20 Jaw-Dropping Landscapes: Exploring America's Natural Wonders

What is going on everyone? Let's talk about natural beauty. The United States has a lot of land and a lot of breathtaking nature in that land. Last year we did a video about 100 things to see or do in the United States. I've had more than a few requests to do one that's just natural beauty in the United States. Last one had like amusement parks and things like that. People are getting out again after the pandemic and everything. We're traveling, we're looking to change our scenery, and even if it's just for a weekend, we want to get out, we want to see things. Today is all about the natural beauty the United States has to offer anyone that wants to get out and see it. If you're living the van life, traveling the country in an RV, or just have a tank full of very expensive gas and time for a road trip, we're getting out. And you should. In the comment section, let me know how many of these you've seen, and let us know which one was your favorite. If this video gets enough likes, we'll do a second one. We could probably do a third if it's popular enough. All right, let's take a look. Number one, the Grand Canyon. In the past, I've talked about visiting the Grand Canyon. The first time I was a kid, and we just looked at it from the top during a family road trip from California to New York. Once you get past how big it is, it's a little boring. That is, unless you get into the canyon. I did that when I was in my 20s. It was amazing. If you don't know, the Grand Canyon is in Arizona, and that's actually the state's nickname, the Grand Canyon State. Native Americans have lived in and around the Grand Canyon for thousands of years. They got a lot of places they could live around there too. The Grand Canyon itself is over 270 miles long, about 446 kilometers. And it's about 18 miles across at its widest point. At its narrowest, it's only four miles across. It's about 6,000 feet deep also. It's huge. You can do everything at the Grand Canyon you'd want to do outdoors. Hiking, walking, riding horses, camping, rafting, fishing. It can be very dangerous though. The Grand Canyon deaths exceed 600 people in the past 150 years. People fall because the Grand Canyon is very deep and dangerous. Some people drowned. All the things you can imagine when people are around cliffs and water. The Grand Canyon weather gets very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. Temperatures can get up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and zero degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. And the Grand Canyon is considered one of the seven natural wonders. Number two, the Grand Tetons National Park. The Grand Tetons National Park was established in 1929 and then again in 1950. I guess someone didn't finish the paperwork or something. In 1929, President Calvin Coolidge went against everyone's advice and public opinion and approved the 96,000 acre park, which encompassed the Teton Range and six glacial lakes. In 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established 210 acres of Jackson Hole National Monument to basically protect them and keep them as federal land. In 1950, President Harry S. Truman and Congress merged the monument in the National Park and an additional 35,000 acres that was donated from John D. Rockefeller to create the 310,000 acre Grand Teton National Park that we all visit today. Well, at least you should visit it because it's amazing. Archaeologists have evidence that the first humans arrived in this area around 11,000 years ago. They lived in the valley from spring to fall but left during the winter because it can get cold there. But when it gets cold, my opinion is that's when it's at its most beautiful. When the winter hits, snow on the ground and just, oh, it's just amazing. It's hard to explain, but you have to see it. The Grand Tetons have eight peaks towering over 12,000 feet and their highest peak is actually 13,770 feet above sea level. If you're lucky enough to see the wildlife here, you could see buffalo herds, moose, coyote, bears, wolves, and bald eagles. This is one of those trips you need a solid camera for. Number three, Multnomah Falls, Oregon. Multnomah Falls is one of those things you've probably seen pictures of hundreds of times but didn't know anything about it. You probably didn't even know that it's in Oregon. Multnomah Falls is a waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, along the historic Columbia River Highway. The fall drops in two major steps, split into upper falls at 542 feet, about 165 meters, and the lower one at 169 feet. Now, they say this was created by the Missoula floods, which happened in ancient history, and that's probably the facts. I mean, science points that way, but I like the Indian princess story. Apparently, this was just a cliff, according to the Multnomah people. There was an Indian princess who sacrificed herself by throwing herself off this cliff to save her people. Legend has it, the people had fallen into some sort of sickness, and a medicine man said that there had to be a sacrifice to the great spirit, and it had to be the chief's daughter. Well, the chief wasn't having it. The chief's daughter, or the Indian princess, as some people call her, saw the sickness in her people, and one night, she snuck out of the camp and threw herself off the cliff, saving her people. When the chief found her, he prayed to the great spirit for a sign that his daughter's spirit was well, and it was okay. Well, water began to pour from the cliff, and it became known as Multnomah Falls. If you visit, you could hike all the way to the top of the falls. Now, it's kind of a rough hike if you're not in the best shape, but when you do get up there, it's worth the hike. Number four, Wailua Falls, Hawaii, Hawaii. Besides being really hard for a Caucasian mainlander to say, Wailua Falls is amazing and worth the hike. Wailua Falls is 173 feet high, and it is located on the south fork of the Wailua River. If you decide to hike this trail to go see the falls, look for a keep out sign. If you see the keep out sign, you're in the right place. Keep going. A lot of people go here to leap off the falls. Now, it is dangerous, so I don't advise that. Actually, in 2016, a man hit the rocks on the way down and was lucky that someone was there watching and swam out and saved him from drowning. He was out cold. The pool at the bottom of the falls is great to swim in. It does have some currents near the waterfall, but it's definitely something fun to swim in. Take a GoPro or some other waterproof camera while swimming. Take a picture up the falls. One thing to keep in mind about this waterfall, the whole jumping off thing, that is illegal. So don't think you're not going to get in trouble if someone official sees you doing this. Back in ancient times, this was how Hawaiian men proved their manhood. They would jump off this falls. If you do go here, there are two, maybe three trails. The one furthest from the parking lot is the one you want to take because it's not as steep, and the path is usually pretty muddy and slippery. So that means if it's extra steep, muddy and slippery, it's really hard to get up. So keep that in mind. Number five, Glacier Bay, Alaska. This is one I've seen recently for the first time, and that was during a cruise. It's worth the cruise price just to see Glacier Bay. Trust me, I'm sure all the cruises go to Juneau and Ketchikan and all that other stuff. Glacier Bay is the highlight of any cruise you take to Alaska. One thing I will warn you about that, a lot of cruises go up there, but only a certain amount of cruise ships are allowed in Glacier Bay. So make sure whichever cruise you're taking is going into Glacier Bay. There's other glaciers they'll take you to see, but Glacier Bay is the big one. Glacier Bay is a national park and preserve. If you're on a cruise, they usually have a park representative come and do kind of like a presentation as you're traveling to the bay. And that's also why there's only a certain amount of cruise ships that could go in there. The national park system actually only allows like two or three cruise ships in there a day. I didn't know about this limit. And the first cruise ship I took was just going to Alaska. I was going to, you know, as far as I knew, Glacier Bay. Well, no, we went and saw some other glaciers, not the bay. Second cruise I took. Yeah, we saw it. It was amazing. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier Bay as a national monument under the Antiquities Act on February 26th, 1925. Then in 1980, President Jimmy Carter created the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, kind of taking it a step further to protect it. Another little thing you should keep in mind if you do take the cruise for this one, make sure you get a cabin with a balcony. There's nothing better than sitting there on your own balcony, you know, drinking hot chocolate or coffee and looking at these glaciers. It's amazing. If you don't have a balcony and an inside cabin, you got to go up on deck and it's not as comfortable as your own balcony. Trust me on that one. I mean, there's a lot of cruises where you're not going to be in your room that much. So you can get the cheapest room you want. Let's say you're going to the Bahamas. This one, spend the extra money, get a balcony, get a good balcony room and enjoy the glaciers. Number six, White Sands National Monument. This one was surprisingly amazing when I went. I didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. I was shocked. White Sands National Park is in New Mexico and it's completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. Around 12,000 years ago, this was just lakes, streams, grasslands and a bunch of mammals wandering around eating the grass. As the climate warmed, rain and snow melt dissolved the gypsum from the surrounding mountains and carried it into the basin, this valley where the lake used to be. As the climate warmed even more, the lake evaporated, leaving these crystals. Over time, strong winds broke up the crystals and turned them into what is White Sands. Before