National Geographic Special The World’s_Most_Beautiful_Places - PDF Flipbook

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Stunning landscapes
Breathtaking vistas

Awe-inspiring getaways

The

bWeorlda’sMpoustltaifcuels

100

Unforgettable
Destinations

Lake Pehoe in Torres del Paine
National Park, Patagonia, Chile

The

bWeorlda’sMpuostltaifcuels

The

bWeorlda’sMpuostltaifcuels
100 unforgettable destinations
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Page 1: The setting sun lights the walls at Toroweap
Point on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Pages 2–3:
The Shwesandaw Pagoda temple at sunrise in
Bagan. This page: A beachcomber strolls across
the sands at Frégate Island in the Seychelles.

contents

World Map 6

peaks & valleys 8

1–25 Verdant hills, jagged peaks, mist-shrouded jungles, rippling grasslands, rocky
moors, and undulating landscapes majestic enough to steal your breath away

rivers & shores 38

26–50 Magniﬁcent landmarks and worlds shaped by water, from bright coral reefs and
white-sand shorelines to twisting rivers and glistening fjords

cities & beyond 68

51–75 Structures and foundations so beautiful it’s hard to believe that we created them:
spectacular cities, architectural gems, and remnants of great civilizations past

stark & wild 98

76–100 Vistas of shimmering heat and sparkling ice, strange shapes, and sharp con-
trasts sure to inﬂame your imagination and inspire the adventurous spirit

Illustrations Credits 128

peaks & valleys Arctic

1 Saguaro National Park, Southern Arizona (U.S.), p. 8

2 Redwood National Park, Northern California (U.S.), p. 10

3 Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand, p. 12

4 Masai Mara National Reserve, Southwestern Kenya, p. 14

5 Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile, p. 16 91

6 Tuscany, Central Italy, p. 18

7 Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (U.S.), p. 20 9
8 Yosemite National Park, Eastern California (U.S.), p. 22

9 Mount McKinley, Denali National Park, Alaska (U.S.), p. 24 ARCTIC CIRCLE

10 Jeju Island, South Korea, p. 26

11 Taktshang Monastery, Bhutan, p. 26 82 19

12 Bryce Canyon, Southwestern Utah (U.S.), p. 26 16 24 57
13 Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, p. 27

14 Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia, p. 27 37 47
32
15 Glacier National Park, Northern Montana (U.S.), p. 27 7 15 70
54
16 Jasper National Park, Alberta (CANADA), p. 28 50 N O R T H 42 17
64 E
17 Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, p. 30 93
29 87 78 75
18 Annapurna Sanctuary, Nepal, p. 32 2 22 13

19 Jotunheimen National Park, Besseggen, Norway, p. 34 8 59
34 85 72
20 Munnar, Western Ghats, India, p. 34 12 74 100

21 Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania, Australia, p. 34 90 88 A M E R I C A 55
67
22 Autumn in New England, Vermont (U.S.), p. 35

23 Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, p. 35 1 56
24 The Highlands, Scotland (U.K.), p. 35 49
25 Bali Rain Forest, Bali, Indonesia, p. 36 c 97
i
28 89 30 t TROPIC OF CANCER
58 n
a
39 l
t
The AF
A
bWeorlda’sMpuostltaifcuels 81
EQUATOR

45 Paciﬁc 35 Ocean TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
Ocean
rivers & shores SOUTH
53 A M E R I C A
26 Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia, p. 38
27 Guilin, Guangxi, China, p. 41 80
28 Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii (U.S.), p. 42
29 Crater Lake, Klamath, Oregon (U.S.), p. 44 43
30 The Everglades, Southern Florida (U.S.), p. 46
31 Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, p. 48 map key
32 Clifs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland, p. 50
33 Zanzibar, Tanzania, p. 52 peaks & valleys
34 Big Sur, Coastal California (U.S.), p. 54 rivers & shores
35 The Amazon River, South America, p. 56 cities & beyond
36 Bays of Fires, Eastern Tasmania, Australia, p. 56 stark & wild
37 Loch Katrine, Stirling, Scotland (U.K.), p. 56
38 Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand, p. 57 5
39 Great Blue Hole, Belize, p. 57
40 Okavango Delta, Botswana, p. 57 ANTARCTIC CIRCLE
41 Seychelles, Africa, p. 58
42 Newfoundland, Eastern Canada, p. 60 A N TA R C T I C A
43 Iguaçu National Park, Paraná, Brazil, p. 62
44 Lofoten Islands, Northern Norway, p. 64
45 Tahiti, French Polynesia (France), p. 64
46 Kaikoura, Canterbury, New Zealand, p. 64
47 The Lake District, England (U.K.), p. 65
48 Cathedral Cove, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, p. 65
49 Okefenokee Swamp, Southern Georgia (U.S.), p. 65
50 Cannon Beach, Coastal Oregon (U.S.), p. 66

Ocean cities & beyond

44 76 51 Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany, p. 68
52 Rome, Italy, p. 70
62 61 A 53 Machu Picchu, Peru, p. 72
I 54 Oxford, England (U.K.), p. 74
OP E S 95 55 Sintra, Portugal, p. 76
56 Savannah, Georgia (U.S.), p. 78
UR 68 A 63 57 Bergen, Western Norway, p. 78
98 99 58 Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico, p. 78
51 65 96 59 New York City, New York (U.S.), p. 79
11 60 Kyoto, Japan, p. 79
6 31 18 61 Rostov Veliky, Russia, p. 79
52 62 Saint Petersburg, Russia, p. 80
66 3 63 The Great Wall of China, China, p. 82
71 64 London, England (U.K.), p. 84
69 20 65 Santorini, Greece, p. 86
66 Bagan, Myanmar, p. 88
94 67 Seville, Andalusia, Spain, p. 90
68 Istanbul, Turkey, p. 92
69 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, p. 94
70 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 94
60 71 Petra, Ma’an, Jordan, p. 94
72 Washington, District of Columbia (U.S.), p. 95
10 73 Cape Town, South Africa, p. 95
74 Mesa Verde, Colorado (U.S.), p. 95
75 Paris, France, p. 96
27

Paciﬁc

Ocean

83

RICA

4 41
33

40 Indian 25
84 Ocean 77 26

73 stark & wild AUSTRALIA

79 92

76 Artic Circle, Sweden (Kiruna, Lapland), p. 98

77 Devils Marbles, Outback Australia, p. 100

78 Badlands National Park, South Dakota (U.S.), p. 102 14
79 Ice sheets, Antarctica (ice ﬂow on the Southern Ocean), p. 104
48
80 Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, p. 106 21 86
81 Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), South America, p. 108 36 46
82 Landmannalaugar, Southern Iceland, p. 108
23 2000 km
83 Chocolate Hills, Bohol Island, Philippines, p. 108 38

84 Sossusvlei Dunes, Namibia, Africa (Namib Naukluft National Park), p. 109 0
0
85 Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California (U.S.), p. 109

86 Emerald Lakes, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand, p. 109

87 Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (U.S.), p. 110

88 Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (Wotan’s Throne on the north rim) (U.S.), p. 112

89 Haleakala Crater, Maui, Hawaii (U.S.), p. 114

90 Mojave Desert, (U.S.), p. 116

91 Northwest Passage, Canada, p. 118

92 The Pinnacles, Cervantes, Australia (Nambung National Park), p. 118 2000 mi

93 Oregon Lava Fields, Oregon (U.S.), p. 118

94 Simien Mountain National Park, Ethiopia, p. 119

95 Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, p. 119

96 Socotra, Yemen, p. 119

97 Sahara Desert, Africa (Erg Chebbi, Maroc), p. 120

98 Mineral Forest, Pamukkale, Turkey, p. 122

99 K2, Karakoram Range, China/Pakistan, p. 124

100 The Prairies, Midwestern U.S. (Flint Hills), p. 126 7

1

saguaro national park

SOUTHERN ARIZONA

The sun sets, shadows lengthen, and on the horizon the
Tucson and Rincon Mountains glow orange-pink in the
gathering dusk. One of the iconic images of the American
West then slowly emerges as hundreds of saguaro cacti—
North America’s largest cactus—take on their unmistak-
able silhouettes against the darkening sky.

