Category Amazing Places

Vieques or the Isla de Vieques is a beautiful island of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean. It is part of the Spanish Virgin Islands and retains influences from centuries-long Spanish presence in the land.

Geographically, Vieques is about 34 kilometres long and 6 kilometers wide. Isabel Segunda, the chief town and Esperanza, a fishing village are two of the important places on the isle.

There are many reasons why Vieques is known to the world. The closeness to waters as well as the hilly terrain is indeed fascinating. But what brought this little island to global attention was a series of protests.

History says that in the early 1940s, a large part of the island was occupied by the US Navy. But, the protests from the natives forced the US Navy to withdraw from the island. Following this, Vieques was designated a National Wildlife Refuge. Today, it is a major hub of ecotourism with unspoiled beaches along with historical remains attracting thousands of visitors each year. 

          Denali is the highest mountain peak in North America that is located close to the centre of the Alaska Range in South-Central Alaska.

          After Mount Everest and Aconcagua, Denali is the third most prominent and isolated peak on Earth. It is a giant block of granite believed to have been lifted above the earth’s crust due to tectonic activity, millions of years ago.

          There are two significant summits on the peak, the South Summit which is the higher one, and the North Summit. Flowing off the slopes of the mountain are five large glaciers.

          Starting from 1903, many attempts were made to climb the summit of Denali. However, the first successful ascent was recorded on June 7, 1913, by climbers Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper, and Robert Tatum. Today, Denali is a famous spot among climbers.

          The term ‘Denali’ was the name given to the mountain by native Athabascan Indians. It means ‘The Great One’. 

          The Katmai National Park and Preserve is an area in southwestern Alaska, US, most noted for its wilderness and distinctive geologic features.

          Named after Mount Katmai, the park has 18 individual volcanoes out of which seven are active. In fact, the area was made a national monument in 1918, six years after the violent eruption of the Novarupta Volcano.

          One of the important landmarks of the Katmai National Park is the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. It was a green valley that got converted into an ash-filled wasteland after the eruption of the Novarupta.

          The park is also noted for its lakes, forests, rivers, marshlands and wildlife. The Snowshoe hare, Alaskan moose, Canadian lynx, wolverine, river otter, mink, red fox, weasel, marten etc., are some of the mammals in the area. There are also marine mammals like the harbour seal, sea lion and sea otter. However, the most prominent animal here is the Alaskan brown bear. Katmai has the world’s largest protected brown bear population. 

          The Dry Tortugas National Park is a name that remains synonymous with marine beauty. Located on the Dry Tortugas islands in southwestern Florida, the park covers an area of 262 square kilometers. It was built to preserve Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands that lie west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.

          As mentioned before, the Dry Tortugas National Park is noted for its rich sea life. The colourful coral reefs, legends of shipwrecks, and tropical bird breeding grounds are some of the best spectacles here. Fort Jefferson is another reason why the park is important. It is a massive, unfinished coastal fortress, which happens to be the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere.

          The fort was built with more than 16 million bricks. Besides its historical significance, the park is also a renowned site for bird watching. The parade ground of the Fort is the place where one can spot numerous birds.

              The Oneonta Gorge is a gorge located in the Columbia River Gorge area of the Oregon state. A gorge, as some of you might know, is a narrow valley with steep walls lying between hills or mountains.

               The Oneonta Gorge is a highly impressive formation that is often described as ‘one of the true dramatic chasms in the State’. The gorge is special for the unique aquatic and woodland plants growing in the region. The walls of the basalt rocks here are home to a wide variety of ferns, mosses, hepatics or liverworts and lichens which are found exclusively within the Columbia River gorge.

               There are four major waterfalls on the Oneonta creeks that run through the gorge. The Middle falls can be seen clearly from a footpath at a distance, but the lower falls can be seen only by walking upstream from the creek’s outlet at the Historic Columbia River Highway.

               Similarly, the Upper Falls can be viewed if one can climb up the creek or climb down a canyon wall.