it turned into White Sands back 12,000 years ago, this area was inhabited by Paleo-Indians. Originally, White Sands National Monument came to be in January of 1933, when President Herbert Hoover signed the papers for this. It was re-designated as a national park by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 20th, 2019. This park sees about 600,000 visitors every single year. If you got kids, this is a lot of fun because you can hike out there, you can drive out there, picnic areas, all that, and you could go sledding on the dunes. Number seven, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Now, that's what it's officially called, but most people just call it Monument Valley. If you watched old westerns from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and even into the 70s, I'm sure you've seen this area, and it looks otherworldly. Monument Valley is actually located on the Utah-Arizona state line, near Four Corners. The valley is a sacred area that lies within the territory of the Navajo Nation Reservation. Now, if you go there, keep in mind that parts of Monument Valley, like Mystery Valley and Hunt's Mesa, are only accessible by a guided tour. If you're going there thinking you just drive through everything, no. You have to have a guide. This one can get very hot in the summer. I mean, very hot. Like, from May through, I'd say, September, you're looking at probably over 100 degrees. Around December, January, and February, it might get into the low 70s, high 60s. So, keep that in mind. Now, it is a desert, and if you've never spent a night in the desert, it can get brutally cold at night during certain months. That's usually the December, January, February, March time. Like, below zero at night sometimes. Number eight, the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are huge, and they're beautiful. Most people just assume they're only in Colorado for some reason, but the reality is they stretch through Canada, all the way down to New Mexico. I mean, through Idaho, Wyoming, parts of Montana, and even a little bit of Utah. They're huge in both area and height, and if you want to do some landscape photography, you can't pick a better place in the United States, in my opinion. If you measured it, like in a straight line, it's over 3,000 miles long, and their highest elevation is about 14,000 feet, and that would be Mount Elbert in Colorado. These are all things that are in the Rocky Mountains. Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park, which we talked about earlier, Rocky Mountain National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Flathead Lake. In Canada, you have like Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, a few other ones. I've kind of talked about this one before. One of the best trips you can ever take in the United States is the Amtrak from Denver to like Reno, go through the Rockies, or just go to Salt Lake City, whichever you want to do. Spend the money, get the room, and enjoy the Rockies. The first time I took this trip, when we got to Reno, I kind of wanted to turn around and go back through. Sadly, obligations and a family stopped me from doing that. Nothing bad against my family, but you know, sometimes when it's things like that, you wish you had no attachments, and you just be kind of like a nomad that travels on the train. Thousands of people traveled through the Rockies on the Oregon Trail beginning around 1840. Mormons began settling near Salt Lake City in 1847. They had to make it through the Rockies, and that was always the hardest part. Number nine, Badlands National Park, South Dakota. The dangerous beauty of the Badlands has been a beacon for tourists for decades. The average person might not see the beauty in the Badlands. If you know some of the history and what they found in the Badlands, you understand why it's so beautiful. Archaeologists have found fossils of ancient horses, people, and rhinos that roam this land. Before the Lakota people were here, the Paleo-Indians used this as a hunting area. On March 4th, 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed public law number 1021, authorizing the Badlands National Monument in South Dakota. And it was turned into a national park 10 years later by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. If you visit these days, I mean, besides the amazing landscapes, you might be able to see bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets, coyotes, bobcats, elk, mule deer, rattlesnakes, porcupine, and a variety of deer. If you're lucky, you'll see a pronghorn deer. And if they're moving, you're really lucky. It's the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, running at about 55 miles an hour. The Badlands, if you don't go see it, definitely do some time to research and read about it because it has amazing history. Number 10, Yosemite. I've been to Yosemite a few times in my life. As a kid, I wasn't that impressed with it. We were outdoors. I'd rather be at home at the beach doing something like that. But when I went back while I was in the military, I couldn't believe that I just had this bad vibe about the place from being a kid. I guess I had other interests. I could have spent a month here, sadly. The first time, I only spent two days. And the next time, I spent five days. And I never felt like I've seen enough of Yosemite. I don't think you could ever see enough of Yosemite. Yosemite is a national park that's in California. The Yosemite Valley was inhabited for nearly 3,000 years. But they think that humans may have visited this area like 10,000 years ago. When the gold rush hit in the late 1840s, things changed for the Yosemite Valley. I mean, it became a hot tourist destination. And they eventually had to step in to stop people from building hotels and everything else. They wanted to keep the valley and all of Yosemite as pristine as they could. There's not that many places to stay inside the park if you're not camping. What really put Yosemite on the map, I mean, globally, not just in California or the western side of the United States, was John Muir. He was a Scottish-born American naturalist and explorer. It was because of Muir that many of the national parks were left untouched, such as the Yosemite Valley. Muir would go on camping trips and just disappear into Yosemite Valley for weeks at a time. Sometimes he'd take people, sometimes he wouldn't. But one of the most important trips he ever took was with President Theodore Roosevelt. During this trip, he persuaded President Roosevelt to kind of put the whole Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove under federal protection and make Yosemite National Park. Yosemite should definitely be on everyone's national park bucket list. Number 11, Sequoia National Park, California. Just down the road, a couple hours from Yosemite, you'll find Sequoia National Park with some of the largest trees on Earth. They're not the oldest trees on Earth, but the oldest ones are over 3,000 years old, meaning they were already 1,000 years old when the Roman Empire peaked. When you see the giant sequoias, you'll be taken back, I promise you, by their sheer size. You won't be able to fathom how large these living things are. You get the same feeling the first time you see a blue whale, by the way. Saw one of those, I just couldn't figure out how something that big was moving. But sequoias are just as amazing. Every single year these days, it seems like they're getting close to being burned down by a forest fire. They go through a lot to protect these trees, but I'm not sure how much longer they're going to be around if it keeps up. Definitely go see the giant sequoias. Number 12, Smith Rock, Oregon. Smith Rock is a state park in central Oregon's high desert, near the community of Redmond. If you like doing things outdoors, it's hard to find a place that has more to offer. They got a river there, they got rock climbing, they got fishing, they got hiking, they got mountain biking, all in an amazingly beautiful setting. Every time I've gone there, I've found just amazing people. And it's almost like this hippie vibe by every single person there, that they're just happy to see you, willing to talk, just out to have a good time and be happy. I think a lot of that has something to do with why I think this place is so amazing. I mean, the land is great. They got the crooked river flowing right through the whole thing. It is one of the best things to see in Oregon, in my opinion. And Oregon has a lot of things to choose from. Now, they're not really sure how it got its name, Smith Rock. One story published in the Albany State Rights Democrat in 1867, stated that Smith Rock was named after John Smith, who was a Lynn County sheriff and Oregon state legislator in the 1850s and 1860s. Another story claims that it was named after a soldier named Smith, who fell to his death from a rock in 1863, while his unit was camped nearby. Who knows? But the state of Oregon obtained the property in between 1960 and 1975. They bought different parts from the city of Redmond, and a couple that owned some of the property as well, named Harry and Diane Kim. This is definitely a place for the adventurous type. So if, I don't know, you have mobility issues, might not be the best place to go. But definitely, if you're the outdoor enthusiast, this is one you don't want to miss. And if you've been the outdoor type for any amount of time, I'm sure this is already on your bucket list. Number 13, Acadia National Park, Maine. This is an amazing national park. This is my favorite national park on the East Coast, I think. I've been there a couple times, once during the winter, which it's beautiful, but I almost would prefer to go in the spring, which is when I went the second time. It gets muddy, it gets cold, and it gets hard to get around and see as much as you want to see when it's raining, drizzling, or snowing too much. So keep that in mind. Summer and spring is probably the best time to visit Acadia National Park. Acadia National Park is 47,000 acres on the Atlantic coast. It's a recreational area on Maine's Mount Desert Island. The animals you can see here