Saguaro cacti near Tucson: The cacti grow naturally only in
the Sonoran Desert and can reach heights of 60 feet and
live for up to 150 years.

“Climb the mountains
and get their good tidings.

The winds will blow their
own freshness into you,

and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop of

like autumn leaves.” John Muir

in the collection of unique and iconic places The spaces between the realms of peak and
contained within these pages, the notion that valley ofer up resplendent landscapes of inﬁnite
beauty is in the eye of the beholder is disproved. variety, from the verdant rain forests of Bali and
We may experience diferent feelings as we wildﬂower meadows of Montana’s Glacier National
stand before the Grand Canyon, Machu Picchu, Park to the glittering turquoise lakes of Patagonia’s
or Rome’s eternal ruins, but some strand links high plateaus and New England’s dulcet hills and
them and their power to inspire. Sometimes villages, whose blaze of autumnal color reminds us
we can look and know. Sometimes we simply that beauty need not be in thrall to the seasons.
recognize a place for what it is—one of the most
beautiful places on Earth. 2

We start with the world’s great peaks, which redwood national park
inspire great awe; no wonder we have long been
drawn to them. To gaze on the majesty of Alaska’s NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Mount McKinley or the great Himalayan summits
that ring Nepal’s Annapurna Sanctuary is to under- Big is beautiful when it comes to coast redwoods
stand why the ancients and our elders reserved (Sequoia sempervirens), and they don’t come much
the highest places for their gods. To hike, climb, bigger than in Redwood National Park, which pro-
or look on the world’s mountains is to escape our tects a precious relic forest—some 45 percent of all
earthbound lives. surviving coast redwood habitat—whose 350-foot-
tall, 2,000-year-old trees are among the world’s
Valleys are diferent. Their beauty still inspires oldest and tallest living organisms.
awe—as in the immense savanna of Kenya’s Masai
Mara or among the clifs and rocky amphitheaters DON’T MISS
of America’s Bryce Canyon—but often valleys are
places of habitation whose gentler beauty owes The 32-mile Avenue of the Giants (Route 254) gives access
something to a human touch, such as the vine- to the region’s ﬁnest forest and the world’s largest surviv-
yards and olive groves of Tuscany or the emerald ing stand of virgin redwoods.
patchwork of paddy ﬁelds across the lowlands of
northern Thailand. Redwoods reach for the sky in Redwood National Park, part
of an ecosystem that is 160 million years old.

10 P EAKS & VALLEYS

chiang mai
province

NORTHERN THAILAND

The landscapes of Chiang Mai are as varied as
the many peoples that have long been drawn
to this area of Thailand, one of Southeast
Asia’s most important historical crossroads.
Paddy ﬁelds ﬁll the lowlands and sinuous
hillside terraces with a vivid patchwork of
jade and emerald. Encroaching on all sides is
the darker, denser green of jungle, laced with
slow-ﬂowing rivers and shadowed by moun-
tains like Doi Inthanon (8,415 ft/2,565 m) and
Doi Chiang Dao (7,136 ft/2,175 m), two of the
country’s highest peaks.

DON’T MISS

The region’s capital, Chiang Mai, has a moated old
town that has retained its charm and is a base for
excursions to out-of-the-way tribal villages and for
cycling, hiking, elephant trekking, bird-watching,
and rafting trips in the surrounding backcountry.

Paddy ﬁelds near Chiang Mai; about half of Thailand’s
arable land is given over to rice production.

12 PEA KS & VA LLE YS

SOUTHWESTERN KENYA masai mara
national
When the sun sets in the Masai Mara National
Reserve, Africa’s vast skies ﬁll with stars as reserve
the tree-dotted grasslands and low escarp-
ments of the savanna below are bathed in
a gentle golden glow. Shadows gather and
the dry, searing heat of the day gives way to
the balmy stillness of twilight, a cooling calm
before the storm of evening activity erupts
among many of the thousands of crea-
tures—lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros,
hyenas, and more—that call this corner of
southwestern Kenya home.

