Enormous and strange rock formations taking the forms of animals and men populate the Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades, or "National Park of Seven Cities". The park is named for a mytholigical Seven Lost Cities, of which these stones are the only remains. In truth the ancient formations took millenia to form, with the only man-made parts being the 3,000-5,000 year old rock paintings that can be seen.
August 12, 2011
Wailea-Makena, Hawaii
A cooled lava flow from the Haleakalā volcano formed these surreal-looking columnar basalt structures.
New Mexico
This towering volcanic plug stands out among the dramatic formations that dot this otherworldly desert valley.
Inuvik, Unorganized, Northwest Territories
These hellish-looking cliffs in the Canadian Arctic have been burning for centuries.
Iceland
In Northeastern Iceland lies something of an oxymoron: a steaming desert.
Bloomfield, New Mexico
The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.
Northwest Arctic, Alaska
Massive mounds of golden sand look like a desert landscape randomly plopped in an Arctic forest.
Orion, Alberta
Huge spherical rocks in the middle of the prairie.
Antarctica
Scientists use one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth as a terrestrial base for studying water on Mars.
