Inspiration

30 Landscapes You Won't Believe Are in the U.S.

Who knew Colorado looked so much like Croatia?

October 16, 2018

The United States is one seriously beautiful country. (Have you ever heard someone call the Grand Canyon "meh"?) But when we think of the world's most surreal landscapes—like miles-long salt flats and fields of lavender—our minds tend to wander to faraway places. Turns out there's plenty of magic to be found across our own 50 states. From Florida to Alaska, here are 30 spectacular landscapes you won't believe are in the U.S.

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Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colo.
Looks like: The Sahara Desert
Set against the Rocky Mountains, the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado (the tallest dunes in North America) look like they were transported straight from Africa's Sahara or Namib deserts. It takes hours to climb to the top of the dunes from the parking lot, but the feeling of standing alone, hundreds of feet in the air, is well worth the trek.
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Hamilton Pool Preserve, Tex.
Looks like: Playa del Amor, Mexico
The 50-foot waterfall and jade waters at the Hamilton Pool Preserve (just west of Austin) are not to be missed. The site was formed thousands of years ago when an underground river collapsed, leaving us with a natural rock formation that looks just like a Mexican cenote.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley, Wash.
Looks like: Provence, France
If you thought you had to travel to France to see endless fields of lavender, you clearly haven't been to Sequim, Washington before. As if the Olympic Peninsula's beaches and mountains weren't incredible enough, Sequim's lavender farms are a perfect, fragrant addition. Try to visit in July for the annual Lavender Weekend, when you can tour the farms, pick your own lavender, and buy enough lotions and eye pillows to keep you relaxed until you return the following year.
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Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
Looks like: Disko Bay, Greenland
Alaska is home to more than 3 million lakes, but we have a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to Bear Lake. Located in the Kenai Fjords National Park, the site stands out for its massive glaciers, year-round water sports (kayaking, ice skating, dog mushing), and viewings of the Northern Lights from September through April.

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Badlands National Park, S.D.
Looks like: Bungle Bungle Range, Australia
Found in the southwest corner of South Dakota, Badlands National Park greets visitors with an otherworldly landscape of rust-colored buttes, spires, and pinnacles rising across thousands of acres. Blink and you might think you've been transported to Western Australia (or even Mars).
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Antelope Canyon, Ariz.
Looks like: Petra, Jordan
Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon—and serious Instagram darling—in the American Southwest. The narrow, undulating spaces between rock formations allow for vivid patterns when sunlight filters through the striated stone, inviting comparisons to Jordan's Petra Valley or the Marble Caves of Chile.

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Everglades National Park, Fla.
Looks like: Okavango Delta, Botswana
Occupying 1.5 million prime acres of Southern Florida, these famed wetlands are one of the world’s most varied (and fascinating) ecosystems. Although the Everglades bear an uncanny resemblance to Botswana's Okavango Delta, the wildlife is a tad different—expect to see alligators and manatees during your airboat tour, not hippos and elephants.
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Skagit Valley, Wash.
Looks like: The Netherlands
You think tulips, you think Holland, right? But these beautiful spring flowers can be found closer to home: Washington's Skagit Valley has sprawling fields of tulips much like Lisse's Keukenhof (the largest bulb garden in the world), with a festival offering guided bike tours and photo contests every April.

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Lost Coast, Calif.
Looks like: Reynisfjara, Iceland
Just as cool as it sounds, the so-called Lost Coast features 30 miles of wild coastline in northern California (really northern—about 50 miles away from the Oregon border). Just off the parking lot in Shelter Cove, you'll find an extraordinary black sand beach with rugged beauty rivaling Reynisfjara, Iceland's famous rocky beach.
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Yakima County, Wash.
Looks like: Napa Valley
Just two hours east of Seattle, Yakima County is an easy weekend getaway for oenophiles. There are enough tasting rooms and farm-to-table restaurants to keep you busy (and boozy) for days, as small pockets of green pop amid the gorgeous Columbia Gorge and desert-like terrain.

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Hanging Lake, Colo.
Looks like: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Hanging Lake is one of Colorado's most popular hiking destinations—and one of the most beautiful, too. The water somehow manages to be clear yet turquoise (thanks to dissolving carbonate minerals), giving us a peek at the trees and branches beneath the surface. And those waterfalls? Well, they only increase the dreaminess factor.
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Bisti Wilderness Area, N.M
Looks like: Pinnacles, Australia
If you're desperate to visit Australia's surreal landscapes but don't have the bandwidth for that 20-hour flight, then head to New Mexico's Bisti Wilderness Area. In the Southwest's scenic Four Corners region, the badlands' egg-shaped rocks and eroded hoodoos must be seen in person.

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Denali National Park, Alaska
Looks like: Nepal
Denali National Park gets more than a half-million visitors a year, and it's easy to see why. The park is a wild and massive (we're talking 6 million acres) landscape of snowy amphitheaters, glaciers, ice caves, and mountains that would look right at home in the Himalayas. You can even climb Denali, but just like Everest, it's a major undertaking, so know all the information before attempting.
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Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, La.
Looks like: The Amazon
Exploring this 6,000-acre state park in Southern Louisiana is like going on an Amazon river cruise—without having to leave the country. The park's labyrinthine waterways provide fishing and canoeing opportunities, while campgrounds and hiking trails wait just offshore.

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Horsetail Falls, Yosemite National Park, Calif.
Looks like: Angel Falls, Venezuela
Horsetail Falls may not be quite as large as Venezuela's Angel Falls (the latter is about 1,600 feet longer), but it's every bit as magnificent. The waterfall becomes even more dramatic during the winter months, when the elements create a phenomenon called a "firefall," an illusion created when the sun hits the waterfall in such a dramatic way that it looks like it's on fire.
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Cannon Beach, Ore.
Looks like: Bathsheba Beach, Barbados
Driving Oregon's coast is a road trip that rivals even California's Highway 1, with beautiful state parks, rugged coastlines, and secluded hideaways. Cannon Beach is an essential pit stop off Highway 101, and seeing the 235-foot Haystack Rock protruding out of the water is well-worth the drive.

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Pipiwai Trail, Maui, Hawaii
Looks like: Arashiyama, Japan
Maui's Haleakalā National Park is best known for its cloud-piercing volcanos and epic sunrises (so epic that you need a reservation to see one), but it also happens to be home to some more easily accessible wonders. At first glance, the Pīpīwai Trail looks nearly identical to Kyoto's Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, with towering green stalks to hide you from the rest of the world.
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Travertine Hot Springs, Eastern Sierras, Calif.
Looks like: Pamukkale, Turkey
Formed by travertine rock and geothermal water, these natural hot springs run a comfortable 103-105 degrees off of California's Highway 395. You may have to share your natural hot tub with other tourists, but the expansive Eastern Sierra views and sunsets are worth the potential crowds.

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Antelope Valley, Calif.
Looks like: Namaqualand, South Africa
California is famous for its wildflowers, especially Antelope Valley's rolling hills of poppies (the official state flower). Visit on a sunny April day, sometime around mid-morning, to catch the eye-popping shades of orange and yellow in all their glory.
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Oneonta Gorge, Ore.
Looks like: Vintgar Gorge, Slovenia
The basalt walls of the Oneonta Gorge are draped in brilliant green mosses and ferns, making it one of the quintessential sightseeing spots in the Pacific Northwest. Even better? The site is part of the massive Columbia River Gorge, which means you can also see cliffs and waterfalls during your excursion.

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Mono Lake, Calif.
Looks like: The Dead Sea
An abnormally high amount of salt—about twice as much as the ocean—and eerily beautiful tufa formations (made from built-up limestone) make Mono Lake, California's largest natural lake, almost too cool to believe.
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Charleston Oak Trees, S.C.
Looks like: Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland
Charleston is the land of Lowcountry cuisine and Antebellum mansions, but its arching oak trees are just as much of a draw. Perhaps one of the most iconic drives in the city (and, really, the entire county) is the half-mile stretch leading up to the historic Boone Hall Plantation, where oaks laden with Spanish moss line both sides of the road.

