Places naturetack Wants to Go

A cement mixer-turned-kaleidoscope in downtown Norfolk offers different views of the city.

Inspired by a foil-wrapped potato, (seriously) the Markel Building has been deemed one of the 10 ugliest buildings in the world.

This 29-ton granite ball spins around at the slightest touch thanks to a scientific phenomenon.

A unique geological area spiked with wind-carved rocks that resemble teepees.

A warm desert spring holds one of the rarest species on earth.

Wee (and not so wee) footprints that insects and reptiles of the Paleozoic Era left behind.

Twice a year, visitors can tour the desolate site that birthed the Atomic Age.

Seemingly grown on some other world, these New Mexico rock formations look like a disused science fiction set.

The second-largest cave chamber in the world was discovered in 1898 by a 16-year-old and a friend known as "Pothead."

America's only nuclear missile silo open to the public.

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

See massive fossils that are over 200 million years old in northeastern Arizona.

A sharp bend in a dramatic river canyon cut through red rocks.

Most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest.

Rippling sand dunes frozen in the Arizona rock.

This 4,000-foot-diameter hole is touted as "the most well known, best preserved meteorite crater on Earth."

Dig for your own trilobites in this goldmine of invertebrates.

A 90-foot-tall psychedelic "tree" on the side of the highway has baffled passersby for decades.

Jurassic Park—A Still Life.

The largest island on the great salt lake is home to curious creatures and strange stories.

Come for the speed, leave in love with the desert.

The site where a nuclear bomb was lowered over 8,000 feet underground and detonated as an experiment in natural gas extraction.

Hidden beyond a kitschy giant beetle is this remarkably sprawling collection of preserved insects.

An impressive collection of over 50,000 minerals including moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission.