After two years of COVID-19 we could all use a little color in our lives. 24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of the most colorful natural wonders on Earth. Ranging from deserts to oceans and from hot springs to waterfalls, they offer more than a little color and truly span the globe.
Fortunately, with international travel restrictions being lifted, these amazing places are becoming accessible to adventurous souls once again. (Here are 50 natural wonders everyone should see at least once.)
The reasons why these natural wonders are so colorful vary. For example, the rocks that cap Utah’s Bryce Amphitheater have a pink hue, whereas the waters of Tuscany’s Cascate del Mulino are turquoise. (See these beautiful pictures of the world’s biggest waterfalls.)
In some places wildflowers provide the colors. Antelope Valley and Carrizo Plain are famous for their floral displays. Antelope Valley is home to the state-protected California Poppy Reserve, which boasts the most consistent blooms of the state flower. Colombia’s Caño Cristales River is known as the “River of Five Colors” and the “Liquid Rainbow” because of the amazingly colorful aquatic plants that grow there.
A bioluminescent species of ostracod crustacean known as the sea firefly accounts for Okayama, Japan’s place on our list. It produces a brilliant blue glow that can be seen in the area’s shallow waters and rocky shoreline.
There’s also Lake Hayes in the South Island of New Zealand, one of the closest countries to the South Pole where the Aurora Australis originates. The skies there are sometimes lit up with amazing green and pink displays.
Click here to see the most colorful natural wonders on Earth
Amphitheater at Bryce Canyon
> Location: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
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Antelope Canyon
> Location: Near Page, Arizona
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Antelope Valley
> Location: Los Angeles County, California
Aurora Australis
> Location: Lake Hayes, New Zealand
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Bioluminescent Beaches
> Location: Okayama, Japan
Bourke’s Luck potholes
> Location: Blyde River Canyon, South Africa
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Caño Cristales River
> Location: Serrania de la Macarena province of Meta, Colombia
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Carrizo Plain National Monument
> Location: San Luis Obispo, California
Cascate del Mulino
> Location: Saturnia, Italy
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Cliffs of Moher
> Location: Burren region in County Clare, Ireland
Eye of the Sahara (Richat Structure)
> Location: Sahara’s Adrar Plateau, near Ouadane, Mauritania
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Fly Geyser
> Location: Black Rock Desert, Nevada
Geirangerfjord
> Location: Møre og Romsdal county, Norway
Grand Canyon
> Location: Arizona
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Grand Prismatic Spring
> Location: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Great Barrier Reef
> Location: Australia
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Horseshoe Bend
> Location: Near Page, Arizona
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Huanglong Valley
> Location: Sichuan, China
Lake Hillier
> Location: Western Australia
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Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
> Location: Brazil’s north Atlantic coast
Ljotipollur crater lake
> Location: Landmannalaugar, Iceland
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Marble Caves
> Location: General Carrera Lake, Patagonia, Chile
Maroon Bells
> Location: Near Aspen, Colorado
Masazir Lake
> Location: Near Baku, Azerbaijan
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Monument Valley
> Location: Arizona-Utah border
Moraine Lake
> Location: Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
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Mount Roraima
> Location: South America
Na Pali Coast
> Location: Kauai Island, Hawaii
Ngorongoro Crater
> Location: Arusha Region, Tanzania
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Northern Lights
> Location: Various
Palouse
> Location: Parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon
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Paria Canyon
> Location: Northern Arizona and southern Utah
Plitvice Lakes
> Location: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Punkaharju Esker Nature Reserve
> Location: Finland
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Red Beach
> Location: Dawa County, Panjin, Liaoning, China
Rock House
> Location: Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio
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Salar de Uyuni
> Location: Andes in southwest Bolivia
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
> Location: South Region, Iceland
Serrania de Hornocal
> Location: Humahuaca, Jujuy, Argentina
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Skyline Drive
> Location: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Spotted Lake
> Location: British Columbia, Canada
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Tallulah Gorge
> Location: Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia
The Wall
> Location: Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Turda Gorge
> Location: Transylvania, Romania
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Verdon Gorge
> Location: Southeastern France
Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park
> Location: Zhangye, Gansu, China
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