are across the map. I mean, you could see bear, moose, seabirds, and whales, all from this area. And you're not too far away from Bar Harbor, which is a cute little city, town, whatever you want to call it. Now, if you want to hike around, the best time to go is in the summer or the spring. But if you want to see something beautiful, go in the fall to see the leaves change color. It's awesome. If you do decide to go in the winter, you're going to want to go snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Try that. It seems a little hard at first, but once you get the hang of it, cross-country skiing is a lot of fun and a great exercise. Number 14, Watkins Glen State Park, New York. Now, this one probably isn't really on many people's radar. I've been to this one once, and I thought it was great. Watkins Glen is a village in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Originally, it was opened in 1863, and it was a privately run tourist resort type thing. And then in 1906, it was purchased by the state of New York. And that's when it got the name Watkins Glen State Reservation. Again, a great place to do cross-country skiing. You could go fishing, hiking, hunting, just camping in general. The thing I like is all the paths have this amazing old school masonry or whatever you want to call it. Basically, they're rock built steps, bridges, just so neat. The park is open year round, but not all the facilities are available, obviously, during the off seasons. If you're from New York, you probably know about this or already been to it. But Watkins Glen State Park is just a great place to hike, walk around, take some pictures, and enjoy the landscapes. Number 15, Crater Lake, Oregon. Back to Oregon we go. And probably one of the most famous lakes on the West Coast, Crater Lake. Crater Lake is in South Central Oregon, and it's the main feature of Crater Lake National Park. This was actually a volcano at one time, and it collapsed, creating, for lack of better words, a giant cup. And that cup gets filled up with rainwater and snow every single year. The water never goes down. There's no creeks or rivers flowing into this lake, and it is the deepest lake in the United States. Crater Lake is one of the only lakes in Oregon that allows you to fish without a fishing license. So if you want to go fish here, you know, you don't have to pay the man. You just put your line in, fish all day. The reason for this is the lake's not supposed to have fish. Never had them. Then in the late 1800s, a newspaper guy named Will Steele decided the lake needed fish and he wanted to stock it. So he offered some local kids a dime for every minnow they brought to him. So he gave them each like two bucks and sent them on their way. He drove 45 miles to the lake. Most of the minnows had died, but there was still 37 left and he put them in Crater Lake. And that's how they have a fish problem now. So they're more than willing to have anyone go there and fish if you want to. Crater Lake's one of those places I think you should see in the winter when it's covered with snow all around the outside of the lake and the rim of the lake. It's amazing. During the summer, it looks OK, but I really was taken back by how beautiful it was during the winter. Swimming in Crater Lake is legal, but you could only do it in this one area called like Cleetwood Cove or something like that. You can do a bunch of other things besides fish and swim. And there's actually a two hour boat tour given by park rangers from the Crater Lake National Park. Number 16, Antelope Canyon, Arizona. Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon in Arizona on Navajo land. It includes like five slot canyons that you could walk through. And it's one of those things where you like you're in a dream, like a good place to film a sci-fi movie. You know, if you want to go here, the tourism is run by the Navajo Nation and it's been accessible for tours since 1983. All visits to Antelope Canyon are done by tour unless you decide to sneak on there. Whenever I say something like that, like a place is only accessible by tour or something, someone's always got to put in there. No, trust me, dude, you could get there without a tour guide. You know, it's like, OK, go get your outdoor street cred someplace else. Most people like to follow the rules and pay the man when they can afford it. Now, outside the canyon, it's nothing exciting. It's just desert. But when you get inside these slot canyons, it's well worth the trip and well worth the money you paid to get to see it. 17, Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada. If you've never been to Lake Tahoe, I'd suggest it. It is one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever been to. I've been there several times in my life. Every single time, it's just one of those things. You sit there and you stare at this lake and the surrounding area. It's beautiful. And I've never been bored at this place. Even if I'm just laying on a rock, staring out into the lake or the woods, it's just a great place to sit and get back with