On the flat floor of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, rocks appear to have travelled across the desert by themselves. Some leave long, winding trails behind them, while nearby stones remain exactly where they were. For decades, nobody could watch the rocks move, which made the place one of the strangest natural mysteries in the American West.
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| A sailing stone leaves a long trail across Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. |
Deep in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, a strange red stain cuts through a wall of ice. It looks almost like blood spilling from Taylor Glacier, which is why the site became known as Blood Falls. But there is nothing supernatural about it. The strange colour comes from salty water, rich in iron, that has been held captive beneath the glacier for an unusually long time. One of the strangest sights in nature on Earth is when this ancient brine reaches the surface, reacts with oxygen, and turns a rusty red.
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| Blood Falls seeps from the end of Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonney in Antarctica. |
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| The emerald-green waters of Charco de los Clicos contrast with Lanzarote's black volcanic coastline. |
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| The unique Devil's Kettle Waterfall on Minnesota's Brule River. [Photo | Source] |
Sometimes a tree develops a strange-looking mass of branches that seems completely out of place. Instead of growing in the usual pattern, dozens of short twigs crowd together in one area, creating a tangled ball that can look surprisingly like a bird's nest. This unusual growth is known as witches' broom.
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| Witches' broom growing on a forest tree—Photo | Source |
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| The Methuselah Tree is a famous ancient Great Basin bristlecone pine in California’s White Mountains. |
Mono Lake, California, is one of the most unusual natural places in the United States. The high desert lake of the Eastern Sierra is an ancient one, noted for its salty water, strange limestone tufa towers, volcanic islands, and remarkable flocks of migratory birds. Mono Lake looks almost like a different planet at first sight. Yet behind its strange appearance is a fascinating story of geology, wildlife, water and conservation.
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| The striking tufa towers of Mono Lake with the Sierra Nevada rising in the background. |
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| Brilliant white chalk formations spread across the White Desert near Farafra Oasis. |
Hocking Hills State Park is where Ohio shows off its dramatic, almost secret side. Deep sandstone gorge, echoing rock shelters, cool forest trails and waterfalls create a landscape that feels a world away from the everyday. The caves in Hocking Hills are among the most memorable outdoor experiences in the Midwest for hikers, photographers, families, and weekend travellers.
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| Explore the dramatic sandstone gorge, waterfalls, and forest scenery at Old Man’s Cave. |
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| The colourful waters of Five Flower Lake, located in Jiuzhaigou Valley, are a stunning feature of the area. |
At first glance, the Río de la Plata can look more like a sea than a river. It is enormously wide, carries vast quantities of freshwater, and opens toward the Atlantic Ocean between Argentina and Uruguay. Yet its story begins farther inland, where the waters of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers come together to form one of South America's most important estuaries.
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| The vast Río de la Plata stretches between Argentina and Uruguay. |
Rising dramatically above the forests of central Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is one of the country's most extraordinary historic sites. The enormous rock seems to rise from the ground, its steep sides towering over the surrounding green landscape. At the summit are the remains of an ancient royal citadel, while the gardens, ponds, frescoes and monumental entrance below reveal how carefully the site was designed.
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| Sigiriya rises dramatically above the surrounding forests of central Sri Lanka. |
On the rugged Oregon Coast, there is a natural formation that looks almost impossible. Thor’s Well appears to swallow seawater from the Pacific Ocean, then suddenly send it rushing back into the air. The dramatic hole sits on the rocky shoreline of Cape Perpetua, near Yachats, where powerful waves constantly reshape the basalt coast.
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| Thor’s Well sits among the rugged rocks of Oregon’s Pacific coastline. |
Drive across the rolling grasslands of northeastern Wyoming, and, at some point, you'll catch sight of it before you're ready — a grey column rising out of nowhere, standing apart from every hill and ridge around it. That's Devils Tower. Pictures never quite capture it — up close, it feels less like part of the scenery and more like something that showed up and refused to leave
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| The tower seen from the surrounding pine forest |
Bolton Strid is one of the most striking and deceptive natural features in Yorkshire. Here, the River Wharfe suddenly squeezes through a narrow rocky channel in Strid Wood, near Bolton Abbey. From the surrounding woodland, the scene can look almost peaceful: green trees, moss-covered rocks and clear rushing water. Yet the Strid has an entirely unique reputation from an ordinary riverside viewpoint.
The river is forced through a tight opening at intense pressure, while the rocks and water conceal hazards beneath the surface. The Bolton Abbey Estate itself warns visitors that the Strid is extremely dangerous and that lives have been lost there.
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| The River Wharfe narrows dramatically at Bolton Strid near Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire. |
At first glance, Devils Golf Course looks less like a landscape and more like something carved from another world. The ground is covered with sharp ridges, rough mounds, and irregular spires of salt and mud, stretching across the floor of Death Valley. Green grass, a fairway, and an ordinary golf course are absent. The name comes from the brutally uneven terrain, said to be so rough that only the devil could play golf there.
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| The jagged salt formations of Devils Golf Course in Death Valley National Park, California. |
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| The Rainbow Eucalyptus is known for its naturally colourful trunk. |
Lake Tekapo is one of New Zealand’s most photographed landscapes, known for its turquoise-blue water, surrounding mountains, and the wide-open scenery of the Mackenzie Basin. But during the warmer months, another sight attracts attention: tall spikes of pink, purple, blue, white and other-coloured lupin flowers growing beside roads, rivers and open countryside.
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| New Zealand flower field of Lupines |
On Norway's west coast, a natural formation that appears almost too bizarre to be true can be found among the rocky shores and dramatic landscapes of the North Atlantic. Kannesteinen Rock is a rock formation in Norway, near the village of Oppedal, close to Måløy in Vestland County. The rock has developed a base and a wider top, giving it a remarkable mushroom-like appearance formed over thousands of years by waves, wind, and weather.
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| Kannesteinen is a naturally sculpted mushroom-shaped rock on Norway’s rugged western coast. |
Hidden in the hills of Nanjing, China, are three enormous pieces of limestone that were meant to become one of the largest stone monuments e...
