The United States is a country of contrasts: economic, political, social … Well, in the field of tourism, the United States is also a destination of contrasts. On the one hand its cities, its industrial power, its cities and megacities, its museums, monuments, on the other its nature, equally colossal and magnificent .
The spaces are immense in the US The country has an area of 7,700,000 km² and its mountains are mountain ranges that cross the continent, its rivers , very long channels, its lakes, inland seas, its plains, complete European countries, everything is colossal and primal. The United States, the country of consumption and pollution, and at the same time the first country to protect nature with laws and National Parks . Traveling to the United States and not visiting the wonders of Yellowstone , Yosemite or the Grand Canyon of the Colorado is as if visiting New York and not seeing the Statue of Liberty .
The country has multiple forms of relief and geographical accidents: . The coastal plains of the Atlantic coast are mixed with extensive ancient forests . The mountains compete in majesty and beauty with the most paradisiacal beaches . Prairies, deserts, swamps and volcanoes dot the entire American geography, making it humanly impossible to visit all the jewels that this country hides.
Although one option to get to know these places is to resort to one of the many routes in the country: Hiking, cycling, on horseback, kayak or canoe, motorcycle or car, motorhome … The range of possibilities is enormous and each area can be enjoyed in multiple ways.
The most spectacular natural spaces are undoubtedly the great national parks, protected sites that even in their extreme nature many have all kinds of equipment (from running water, accommodation and even Wi-Fi) given the huge number of visits. Although some are quite unknown.
Nature is sublime: Anyone gawks at the nearly two million year old Grand Canyon, the thousands of years of icy water from Alaska’s glaciers or the stars in the skies of Wyoming at a glance. Many of these sites remain the same today as they were millennia ago.
A magnificent native fauna and flora populate all these places (redwoods in California, Caimans in Florida …) and in not a few there are vestiges of enormous archaeological and paleontological interest . Nature is different in the United States and is almost always complementary to the practice of sports (skiing, mountaineering, cycling, horse riding, diving, hiking …), ecology (ornithology, botany …), the study of history (of prehistory to the civil war) or simply leisure (hydrotherapy, photography, contemplation …)
Some areas of the Grand Canyon are ideal for rafting
The variety of landscapes is astonishing: Alaska , with the world’s largest virgin territories, within the Arctic Circle, is not the same as the tropical climate and volcanic landscape of Hawaii . Each state is a planet: The beaches of Florida, the deserts of Arizona, the forests of Virginia , the caves of South Dakota , the Mississippi Delta , the lakes of Oregon …
If we made a route from east to west through the country, there would not be physical time to visit all the natural spectacles worth seeing:
EAST COAST
Already the State of New York contains real gems. Although many think that the entire state is asphalt and skyscrapers, the truth is that a quarter of the state is covered with forests (Woodstock, Sullivan County …) waterfalls ( Niagara ) and other exceptional natural landscapes (the Allegheny plateau , the mountains Catskill, the path of the Appalachians …)
Following the East Coast have in Maine the Parque Nacional Acadia, near the Lighthouse Bass Harbor Head, the beaches of York, or the rural landscapes of cities like Bangor, Carmel, Tremont or North Oxford. Its coasts and Atlantic forests exude beauty.
In Vermont you can admire the fantastic Green Mountains, enjoy the activities of Lake Dunmore or the landscapes of Windham.
Andrew Wyleth was inspired by the landscapes of Pennsylvania.
New Hapshire has wonders such as Mount Percival, the Washington Lookout or the Mount Garfield Treck and on the Rhode Island coast we can get lost in the forests of Providence, visit the Narragansett lighthouses or breathe fresh air next to some of the monuments oldest in the country at Wilcox Park.
Massachusetts and all of New England in general is full of natural treasures: Provincetown , Nickerson State Park or the Sandy Neck Dunes are just three examples. To stroll along the beach, the impressive Wellfleet , Hyannis or any of Cape Cod . Pennsylvania is not just Philadelphia . If you visit the state, you cannot miss the rural Amish areas , Salt Springs or any of the places where the painter Andrew Wyleth was inspired, including the surroundings of his studio in Brandywine River.
Connecticut it has paradises like Candlewood Lake or Rocky Neck State Park. And especially the sunsets in Saybrook Bay.
MIDWEST
And what about the Midwest …? Not only are the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Ontario, Huron, Michigan and Eire) there. Natural wonders abound in Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, the two Dakotas, Iowa, and the Old Northwest states.
“The heart of the country” is pure nature: it has the great prairies of Kansas , endless cornfields of Nebraska , the north bank of the Mississippi in Iowa, the Badlands
Of course, here is also the popular Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, which is the perfect communion between the genius of nature and that of the hand of man. Five miles in the Keystone area that is now a National Park.
ROCKY
The Rocky States are pure nature. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico have the most spectacular landscapes in the entire country.
There is for example Yellowstone , the national park is the oldest in the world. In fact there are the great National Parks of the United States: Glacier National Park in Montana , Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Dinosaur or Zion National Monument in Utah …
Monument Valley in Utah
Utah is already a true natural paradise. The State has jewels like Bryce Canyon, the Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Park Arches National and T have Mittens of Monument Valley, one of the most famous landscapes of the country and out in countless films and TV series. Between treasure and treasure, the state has huge uninhabited areas of great beauty and environmental interest such as the Basin and Range desert or a large area of forests. There is also the Great Salt Lake , four times saltier than the sea, or Kings Peak (4,123 meters). considered one of the best mountains in the world for skiing.
THE SOUTH
New Orleans , Texas , Mississippi, Florida , Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia … If there is something in these states, it is authentic and genuine nature.
The south (“ dixie”) is the pride of America’s wilderness. A huge and varied region with different climatic zones and all magnificent: the deserts of Texas, the Everglades of Florida, the Delta of the Mississippi or Tennessee,
Texas is more than desert. There are spectacular lakes such as Caddo Lake, Marshall or Plano, prestigious beaches of South Parade, or forests like those of Woodlands or Fort Stockton.
Florida has the best beaches in the world ( the 20 best beaches in the nation) , such as Key West, Pensacola, Key West, Boca Raton or Coral Gables, but there are also swampy areas such as the Everglades, which is a World Heritage Site.
WEST COAST
Approaching the Pacific Ocean we enter the West Coast states , which include Nevada and Arizona, as well as coastal Oregon , Washington, and California .
Redwoods in Redwood
National Parks ( Yosemite , Death Valley , Redwood , Olympic …) and other natural monuments ( the Grand Canyon , Muir Woods… ) abound in all of them . Deserts, mountains, beaches and forests… we can find everything within walking distance.
Obviously the West Coast stands out for its paradisiacal beaches in the three coastal states ( Cannon Beach, Ruby Beach , Haystack Rock , Otter Crest Scenic Viewpoint ). The ones in California are much warmer, but in beauty they don’t beat those of Oregon or Washington.
The West Coast of the United States is ideal to finish the route from East to West. A well-deserved reward: Little is comparable to seeing sea lions in Big Sur, bathing in the Malibu Sea or feeling the peace of the desert in Joshua Tree .
ALASKA and HAWAII
Finally, two of the isolated states in the United States are perhaps the most naturally spectacular.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States, with a total area of 1,717,854 km² and contains the highest peak in the entire continent, Mount McKinley , with 6,194 meters of altitude. It has three major regions with wonders in all of them: the Pacific Mountains, the interior region that surrounds the Yukon River, and a northern arctic area that is occupied by the Brooks chain . The Parque Nacional Delani, the Waterfall Horsetail, Lake Hood or Westchester Lagoon are just some of the places to visit in Alaska for nature lovers.
Hawaii is the tropical paradise of the country. Obviously its beaches stand out ( Waikiki Beah, Temple Beach, Kehena Beach, Apoipu Beach …) but the visitor should not miss the Rainbow Falls, the Kaloko-Honokohau Historical Park, the Spouting Horn, the Waimea Canyon or any of the volcanic formations of the archipelago. ( Haleakala Crater, Waimea Canyon…). Nothing is imposing more than seeing the Kīlauea volcano roar , one of the most active on the planet.
United States… Number 1 also in natural wonders.
And there is still a lot to discover in this immense and beautiful country.