, Hamilton Pool is a natural pool that was created due to erosion and the collapsing of an underground dome.

22. Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina/Tennessee

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / Firetrd
image – Flickr / Firetrd
image - Flickr / cwwycoff1
image – Flickr / cwwycoff1

The Great Smoky Mountains is a designated UNESCO site. Its name comes from natural fog caused by volatile organic compounds exhaled by the vegetation surrounding the mountains.

23. Haiku Stairs, Oahu

image - Flickr / syntheticaperture
image – Flickr / syntheticaperture
image - Flickr / kevin1024
image – Flickr / kevin1024
image - Flickr / syntheticaperture
image – Flickr / syntheticaperture

Also known as the Stairway to Heaven, it is a very steep hiking trail on O’ahu.

24. Devils Tower, Wyoming

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / Tim Pearce, Los Gatos
image – Flickr / Tim Pearce, Los Gatos
image - Flickr / dsearls
image – Flickr / dsearls

Standing 1,267 feet in the air, Devils Tower is the first US National Monument (declared by President Theodore Roosevelt)!

25. The Subway, Utah

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / snowpeak
image – Flickr / snowpeak
image - Flickr / snowpeak
image – Flickr / snowpeak

Located in Zion National Park, The Subway is a uniquely shaped canyon that is about a quarter of a mile long.

26. The Wave, Arizona

image - Shutterstock
image – Shutterstock
image - Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image – Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image - Flickr / Alaskan Dude
image – Flickr / Alaskan Dude

The Wave is a famous sandstone rock formation in Arizona. In fact, Hugo Martin wrote in his article for the Los Angeles Times, “You can’t call yourself a landscape photographer if you haven’t snapped a photo or two of the Wave.”

Have you been to any of these places? Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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