Seven Natural Wonders of America

Death Valley (California) Death Valley is a 250 km valley between two Californian mountain ranges. It is the hottest and the lowest place in the USA, and at one famous point – Badwater Basin – you arrive at the lowest place in the western hemisphere (86 metres below sea level). Summer temperatures in Death Valley can reach 54°C, and for several months of the year the average night-time temperature is over 27°C.

Giant Redwood and Bristlecone Pine Trees (California) General Sherman, a giant redwood tree in the Sequoia National Park measuring 84 metres tall, is the largest plant in the world. It is also 3,000 years old, but it isn’t the oldest tree in the world! That’s also in California. The bristlecone pine grows in the White Mountains, and it is the oldest living thing on earth. The most famous, named Methuselah, is over 4,000 years old.

The Grand Canyon (Arizona) The Grand Canyon, eroded over thousands of years by the Colorado River and its tributaries, is 4oo km long. It is 2,000 metres deep at its deepest point and 30 km wide at its widest point. It is one of the most important geological sites in the world (some of the rocks are over 1,800 million years old) and it is home to a great diversity of wildlife.

Old Faithful (Idaho) Much of the Yellowstone National Park (which extends into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming) is volcanic rock, and there are over 10,000 geysers and hot springs in the park – the biggest concentration in the world. The most famous geyser, called Old Faithful, erupts about every 75 minutes. The eruptions last for 1-5 minutes, and shoot hot water up to 50 metres in the air.

The Great Lakes (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ontario, Canada) The Great Lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario) form the largest system of fresh water on earth, containing 18% of the world’s supply. Lake Superior is the largest and the deepest. It has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world (81,000 sq.km) and holds enough water to cover the entire continents of North and South America with a third of a metre of water.

Glacier Bay (Alaska) Glacier Bay is a wilderness of mountains, glaciers, estuaries, beaches and lakes which was covered by ice only 200 years ago. The glaciers of Glacier Bay are still retreating, revealing new landscapes every few years. Glacier Bay is now a nature reserve and is used extensively for scientific research.

Niagara Falls (New York State and Ontario, Canada) The Niagara Falls are formed where the Niagara river flows between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The are two main waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls in Canada and the American Falls in the USA. The falls are 55 metres high, and 160,000 cubic meters of water flows over them every minute.