If You Live In The United States, Here Are 18 Unusual Bucket List Destinations You Won't Need Your Passport For
If seeing everyone's European vacations spamming your Instagram feed has left you with major FOMO this summer, want to know the best cure ever? Finding a way to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience in your own metaphorical backyard! As much as eating risotto in Lake Como sounds like a dream, admiring wild horses on the beach of a beautiful island you can only reach by boat is pretty cool, too. And the best part? If you live in the United States, it won't take a 12-hour flight to get there because all of the following too-cool-to-be-real locations can be found stateside.
1.If you think this is a photo of the Sahara, guess again because you're actually looking at Colorado. The Great Sand Dunes National Park holds the tallest dunes in North America and is such an unexpected find for this state it will make you feel like you've been transported to Africa.
2.Ever wanted to find your own diamonds, rubies, or sapphires? Well, you can actually mine for them in several states, such as North Carolina, Arkansas, and Montana. Each of these states has dozens of mines that are open to the public and let you pay a small fee for access and gear but then let you keep whatever you find. The staff usually helps you clean and assess your gems to let you know which ones might be worth a pretty penny (or at least which ones will make a pretty piece of jewelry).
3.If the gold rush is more your style, there are several places you can pan for gold in the Southwestern states just like prospectors in the Old West did, such as Goldfield Ghost Town in Apache Junction, Arizona. Many of these sites have preserved or restored the buildings of these old mining towns, and if you believe in ghosts, many are haunted enough that they offer tours where you can hear the ghoulish and gruesome tales of what went down.
4.Most people believe that you have to travel somewhere remote, or at least trek out to Alaska if you're trying to see the Northern Lights. But there are actually several locations within the continental United States that are prime viewing locations, such as Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, and Cherry Springs National Park in Pennsylvania.
One of the best parts about attempting this bucket list item somewhere local is that it is often a numbers game because the atmospheric conditions have to be just right to have a successful sighting. So, the accessibility of these locations means you can keep trying until you get it right.
5.If visiting Holland or Denmark is high on your to-do list, why not visit these cities that were built by settlers to resemble their home countries? Holland, Michigan, was settled in the mid-nineteenth century by Dutch immigrants and, to this day, features many tributes to their heritage, including an annual tulip festival and a 250-year-old windmill.
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Similarly, Solvang, California, which is just a couple hours outside of Los Angeles, was built by Danish settlers in 1910, so most of the architecture and businesses are modeled after their culture.
6.Some of the most unusual beaches in the world can be found in the United States, with rocks that "sing" to you. Jasper Beach is located in Acadia National Park in Maine and is a popular destination for hunting for sea glass hidden along its shores, consisting of polished red jasper stones. However, the tinkling sound the surf makes as it pulls away from the shore has led to it being referred to as a "singing beach." Iona Beach in Minnesota, which is distinctive for its salmon-pink shores, has also come to be known for this phenomenon.
7.If you've been dying to don lederhosen to celebrate all things beer at Oktoberfest, look no further than Leavenworth, Washington, which modeled its town after Bavaria, Germany, and is known for going all out for this annual festival. It distinguishes itself from its European counterpart by featuring local breweries.
8.If you want to see the world's tallest forest, according to Guinness World Records, head to Humboldt Redwoods State Park in northern California. Rockefeller Forest within the park has Sequoia trees that are more than 700 years old and reach over 360 feet tall, with the tallest hitting a towering 379 feet.
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9.The Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are a truly surreal landscape— and just like their Bolivian counterpart — make for a breathtaking view when it rains, because the water mirrors its surroundings, creating the illusion of an endless sky.
10.If you are looking to indulge your curiosity about the Ice Age, head to La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. As the name suggests, it's unique in that it just oozes tar in the middle of Hollywood, but it also happens to be an ongoing paleontological research site.
The George C. Page Museum that sits alongside it lets you observe the paleontologists going about their job and displays many of the fossils that have been excavated from the pits over the years.
11.Looking to escape the noise and crowds of modern life? Cumberland Island in Georgia can only be accessed by boat — meaning there's only one inn and a handful of campgrounds on the entire island — which has left it remarkably untouched by humans, allowing for an ecosystem so flourishing that wild horses roam the beaches.
If wild horses are the biggest draw here, Assateague Island, Maryland, is also known for its feral ponies, which legend says are the descendants of shipwreck survivors. The horses evolved here in isolation and are unique to the island, developing a breed that has become known as the Chincoteague pony.
12.If visiting Plitvice Lakes in Croatia is on your bucket list, you shouldn't miss Hanging Lake Park in Colorado. It's one of only two "hanging lakes" in the entire world, which is so named because it "hangs" on a cliff edge.
Tucked away on a hiking trail in the Rockies, this lake is known for its crystal-clear turquoise water that allows you to see all the way to the bottom, scattered with fossilized trees.
13.Curious about what it was like to be a pilgrim way back when, before America had all 50 states? Well, you can actually visit a city in Virginia that has an entire district carved out to be a living history museum, known as Colonial Williamsburg.
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This section of the city not only has buildings that date back to the 18th century and still look like them — down to the employees dressing and speaking historically accurately — but it also features live reenactments of the businesses that would have existed then, such as wig-making and blacksmithing.
14.Antelope Canyon in Arizona has definitely become an Instagram darling with its stunning brick-colored rock formations — but for good reason. There is nowhere else like it in the world. The land is owned by the Navajo people and considered a sacred site, so it is not open to the public outside of official tours, but that means you get to hear legends and facts about it from people who truly treasure the space.
15.Hoh Rain Forest in Washington epitomizes the almost eerie otherworldly beauty that can only be found in the Pacific Northwest. The tree trunks in the entire forest are carpeted in lichen so that everywhere you look is green and fuzzy, making you feel like you've been dropped somewhere prehistoric (or like Edward Cullen might pop in at any moment!).
16.Weeki Wachee, Florida, is a freshwater theme park that sits in the middle of a beautiful state park and is the only place in the world where you can watch professional mermaids perform. A theater was carved out below the water's surface back when the theme park was first built in 1947, which allows the audience to watch synchronized ballet or, more recently, reenactments of The Little Mermaid.
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The Weeki Wachee River winds away from the spring towards the Gulf of Mexico and allows visitors to go lazy river tubing in water so clear you can often see fish, and sometimes even manatees (real-life mermaids!), passing by.
17.Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, is easily one of the top too-beautiful-to-be-real places in the world, especially in early summer when vibrant alpine wildflowers bloom against the snowcapped mountain peak. Where else could you experience two different seasons alongside one another?
18.Badlands National Park in South Dakota is not only one of the more visually dramatic national parks in the United States—with its canyon of striped rock formations and a long stretch of grassland plains — but also features really interesting wildlife, such as bison, bighorn sheep, and prairie dogs, that can be observed in their natural habitat.
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19.There are cruises all over the world, but only in the U.S. can you still find one where you can stay overnight on an authentic paddle steamboat like they had in the 19th century. The Delta Queen offers a variety of trips down the Mississippi, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Arkansas Rivers, stopping at various ports from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania all the way down to New Orleans, Louisiana.
20.Yellowstone is one of the most popular national parks in the country and with good reason. It would be easy to spend weeks there taking in all of its singular natural wonders. However, the one that cannot be missed is the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the United States. Part of what makes it so stunning is its rainbow of colors, which looks photoshopped but is actually the result of a cool scientific reaction (don't ask, it ruins the magic).
Are there any other incredibly beautiful or unusual places in the United States we missed? Let us know in the comments!
