A roaring, awe-inspiring double cascade of icy water flows through woodland Oregon like something out of a Tolkien novel.

These old stone ruins in the Oregon wilderness were once bathrooms and are steeped in legends of murder.

On the Oregon coast there is a natural hole that seems to be draining the sea.

Known as the "Valley of the Moon," this Jordanian wadi is one of the most amazing desertscapes on Earth.

One of the most remarkable caves in all of Iceland was created by a once raging river of lava.

This volcanic cave lake is essentially hard proof that Iceland is the most magical place on Earth.

A modern Nordic Pompeii on the Icelandic island of Heimaey.

Climbing Iceland's highest peak on the rim of the Oræfajökull volcano.

Icelandic folklore says this giant boulder was ripped from the mountains and placed at its current location, where it became home to elves.

The bright red stripes streaking across the rocks are the star feature at this Icelandic waterfall.

Eerie ruins of an abandoned medieval fishing village crumble atop an unforgiving stretch of earth.

Surrounded by ash fields in Iceland, an impossibly verdant valley looks like something out of a fairytale.

The Arctic Circle runs through this isolated spot north of Iceland.

The summer tourists on these cliffs are thousands of seabirds.

Three million year old fossils are exposed for all to see on this Icelandic shore.

Two volcanic lakes in an enormous crater formed in a prehistoric eruption.

A formerly glacier-tipped volcano that inspired none other than Jules Verne.

A sulfuric martian landscape that looks far better than it smells.

This mountain fissure hides a secret path to a secluded mossy grotto within the rock itself.

Three columns of volcanic rock shoot out of the ocean.

A little-visited waterfall in an otherworldly landscape.

A stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland, with a long history of charted activity and a rich mythology attached.

These ominous lava formations were said to be an entrance to the netherworld so of course they inspired a famous metal band.

If a glacial river suddenly diving into a sheer chasm via a dramatic, multi-stage waterfall isn't peak Iceland, it's certainly close.