DON’T MISS

Visit the Masai Mara in August, when 1.2 million
wildebeests, 750,000 zebras, and other animals
driven north by drought arrive in the region during
the “Great Migration” from the Serengeti plains of
neighboring Tanzania.

Sunset over the Masai Mara (right) and a cheetah
(above), which likes to hunt when the sun is low

14 P E AKS & VA LLEYS

torres del
paine

PATAGONIA, CHILE

Yes, they are torres—towers—but no human-
made tower has the awe-inspiring grandeur
of the vast, soaring granite monoliths at the
heart of the Torres del Paine massif. Yet this
great easterly spur of the Andes, protected
by a 935-square-mile (2,422 sq km) national
park, ofers far more than skyscraping
spires and pinnacles. Trails wend through
pine-scented forest, past emerald lakes, and
across windswept plains to the fringes of
the Grey, Dickson, and other glaciers of the
Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

DON’T MISS

Day hikes on good, marked trails ofer views of the
Paine’s celebrated pinnacles. Hikers can follow the
famous “W” trail through the mountains in ﬁve days,
staying at refugios, or make a full circuit of the mas-
sif in eight or nine days.

Sunrise casts the granite spires and rock walls of
Patagonia’s Paine massif in a golden glow.

17 P E AKS & VA L L E YS

tuscany

CENTRAL ITALY

Tuscany is blessed, even by Italy’s high stan-
dards. In Florence, it has Europe’s greatest
Renaissance city, and in Siena, its most
perfect medieval town. Hilltop villages look
much as they have for centuries, and the
timeless landscapes, worked over millennia,
are a tapestry of vineyards, age-old olive
groves, cypress-topped hills, rustic farm-
houses, and ﬁelds of wheat and summer
sunﬂowers. Visitors gorged on art and scen-
ery can feast on the region’s sublime food
or sample wine at a profusion of wineries.

DON’T MISS

The Val d’Orcia (Orcia Valley), south of Siena, epito-
mizes all that is best in Tuscany, home to pastoral
landscapes and a lovely abbey—Sant’Antimo—as well
as a trio of its most captivating small towns: Pienza,
Montalcino, and Montepulciano.

Olives, cypresses, vineyards, and rolling hills—a classic
Tuscan landscape in the Orcia Valley near Pienza

19 P E AKS & VA L L E YS

olympic OLYMPIC PENINSULA,
national WASHINGTON
park
The U.S. National Park Service has called this
picturesque expanse “three parks in one.” Only
three? Someone needs to recount, because few
areas in North America are quite as varied. Land-
scape proliferates, from the wild beaches at the
park’s fringes, through vast tracts of old-growth
rain forest dense with mossy undergrowth and
fast-ﬂowing streams, to the alpine meadows and
deep-cut valleys that herald the glaciers at the
park’s jagged, mountainous heart.

DON’T MISS

Few roads penetrate the park’s mountainous interior, but
Hurricane Ridge ofers accessible alpine and Nordic skiing,
along with superb views of the surrounds.

Deer graze (above) on sloping ﬁelds at Hurricane Ridge in
Olympic National Park; a bunchberry ﬂower (left) nestles
among ferns.

21 P EAKS & VALLEYS

yosemite
national park

EASTERN CALIFORNIA

Some 900,000 visitors ﬂock to Yosemite
National Park in an average July. By January,
that ﬁgure has fallen to just 26,000, making
winter a wonderful time to visit, not just for
the lack of crowds but also for the added
splendor that snow lends to the landscape
and the ice-sharp clarity of the mountains
on crisp, blue-skied days. Join rangers on
guided snowshoe hikes, sit in a warm shuttle
bus on a drive around the park, or just curl
up in front of the ﬁre at the Ahwahnee
Hotel, a national historical landmark.

DON’T MISS

Some trails remain open in the Yosemite Valley in
winter, and there’s skiing at nearby Badger Pass.
You can also skate outdoors at Curry Village in the
shadow of Half Dome and Glacier Point, two of the
park’s most spectacular natural features.

The sun-dappled rock walls of El Capitan loom over a
snowy Merced River in Yosemite National Park.

23 P E A KS & VA L L E YS

mount
mckinley

DENALI NATIONAL PARK,
ALASKA

You might come to see bears foraging in
the brush or to admire the sublime moun-
tain scenery along the 90-mile Denali Park
Road, or with the hope of spotting moose
and herds of caribou in the Teklanika Valley.
Whatever you come to see in Denali National
Park, a protected area about the size of Mas-
sachusetts, you won’t want to leave without
a glimpse of its majestic centerpiece: the
20,320-foot (6,196 m) Mount McKinley,
the highest point in North America.

DON’T MISS

Companies in the park are licensed to take visitors
dogsledding, a Denali tradition—park rangers ran
dog-team patrols as far back as the 1920s. Sleds can
cover 30 miles in a day, an unforgettable way to see
the park’s wildlife and winter vistas.

A canoe trip on Wonder Lake in Denali National Park,
Alaska, with Mount McKinley in the background

24 PEA KS & VA LLE YS

11 10

taktshang » « jeju island
monastery
SOUTH KOREA
BHUTAN
A spectacular volcano, Hallasan (6,398
Few outsiders visit the Himalayan ft/1,950 m), dormant for 800 years,
kingdom of Bhutan, and even fewer has bequeathed Jeju many of its pris-
climb to Taktshang, or the Tiger’s tine natural features and rich habitats.
Nest, a clif-edge Buddhist monastery These include a main crater, 360 minor
founded in the 17th century and craters, and a profusion of landscapes
situated at 10,236 feet (3,120 m), that range from black-sand beaches
nestled in pristine and mist-shrouded and waterfall-laced jungle to upland
mountains that rise above mostly tundra and fertile lowlands that sup-
untouched forests. port a wealth of rare ﬂora and fauna.
A dormant volcanic crater on Hallasan,
Taktshang Monastery, the Tiger’s Nest, South Korea’s highest point
in remote western Bhutan
12

« bryce canyon

SOUTHWESTERN UTAH

Start with color—reds, browns,
ochers—and the limestone of the
Paunsaugunt Plateau. Add the power
of natural erosion and the millen-
nial work of frost, wind, and water.
Then stand back and admire one of
nature’s most dazzling creations—
the immense rock amphitheaters
and rock pinnacles, or hoodoos,
of Bryce Canyon.

A visitor admires sunrise over the
sweep of the Bryce Amphitheater.

14 13

alpine » « lauterbrunnen
national park
SWITZERLAND
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
Lauterbrunnen is one of the Alps’
Sweeping mountain ridges, jagged deepest valleys, guarded by the
peaks, wild rivers, snow gum forests, great peaks of the Eiger, Mönch, and
ﬂower-ﬁlled meadows, and high Jungfrau. Rent a scooter and skirt
plains grasslands—even in a country past the area’s velvety ﬁelds and
as vast and as rich in landscape as sparkling waterfalls to the base of the
Australia, the wide-open spaces of Jungfrau Railway, which at 11,332 feet
Alpine National Park have a unique (3,454 m) is Europe’s highest.
natural grandeur. Immense rock walls soar above the
meadows of the Lauterbrunnen Valley,
The lookout at Fainters North ofers where visitors will ﬁnd pleasant cafés
views over the sloping peaks and from which to view them.
meadows of the Bogong High Plains.
15

« glacier
national park

NORTHERN MONTANA

Scenery in the 1,583 square miles
(4,100 sq km) of Glacier National Park
is so magniﬁcent that it has been called
the “Crown of the Continent.” Ecosys-
tems from prairie to tundra provide
habitats for many hundreds of plants
and animals, while some 700 miles
(1,125 km) of trails help open the area
to almost two million visitors a year.
Glacier (yellow avalanche) lilies at
Logan Pass in Glacier National Park

jasper
national park

ALBERTA, CANADA

Winter, spring, summer, or fall—it makes no
diference: the majesty of Jasper National
Park, at the heart of the Canadian Rock-
ies, remains undiminished. This varied and
pristine landscape, which is also the largest
national park in the Rockies, cries out to
outdoor enthusiasts who ﬂock here year-
round to experience a wilderness of river,
forest, mountain, and ice, seduced by its
magniﬁcent trails, soaring peaks, pristine
powder, and crashing white water.

DON’T MISS

Drive through the ﬁnest scenery in the Canadian
Rockies—past immense peaks, incredible glaciers,
wildﬂower meadows, and iridescent lakes—on the
143-mile (230 km) Iceﬁelds Parkway from Jasper to
Lake Louise.

Sun-tinged peaks and wisps of early morning mist
frame Spirit Island and its reﬂection, captured in the
waters of Jasper’s Maligne Lake.

28 P E AKS & VA LLEYS

killarney

COUNTY KERRY, IRELAND

“It’s a soft day,” the Irish will say to describe
a mizzling afternoon with a bit of rain. Soft
days come often to Killarney, in Ireland’s
southwest corner, courtesy of the Atlantic
and the Gulf Stream, but the result is a
verdant landscape of bubbling brooks, water-
falls, and lakes framed by dulcet woods of
oak and yew, lush banks of ferns, and fuchsia-
tinged hedgerows. Above it all soar the steep
slopes of the country’s highest mountains,
the magniﬁcently named MacGillycuddy’s
Reeks (3,406 ft/1,038 m).

DON’T MISS

Any Irish visit must take in the craic (the fun), so
spend an evening exploring Killarney and its old-
time pubs. Then allow two days for the Ring of Kerry,
a 111-mile (179 km) drive around the region’s ﬁnest
lakes, mountains, and monuments.

Historic monuments, such as Ross Castle outside
Killarney, are a feature of County Kerry’s landscapes.

30 P E AKS & VA LLEYS

annapurna
sanctuary

NEPAL

The Annapurna Sanctuary is a magniﬁcent
mountain-ringed glacial basin situated above
13,000 feet (4,000 m) in the heart of the
Himalaya. Sacred to the local Gurung people
and unseen by outsiders until the 1950s, it
has become a popular trekking destination,
largely because it serves as the base camp
for climbers tackling the peaks of the sur-
rounding Annapurna range. But no technical
skills are required for the multiday trek up to
the camp, nor for the increasingly popular
day hikes in and around the sanctuary.

DON’T MISS

The trek to the sanctuary climbs through ever more
spectacular scenery, from the Himalayan foothills
to the high mountains of the sanctuary. Stays in
“teahouses” in the Annapurna Conservation Area
ofer insights into the daily life of Nepali villages.

Prayer ﬂags ﬂutter at the Annapurna base camp, one
of the world’s most popular trekking destinations.

32 P E AKS & VA LLEYS

20 19

munnar » « jotunheimen
national park
WESTERN GHATS, INDIA
BESSEGGEN, NORWAY
The Western Ghats are among the
world’s grandest and most diverse Vast lakes of sparkling water weave
mountain ranges, stretching almost through high, wind-scoured mountain
1,000 miles (1,600 km) down India’s ridges in this magniﬁcently empty,
western coast. At least 139 species of ice-carved park. Hikers tackling the
mammals and 508 bird species thrive region’s tough but popular seven-
here. Among the 5,000 species of hour Besseggen Trail will experience
ﬂora is one that has greatly improved some of the breathtaking grandeur of
the lot of humankind over the millen- a region Norwegians call the “Land of
nia: Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, the Giants.”
dressing the hills in vibrant greens. The view from the top of the Besseg-
gen Trail is one of Norway’s ﬁnest.
Tea plantations swathe the slopes of
the Western Ghats around Munnar. 21

« cradle
mountain
national park

TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA

Jagged peaks, ancient rain forest,
beech woods, and alpine heathland
make up much of Cradle Mountain’s
pristine wilderness, a haven for
remarkable wildlife that is crisscrossed
by trails such as the Overland Track,
one of Australia’s ﬁnest bush walks.
Beech trees cloak the slopes between
Lake Wilks and Cradle Mountain.

23 22

aoraki/ » « autumn in
mount cook new england
national park
CENTRAL VERMONT
NEW ZEALAND
A region that is already prettier than
All but one of New Zealand’s loftiest a picture—all village greens, russet-
peaks can be found in this awe-inspiring red barns, and steepled churches—
alpine park, including Aoraki, or Mount becomes prettier still as the leaves
Cook (12,316 ft/3,754 m), the country’s start to turn in the fall. Countless
highest point. Trails to suit all abilities festivals celebrate this transforma-
ofer a window onto a spectacular world tion, which is one of the greatest free
of ice and snow. shows on Earth.
Autumn wraps New England’s towns
A climber admires the dawn view over and countryside in a blaze of dazzling
the cloud-covered Mueller Glacier high in seasonal color.
the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
24

« the highlands

SCOTLAND

Sun-dappled moorland, jewel-like
lochs, romantic heather-covered
mountains, and deep, glacier-cut
glens, or valleys—many steeped in
the history of clan warfare and
bloody battles—make up the
Highlands, the highest, wildest,
and most haunting landscape in
the British Isles.
Winter settles over Glencoe at the
heart of the Scottish Highlands.

bali
rain forest

BALI, INDONESIA

Dawn sees Bali’s lush rain forest at its most
beautiful. Pale sunlight dapples verdant
glades where dew falls and the morning-
fresh air is alive with birdsong. Mist rises
above the trees and settles in the deep val-
leys that radiate from towering volcanoes
at the island’s heart. Waterfalls crash over
moss-covered rocks, and fast-ﬂowing rivers
carve through narrow canyons. The Bali-
nese, up with the sun, come to leave ofer-
ings at the estimated 20,000 Hindu temples
that lie, half-hidden, deep within the forest.

DON’T MISS

The best way to see the heart of the rain forest is
on a rafting tour from a base in Ubud, Bali’s cultural
center, riding the surging white water of the Ayung
River as it runs through a beautiful, forest-shrouded
gorge north of town.

The Ayung River cuts a swath through the under-
growth and luxuriant forest canopy of central Bali.

36 P EAKS & VALLE YS

26

great barrier reef

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

The seas of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are a rhapsody
in blue, a shifting mosaic of sapphire, cobalt, and aqua-
marine, beneath which lies a still more beautiful world
of almost inﬁnite marine variety. Spread across 133,000
square miles (344,000 sq km), the reef is the world’s
largest living structure.

An aerial view of part of the Great Barrier Reef around
Australia’s Queensland coast, a structure so large it can be
seen from outer space

“Throw of the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe

harbor. Catch the trade
winds in your sails.

Explore.
Dream.
Discover.” Mark Twain

there’s magic at the water’s edge. In water’s is over, won long ago by glacial ice, while on the
solitary domain, in the immensity of the powder-soft Paciﬁc beaches of Tahiti, nothing
oceans, its beauty is simple—the shifting mosaic could be farther from the fray than the lap of
of current and color, the mirror it holds to the sky. azure water against white sand.
But something happens where land meets sea or
lake meets shore. Water is no longer alone. Now There is alchemy wherever land meets water.
it shapes another landscape, and new kinds of The encounters are countless and varied. Many
beauty are born. are remarkable; few are without beauty.

Sometimes, when the reﬂections of sun- 27
dappled moorland are caught in a Scottish loch,
such as Loch Katrine, or coral reefs thrive of guilin
warm-watered shores as they do amid Australia’s
Great Barrier Reef, the encounter of land and GUANGXI, CHINA
water is harmonious. At other times, it is shift-
ing and shapeless, the limits of land and water Nature’s fancy for the fantastical and fairy-tale is
blurred, as in the Amazon’s sweep through its given full rein in Guilin, in southern China, where
delta wetlands or the marshes and mangrove wind, water, and time have created one of the
swamps of Florida’s Everglades National Park. world’s most spectacular karst landscapes, carv-
ing vast limestone towers, clifs, and pinnacles
Elsewhere, the meeting of land and water is from the mountains and pastoral hills that ﬂank
dramatic and sometimes violent. On Brazil’s the curves of the Li River.
border with Argentina, the fury of the Iguaçu
waterfalls as they roar over an immense basalt DON’T MISS
outcrop makes for one of the world’s most spec-
tacular sights. On the Na Pali coast of Hawaii To enjoy the best of the scenery, take one of the numerous
and Ireland’s western ramparts, the millennial daylong Li River boat cruises from Guilin downstream to
battle of sea and shore creates spectacular clifs the picturesque little town of Yangshuo.
as the land surrenders to the crashing waves of
the sea’s advance. In Norway’s fjords, the battle A man rows on the Li River amid the spectacular limestone
scenery for which the region is celebrated.

40 RIVERS & SHORES

na pali KAUAI, HAWAII
coast
Not for nothing did the coast of northwest Kauai
feature in the movie Jurassic Park. The region’s
vegetation-swathed and deeply ﬁssured Na Pali
clifs, which plunge thousands of feet to pristine
and secluded beaches, look like a strange, prehis-
toric world. The clifs have been formed by a twin
assault from the incessant pounding of waves
and the swift-ﬂowing streams—fed by 460 inches
(1,200 cm) of rainfall a year—that carve deep
clefts and valleys as they crash to the sea from
the island’s precipitous interior.

DON’T MISS

View the clifs, seabirds, and marine life (dolphins, turtles,
and monk seals, plus whales from December through April)
on a boat trip or by walking to Hanakapi’ai Beach (4 mi/
6 km) or hiking the demanding Kalalau Trail (22 mi/35 km
round-trip).

Fast-ﬂowing streams and waterfalls (left) helped carve the
steep chasms and ﬁssures of the Na Pali coast (above).

43 RIVERS & SHORES

crater
lake

KLAMATH, OREGON

At 1,943 feet (592 m), Crater Lake in south-
central Oregon is the United States’ deepest
lake. Because it is fed by precipitation—
notably 45 feet (14 m) of snow a year—and
has no inlets or outlets, it is also one of the
country’s purest, famed for the clarity and
startling blue of its water. Formed after
the eruption of Mount Mazama, part of the
Cascade Range, around 7,700 years ago,
it is surrounded by the jagged, clif-edged
rim of the former volcano and dotted with
islands created by subsequent eruptions.

DON’T MISS

Two viewpoints ofer wonderful vistas across the
lake: the Cloudcap Lookout, accessed as part of
the East and West Rim Drives (open to cars in sum-
mer only), and the three-hour hike to Mount Scott
(8,929 ft/2,721 m) on the lake’s eastern ﬂank.

Crater Lake, with Wizard Island at its heart. Both were
created by a series of volcanic eruptions.

44 RIVERS & SHORES

the
everglades

SOUTHERN FLORIDA

The constant creep of slow water weaves a
spell in Everglades National Park, beautiful-
ly shaping and transforming one of the wild-
est and most diverse wetland ecosystems in
North America. Cypress swamps, sawgrass
marsh, mangrove forest, and numerous
other habitats across the park’s 1.5 million
acres (6,070 sq km) provide a rich refuge
for wildlife that includes such rare species
as the manatee, Florida panther, and Ameri-
can crocodile.

DON’T MISS

Take a naturalist-led boat tour to get to the dense,
swampy heart of the Everglades, twisting through
thick mangrove forest, or to the park’s more open
saltwater margins on the trail of alligators, raccoons,
bobcats, dolphins, and other wildlife.

A heron takes wing in Everglades National Park, ﬂy-
ing over cypress swamps and mangrove forests that
form one of the world’s most important wetlands.

46 RIVERS & SHORES

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