Many people think of deserts as barren, sun-baked wastelands, and while that’s sometimes true, deserts can also be places of exquisite beauty. And in fact, some deserts are cold. Let’s take a little tour of some of the world’s best desert landscapes to help inspire some dream vacations or adventures.
The Moroccan Sahara
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The Sahara is the world’s largest desert, with the tallest sand dunes, and Morocco has some of its best scenery. You can ride camels out among the dunes, where these sand mountains are massive, soft, and seemingly endless.
Arches National Park, U.S.
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In this Utah park, you’ll find the world’s largest concentration of natural arches. You’ll also see incredible desert towers made of red sandstone and pinnacles that glow a fiery red at sunset. Easy and moderate trails lead to many of the best sights, and many others are visible roadside.
Maspalomas, Spain
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Located on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, this spot truly has some of the world’s most beautiful sand dunes. Even better, these dunes are just a short walk from the beach, so you can enjoy incredible desert sand dunes and cool ocean waters on the same day.
Huacachina, Peru
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Oases are among the most remarkable, improbable, and cherished of desert features. At Huacachina, there’s a large oasis completely surrounded by sand dunes. You can slide or ride a board down the dunes and land right in the oasis.
Havasu Canyon, U.S.
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A prominent tributary of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Havasu Canyon is on the Havasupai Reservation. A trail leads down the canyon to an authentic Native village, and beyond the village is a series of waterfalls that spill over cliffs into travertine pools that are stunning in color.
The Namib, Africa
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The world’s oldest desert, the Namib in Angola, Namibia, and South Africa is also one of its driest. Still, it sustains an abundance of wildlife that includes cheetahs, leopards, lions, and elephants. Some particularly striking areas are vast pans of salt and clay where red sand dunes, white dunes, and dead trees all create a stark contrast with one another.
The Gobi, Mongolia
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While the Gobi, famous for the steppes that were home to Genghis Khan’s Mongol horde, can get very hot, it’s cold for most of the year. It’s a beautiful landscape of steppe, mountains, cliffs, sand dunes, and more, and it’s also where dinosaur eggs and petrified trees have been found.
The Kalahari, Africa
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Africa’s southernmost desert sprawls across parts of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Black-maned Kalahari lions roam the expanses here, drawn by the world’s largest wildebeest migration. One really amazing area is the Makgadikgadi Pans, remnants of a massive lake that dried up long ago, leaving behind the world’s largest salt pan.
White Sands, U.S.
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The dunes here are far from the world’s tallest and most expansive, but they’re among the world’s most striking. They consist of fine white gypsum that looks like snow from afar. Long a national monument, White Sands has been expanded and redesignated as a national park.
Salvador Dali, Bolivia
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The Salvador Dali Desert is mostly barren and windswept. However, there are random rock formations that are so wildly shaped that people have compared them to Dali paintings, and this is what sets this desert apart.
Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
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Huge, hot, and dry, the Danakil Desert doesn’t sound much different from most other deserts. But what makes it exceptional are all the volcanoes, geysers, and geothermal hot springs that deposit intensely colorful minerals in and around them.
Death Valley, U.S.
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The hottest place on Earth, Death Valley proper is the centerpiece of its namesake National Park in California. The center of the valley features a massive salt pan that turns into a shallow lake after a rare heavy rain. Badwater Basin within the valley is the lowest point in North America and reflects surrounding peaks thousands of feet above it. Trails lead to destinations like colorful badlands, twisting canyons, and a natural bridge.
Pinnacles Desert, Australia
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If you were to arrive on a dark night in this desert protected by Nambung National Park and then wake up in the morning, you might think you’ve been transported to another world. Rising from the sand are thousands of jagged limestone pillars up to 11 feet high.
13 Best Coastal Towns in the U.S. (That Aren’t Overcrowded with Tourists)
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The beach is great, but the crowds and traffic in super-popular beach towns aren’t.
Fortunately, there are some coastal towns that have great beaches yet haven’t become overrun with tourists. If that’s more your style, then you’ll love the coastal towns on this list.
13 Best Coastal Towns in the U.S. (That Aren’t Overcrowded with Tourists)
The Two Best Scenic Wonders in Each of the Mountain States
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The Mountain States– Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico– have some of the wildest and most rugged landscapes in the United States. Because they’re so big, it can take a lot of time to visit them, so it helps to be able to plan for some specific destinations.
Following are our choices for the top two must-see outdoor locations in each of these seven states.
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