16 Epic Places in the United States Even Americans Don't Know About

Also known as Fly Ranch Geyser, the small geothermal geyser was accidentally created during well drilling in 1964 when the well was either not capped correctly or left unplugged. This caused dissolved minerals to accumulate, creating the travertine mound where the geyser sits and continues to grow. Water is constantly being released from Fly Geyser, sometimes reaching up to five feet (1.5 meters) in the air. In June 2016, the Burning Man Project purchased the Fly Ranch, where the geyser is located, and the property is currently closed to the public.

East of Santa Fe and south of Pecos in New Mexico is the Pecos National Historical Park. It was first a state monument in 1935 and was expanded and renamed a park in 1990. The park’s main unit is the Pecos Pueblo, a Native American community of rock and mud villages built around AD 1100. Thousands of acres of the landscape feature prehistoric archaeological ruins, a battlefield from the American Civil War, and the remains of a Spanish mission built in the early 17th century. There is a 1.25-mile (2-km) self-guided trail that winds through the Pecos Pueblo and the mission.

Grand Teton National Park covers 310,000 acres in Wyoming, including the Teton Range, and is named after the tallest mountain in the range, Grand Teton. More than 1,000 species of plants, 300 species of birds, and a dozen species of fish call the park home. Some of the rocks are nearly 2.7 billion years old, the oldest found in any national park in the United States. The park has more than 1,000 campsites, over 200 miles of hiking trails, and is one of the few places to catch the fine-spotted cutthroat trout.

In Mount Vernon, Washington, are the Skagit Valley Tulip Fields, featured in the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival driving tour every April. The tulip fields are in different locations each year, and the crops are grown by RoozenGaarde and Tulip Town. During the festival, visitors can enjoy art shows, concerts, a youth basketball tournament, and a running race. The Downtown Mount Vernon Street Fair and the Kiwanis Salmon Barbecue take place alongside the festival.

Sometimes called “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon,” Providence Canyon in southwest Georgia is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia because of its massive gullies, caused by erosion due to poor farming practices in the 19th century. The park is situated on marine sediments with small areas of sand and is home to the rare plumleaf azalea flower. An abandoned homestead at the park includes almost a dozen rusty 1950s-era cars and trucks; since removing the vehicles could cause environmental damage, park officials decided to leave them where they are.

In southeast Alaska is the 13.6-mile (21.9-km) long Mendenhall Glacier. Since Mendenhall Lake’s creation in 1929, the glacier has retreated 1.75 miles (2.8 kilometers). Unfortunately, it’s possible that the glacier could experience a period of stabilization: increasing amounts of warm, moist air are carried to the head of the ice field, where colder temperatures cause it to precipitate as snow; however, if temperatures continue to rise, the head of the glacier will not longer have enough cold temperatures to cause the snow to precipitate.

Located near Page, Arizona, is Horseshoe Bend, a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River, five miles (eight kilometers) downstream from Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam. The rock walls of Horseshoe Bend are made of several minerals including platinum, hematite, and garnet. An overlook at 4,200 feet (1280 meters) above sea level which is accessible by an access road or a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) round trip hiking trail along U.S. Route 89.