Explore 748 Geological oddities Collections - Atlas Obscura
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The arch provides a beautiful frame for the scenery.
Stazzema, Italy

Monte Forato

A massive natural rock arch gives the Tuscan mountain its own window to the sky.
The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes.
Northwest Arctic, Alaska

Great Kobuk Sand Dunes

Massive mounds of golden sand look like a desert landscape randomly plopped in an Arctic forest.
Similar rock formations cover other parts of the hill
Cusco, Peru

Rodadero Slides

Did Inca children also slide down these smooth rocky slopes above Cusco?
The Giant Rocks of Eleuthera. On the left is "The Bull" and on the right is "The Cow."
Bahamas

The Cow and the Bull

These two giant boulders mysteriously perched on a 60-foot cliff may have been slung up there by a raging tsunami.
Red Rock Coulee
Orion, Alberta

Red Rock Coulee

Huge spherical rocks in the middle of the prairie.
Old Station, California

Painted Dunes

Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.
Beware of the spectral cowboy.
Ashland, Kansas

St. Jacob's Well

Stories of sightless fish and ghostly cowboys are only a fraction of the legends surrounding this Kansas sinkhole.
The Green Lagoon.
Yaiza, Spain

Green Lagoon

This beautifully verdant lagoon is tucked below a massive volcano in a crater atop a black pebble beach.
Luca Picciau/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
La Maddalena, Italy

Spiaggia Rosa (Pink Beach)

Crushed coral and crystals give the sand its signature coloration.
Don Juan Pond.
Antarctica

Don Juan Pond

Scientists use one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth as a terrestrial base for studying water on Mars.
Amed Beach.
Abang, Indonesia

Amed Beach

The inky volcanic sand leads to reefs teeming with aquatic life waiting to be discovered by snorkelers and divers.
Ice Formations in Stewart Tunnel.
Belleville, Wisconsin

Stewart Tunnel Ice Formations

Every winter, the wind carves blocks of frozen water into beautiful abstract shapes inside this unusually curved tunnel.
The lake.
San Bernardino County, California

Searles Lake

This sun-scorched lakebed contains samples of half the natural elements known to humankind.
Sajama Lines
Sajama, Bolivia

Sajama Lines

A mysterious ancient network of thousands of perfectly straight lines stretching across miles of Bolivian desert.
The colorful, glowing rocks of Sterling Hill
Ogdensburg, New Jersey

Fluorescent Rocks of Sterling Hill Mine

Hundreds of glow-in-the-dark objects light up a museum in a historic zinc mine.
Henrieville, Utah

Kodachrome Basin Spires

This quiet park's strange sedimentary spires were named after Kodak's color film.
Râpa Roșie.
Municipiul Sebeș, Romania

Râpa Roșie

Romania's "Red Ravine" is a little-known natural wonder that bears a resemblance to the Grand Canyon.
The Mountain Sphinx.
Bușteni, Romania

The Mountain Sphinx

Conspiracy theories and occult legends surround this mysterious natural rock formation.