joshpcma's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Mitchell, South Dakota

The Corn Palace

A fitting attraction for the corn capital of the world.
Philip, South Dakota

Minuteman Missile Visitor Center

Dedicated to the history of the 1,000 nuclear missiles that once covered the Great Plains.
Wall, South Dakota

Wall Drug

The granddaddy of all tourist traps, built on ice water, jackalopes, and a giant dinosaur.
Philip, South Dakota

Giant Prairie Dog

A six-ton, 12-foot-tall concrete prairie dog is touted as the largest in the world.
Moab, Utah

Upheaval Dome

This raised bulls-eye visible from space was the subject of an intense geologic controversy.
Moab, Utah

Landscape Arch

The fifth-longest natural arch in the world, and the longest outside China.
Cisco, Utah

Home of the Brave

Within the former ghost town of Cisco is a carefully restored tiny town with one resident and its own art residency.
Moab, Utah

Potash Evaporation Ponds

Few things look more out of place than the electric blue ponds in the reddish-brown desert of Utah.
Green River, Utah

Goblin Valley State Park

Bizarre lunar-like landscape with thousands of large stone "hoodoos."
Hanksville, Utah

Mars Desert Research Station

A Mars simulation in the southern Utah desert.
Page, Arizona

Horseshoe Bend

Dramatic river bend surrounds a natural red-rocked pedestal.
Bryce, Utah

Bryce Canyon

Giant, natural amphitheaters made of delicate geological formations called "hoodoos."
Henrieville, Utah

Kodachrome Basin Spires

This quiet park's strange sedimentary spires were named after Kodak's color film.
Big Sur, California

Keyhole Arch at Pfeiffer Beach

Centuries of crashing waves carved out this small hole in the rock, which lights up at certain parts of the year.
Big Sur, California

McWay Falls and Waterfall House Ruins

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.
Utah

Checkerboard Mesa

The unusual patterns in this rock formation result from two distinct modes of weathering.
Yavapai County, Arizona

Montezuma Castle

Ninety feet off the valley floor is an ancient dwelling put under protection of the U.S. government by Teddy Roosevelt.
San Simeon, California

Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery

This stretch of beach along California's central coast is a busy highway for the largest seal in the northern hemisphere.
Shandon, California

James Dean Memorial Junction

A remote crossroads honoring a fallen talent.
San Diego, California

Balboa Park Moreton Bay Fig Tree

One of the largest trees of its kind in California.
Alamogordo, New Mexico

White Sands National Park

Explore the largest pure gypsum deposit in the world, and go dune sledding while you're at it.
Lincoln, New Mexico

Lincoln County Courthouse

The site of Billy the Kid’s most famous escape and the end to the Lincoln County War.
Borrego Springs, California

Galleta Meadows Estate

Along a California highway is a kind of Jurassic Park made of metal.
Benson, Arizona

Kartchner Caverns

Limestone caves with spectacular showcase chambers.