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Hubbard Glacier, Alaska
Looks like: Patagonia
To call Hubbard Glacier "massive" is a bit of an understatement: The glacier's face is up to 400 feet tall and more than six miles wide where it meets the ocean. But the colors—a medley of blues within blues—and the transformation of the freezing and unfreezing water are what make this one of nature's great artistic masterpieces.
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Shiprock, N.M.
Looks like: Uluru, Australia (kind of)
The Shiprock is a 1,583-foot tall rock formation rising like a villain's castle in New Mexico's Navajo Nation. The landmark formed some 30 million years ago as a volcanic plume, which remained while erosion erased the rest of the volcano, leaving behind the jagged structure that now defines the otherwise flat region.

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Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif.
*Looks like: The southern coast of Italy *
If you want to plan an iconic American road trip, drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles along Highway 1—making sure you have time for a quick detour to Carmel-by-the-Sea. The coastal city is as reminiscent of Southern Italy as the U.S. gets, complete with tree-studded cliffs and tasty Mediterranean food at Dametra Cafe.
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Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
Looks like: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Sprawling more than 30,000 acres on the Utah-Nevada border, the Bonneville Salt Flats make you see the world in a different way. The chalk-white landscape stretches so far out in all directions that you can actually spy the curvature of the earth, and aside from the dry heat, walking across the salty crust feels a bit like touching frost-covered grass first thing in the morning.

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The Palouse, Idaho
Looks like: Moravian Fields, Czech Republic
The rolling region of the Palouse covers 4,000 sq. miles of northern Idaho and southeastern Washington. The loess hills resemble sand dunes in shape (probably because they were formed by wind-blown sediment, not erosion), but become a dreamscape of varying shades of greens during the wet spring months.
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Mesa Verde National Park, Colo.
Looks like: Morocco
This concentration of ancestral Pueblo Indian dwellings sits at an altitude of over 8,500 feet in southwest Colorado. The park's cliff buildings could easily be one of Morocco's earthen villages—if it wasn't 4,800-miles away, of course.

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Death Valley National Park, Calif.
Looks like: Atacama Desert, Chile
Death Valley National Park is not only a Guinness world record darling (lowest elevation in North America, hottest month on earth), but is also the subject of some of the world's most awe-inspiring photos. Come for the mauve- and ochre-colored sunrise over Zabriskie Point.
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Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Wash.
Looks like: Valdivian Temperate Forest, South America
The Hoh Rain Forest is one of the only rainforests in the U.S., with lichen-shrouded trees and fungus-covered logs that make you forget which country you're in for a moment. Even better? The Hoh River Valley is home to the quietest spot in the contiguous 48 states, according to Gordon Hempton, an expert "acoustic ecologist."

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colo.

Hamilton Pool Preserve, Tex.

Sequim-Dungeness Valley, Wash.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Badlands National Park, S.D.

Antelope Canyon, Ariz.

Everglades National Park, Fla.

Skagit Valley, Wash.

Lost Coast, Calif.

Yakima County, Wash.

Hanging Lake, Colo.

Bisti Wilderness Area, N.M

Denali National Park, Alaska

Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, La.

Horsetail Falls, Yosemite National Park, Calif.

Cannon Beach, Ore.

Pipiwai Trail, Maui, Hawaii

Travertine Hot Springs, Eastern Sierras, Calif.

Antelope Valley, Calif.

Oneonta Gorge, Ore.

Mono Lake, Calif.

Charleston Oak Trees, S.C.

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska

Shiprock, N.M.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif.

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

The Palouse, Idaho

Mesa Verde National Park, Colo.

Death Valley National Park, Calif.

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Wash.

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