               The fourth falls or the Triple Falls can be seen from a point on the upper trails of the canyon.

            The Big Sur is a scenic region in Western California, US that comprises a 160 kilometre long stretch of sea coast along the Pacific Ocean.

            It is regarded as the greatest meeting of land and water in the world, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise sharply from the ocean.

            The coastal roads that are winding and narrow provide enchanting views of the Pacific Ocean and the wild areas of the Los Padres National Forest nearby. Another important place here is the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, spread over more than 323.7 hectares. It is home to a wide variety of wildlife and trees like coastal red-woods.

            The park contains the village of Big Sur. The Garrapata, Andrew Molera, and San Simeon, and Point Sur State Historic Park are some of the other state parks in the Big Sur area.

            This place which is now a major tourist destination was once just cattle ranches and small farms. Many writers have appreciated the beauty of Big Sur in their works. American poet Robinson Jeffers is one of them. His home is now one of the landmarks of Big Sur. 

          Kauai is a stunning volcanic island in Hawaii, US. It is believed to be the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands. One of the features of Kauai is that it is dominated by Mount Waialeale, at its centre. The summit of this mount is one of the wettest places on Earth.

          There are a few cities on the island, like the Lihue, which is the centre of business and the chief port, and Kapaa, the most populous town. The Kauai museum is among the most visited places on Kauai.

          Other attractions on the isle include the Russian Fort Elizabeth State Historical Park and the Kilauea Light-house, which contains the world’s largest lighthouse clamshell lens, although now inactive.

          However, one cannot miss the Waimea Canyon lying on the west of the island. For its grandeur, it is often called the ‘Grand Canyon of the Pacific’. 

          The Mammoth Cave National Park is a highly popular park that preserves the Mammoth cave, which has the longest cave system in the world. It is located in Kentucky in the US. Explorers have mapped more than 650 kilometres of caves here, and still continue to discover new passages.

          For the surprises inside, the Mammoth caves are nothing but a magnificent creation. There are underground lakes, rivers and numerous geologic formations that leave any visitor spell-bound. Apart from the large natural entrance, there are as well many artificial ones as well, including an access by elevator that helps visitors to enter the caves. Inside the passages live numerous animals that perfectly adapt to the cave conditions. The eyeless fish and cave crickets are two of them.

           Various kinds of birds, reptiles, animals like the white-tailed deer, foxes and opossums are some of the wild animals inhabiting the park. 

          Monument Valley is a wide expanse that is marked by enormous rock features, including mesas, cliffs, and buttes. Part of the Colorado Plateau, it lies between the borders of Arizona and Utah in the US. It is estimated that the valley covers an area of over 36826 hectares.

          The biggest attraction of Monument Valley is the buttes, or isolated hills that are steep on sides and flat on top.

          Yet another much visited site on the valley is the Mittens, which are a pair of thumb-like outcrops. In addition, there is the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park that makes it a must-see place for travellers across the world.

          One of the features that contribute to the attractiveness of the valley is its vivid red colour. This coloration happens due to the presence of iron oxide. There are also blue-gray rocks here, making it a rare combination of beauty. 

               The Grand Canyon is one of the most celebrated sites in the world, noted for its impressive shapes and colours.

               As the name suggests, it is an extensive canyon that was cut by the Colorado River in the plateau region of Arizona. It runs almost 446 kilometres through the north-western part of Arizona and ranges from 0.2 to 29 kilometres in width. Believe it or not, there are places where the canyon is more than a kilometre deep!

               Historians note that many of the rocks in the canyon are at least 4 billion years old. Some of them even resemble temples or castles, making it a beautiful spectacle from a distance. As mentioned earlier, there is a wide range of colours one can see here. The canyon is said to be mostly red, but there are layers of rocks that appear buff, gray, green, pink, and violet.

              Below the Grand Canyon lie magnificent forests of pine, fir, spruce, and aspen. There are also a large number of wildlife in the region, including coyotes, foxes, deer, badgers, pumas, bobcats, rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks.