The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world.
It measures approximately 370 feet in size and around 121 feet deep (higher than a 10-story building). But its rainbow waters are what really make it fascinating: While the center of the pool's cerulean hue is pretty characteristic, the deep reds and greens, bright yellows and fiery oranges encircling the edges are not. These colors are caused by thermophilic bacteria that thrive on the rich minerals produced by the water around the hot spring. The center looks blue but actually isn't – the blue wavelengths of light are scattered so we see blue when we gaze upon the spring.
Tags: US National Parks Yellowstone National Park
The Joshua Tree is actually a yucca plant and is in the the same subgroup that includes flowering grasses and orchids. It grows primarily in the Mohave Desert, which includes Joshua Tree National Park, but you can also sometimes find them in the Sonoran Desert, hanging out with the Saguaro cactus.
A star trail is a type of photograph that uses long exposure times to capture diurnal circles, the apparent motion of stars in the night sky due to Earth's rotation.
Tags: Joshua Tree National Park US National Parks Stars Star trails Nightscape Night Photography Long Exposure Joshua Tree Land
At 308 feet, the Lower Falls is the tallest waterfall in the park. In terms of height alone, it’s more than twice the size of Niagara Falls.
Check in full screen to get a glimse of the people standing on the viewing platform on the Brink of Lower falls.
Tags: US National Parks Yellowstone National Park Water falls Yellowstone Lower Falls
The beach’s icebergs originate at Breidamerkurjokull Glacier, a glacial tongue of Europe’s largest glacier Vatnajokull. The beach is called Breidamerkursandur in Icelandic (sandur means sand). Summer is the perfect time to take a stroll along the beach as light changes from Sunset to Sunrise in less than 2 hours in the middle of the night.
Tags: BlackSand CrescentMoon DiamonBeach Iceland Jökulsárlón Landscape Nature Seascape Sunrise
The beach has black sand made of basalt and created by lava flowing into the ocean which explodes as it reaches the ocean and cools. This volcanic activity is in the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
Tags: Beach BigIsland BlackSand GoldenHour Hawaii Landscape Seascape Sunset