nature. You know, Lake Tahoe is south of Reno, Nevada and west of Carson City, Nevada. And the town of South Lake Tahoe is where most people will stay. I wouldn't say most, but a lot of people stay in South Lake Tahoe. That's actually on the California side. I will give you the heads up on this one. If someone suggests you go to the secret cove, you might see a little too much nature there because this is a nude beach. So be prepared. That's usually one of those things that if you go there, someone that doesn't know about the place, their friends suggest they go there. And when you walk there, there's some naked people there. And they're normally not the type of people you want to see naked. It's not like someone's running some day trips for Victoria's Secret models down to the secret cove on Lake Tahoe. It's normally like retirees lathered all up in sunblock. But that's just one part of Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is a beautiful place to visit, beautiful place to stay. My suggestion is get a place to stay in South Lake Tahoe. Go out on the lake, kayak, whatever you want to do. And go gamble at night right across the state line. Number 18, the Mendenhall Glacier Caves, Alaska. Now, this is one I have not been to yet, but I'm definitely going to go to it. I hear it's amazing. The pictures look awesome. And more than a few people have suggested I do this. The Mendenhall Glacier is about 13.6 miles long. And it's located in the Mendenhall Valley in Alaska, about 12 miles from downtown Juneau. Now, I've seen the Mendenhall Glacier and I've been to Juneau. I just never went inside the caves. If you go on a cruise, this is one of the things they offer you to go see. And it's pretty cool. They have a Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center right there. You can get really close to the glacier, get some great photos. You could sign up for one of those excursions from your cruise that will take you into the like the caves. As you get off your cruise ship, even if it's not something that's offered on your cruise line, you can get off there. There's people set up right outside the exit of the ship or the gangplank, whatever you want to call it. And there's always someone there that'll take you to the caves. Number 19, Big Bend National Park, Texas. So this is another one of those places that you've seen in Westerns from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. It always seems to show up. I've been there twice and I don't know what it was, but there's something about this place that I just really love. I mean, it's desert, but for some reason, I love this place. I don't like the desert. I can't stand the desert, but I love going to Big Bend National Park. And I talk really fast. It's Bend, as in bend something, not Big Bend, the clock tower or whatever. People always think I'm saying Big Bend. It's Big Bend. But the Rio Grande borders Big Bend National Park. And a lot of people kayak, canoe, raft all the way down this area. You go into these canyons. It's amazing. Take a camera. The sunsets are worth it. All right, before we get to the last one, don't forget, let me know which ones you've been to. Also, we have another channel called On This Day. There's a link down below. All right, on to number 20. And number 20, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. So despite its name, Bryce Canyon is actually not a canyon. It's a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of a plateau. But it's still called Bryce Canyon. And every time I've been there, I've found it hard to believe this isn't man-made. It is just such a unique landscape and a great place to hike and enjoy yourself. Very little is known about the people that inhabited this area way back in the day. I mean, they know there's been people there for about 10,000 years, but they're really not sure what was going on past a couple thousand years. Mormon scouts visited the area in the 1850s and figured this was a good place for their sheep and their cattle to graze and maybe even set up a settlement. It gets really hot here in the summer, and that's when most people go. But if you get a chance to go in the winter and actually catch a little snow on the ground here, it's amazing. Around 1910, 1915, they started publishing things about Bryce Canyon in different newspapers across the country, trying to get some interest in the area and get people to come out and visit it. But it was so remote, it was really hard to get people to visit. But that didn't stop Warren G. Harding on June 8th, 1923, to declare Bryce Canyon a national monument. Five years later, they turned it into a national park. If you ever do visit this, make sure you take a camera that has a time-lapse feature on it. Sit it down and collect about 20 minutes worth of time-lapse as the sun is going down. You'll thank me later. All right, that's today's video. Hope you guys enjoyed it. It's a little bit different, but people have been asking for this one for some time, so I thought we'd do it. All right, everyone, have a great day. Be nice to each other.