sure enough , the salinity flats in Bolivia are a marvel , but believe it or not , the ace in Utah could give them a rivulet for their money .

If seeing everyone’s European vacations spamming your Instagram feed has left you with major FOMO this summer, want to know the best cure ever? Finding a way to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience in your own metaphorical backyard! As much as eating risotto in Lake Como sounds like a dream, admiring wild horses on the beach of a beautiful island you can only reach by boat is pretty cool, too. And the best part? If you live in the United States, it won’t take a 12-hour flight to get there because all of the following too-cool-to-be-real locations can be found stateside.

1.If you think this is a photo of the Sahara, guess again because you’re actually looking atColorado. The Great Sand Dunes National Park holds the tallest dunes in North America and is such an unexpected find for this state it will make you feel like you’ve been transported to Africa.

2.Ever wanted to find your own diamonds, rubies, or sapphires? Well, you can actually mine for them in several states, such as North Carolina, Arkansas, and Montana. Each of these states has dozens of mines that are open to the public and let you pay a small fee for access and gear but then let you keep whatever you find. The staff usually helps you clean and assess your gems to let you know which ones might be worth a pretty penny (or at least which ones will make a pretty piece of jewelry).

3.If the gold rush is more your style, there are several places you can pan for gold in the Southwestern states just like prospectors in the Old West did, such as Goldfield Ghost Town in Apache Junction, Arizona. Many of these sites have preserved or restored the buildings of these old mining towns, and if you believe in ghosts, many are haunted enough that they offer tours where you can hear the ghoulish and gruesome tales of what went down.

4.Most people believe that you have to travel somewhere remote, or at least trek out to Alaska if you’re trying to see the Northern Lights. But there are actually several locations within the continental United States that are prime viewing locations, such as Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, and Cherry Springs National Park in Pennsylvania.

5.If visiting Holland or Denmark is high on your to-do list, why not visit these cities that were built by settlers to resemble their home countries? Holland, Michigan, was settled in the mid-nineteenth century by Dutch immigrants and, to this day, features many tributes to their heritage, including an annual tulip festival and a250-year-old windmill.

7.If you’ve been dying to don lederhosen to celebrate all things beer at Oktoberfest, look no further than Leavenworth, Washington, which modeled its town after Bavaria, Germany, and is known for going all out for this annual festival. It distinguishes itself from its European counterpart by featuring local breweries.

8.If you want to see the world’s tallest forest, according toGuinness World Records, head to Humboldt Redwoods State Park in northern California. Rockefeller Forest within the park has Sequoia trees that are more than 700 years old and reachover 360 feet tall, with the tallest hitting a towering 379 feet.

9.The Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are a truly surreal landscape— and just like their Bolivian counterpart — make for a breathtaking view when it rains, because the water mirrors its surroundings, creating the illusion of an endless sky.

10.If you are looking to indulge your curiosity about the Ice Age, head to La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. As the name suggests, it’s unique in that it just oozes tar in the middle of Hollywood, but it also happens to be an ongoing paleontological research site.

11.Looking to escape the noise and crowds of modern life? Cumberland Island in Georgia can only be accessed by boat — meaning there’s only one inn and a handful of campgrounds on the entire island — which has left it remarkably untouched by humans, allowing for an ecosystem so flourishing that wild horses roam the beaches.

12.If visiting Plitvice Lakes in Croatia is on your bucket list, you shouldn’t miss Hanging Lake Park in Colorado. It’s one of only two “hanging lakes” in the entire world, which is so named because it “hangs” on a cliff edge.

13.Curious about what it was like to be a pilgrim way back when, before America had all50 states? Well, you can actually visit a city in Virginia that has an entire district carved out to be a living history museum, known as Colonial Williamsburg.

14.Antelope Canyon in Arizona has definitely become an Instagram darling with its stunning brick-colored rock formations — but for good reason. There is nowhere else like it in the world. The land is owned by the Navajo people and considered a sacred site, so it is not open to the public outside of official tours, but that means you get to hear legends and facts about it from people who truly treasure the space.

15.Hoh Rain Forest in Washington epitomizes the almost eerie otherworldly beauty that can only be found in the Pacific Northwest. The tree trunks in the entire forest are carpeted in lichen so that everywhere you look is green and fuzzy, making you feel like you’ve been dropped somewhere prehistoric (or likeEdward Cullenmight pop in at any moment!).

16.Weeki Wachee, Florida, is a freshwater theme park that sits in the middle of a beautiful state park and is the only place in the world where you can watch professional mermaids perform. A theater was carved out below the water’s surface back when the theme park was first built in 1947, which allows the audience to watch synchronized ballet or, more recently, reenactments ofThe Little Mermaid.

17.Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, is easily one of the top too-beautiful-to-be-real places in the world, especially in early summer when vibrant alpine wildflowers bloom against the snowcapped mountain peak. Where else could you experience two different seasons alongside one another?

18.Badlands National Park in South Dakota is not only one of the more visually dramatic national parks in the United States—with its canyon of striped rock formations and a long stretch of grassland plains — but also features really interesting wildlife, such as bison, bighorn sheep, and prairiedogs, that can be observed in their natural habitat.

19.There are cruises all over the world, but only in the U.S. can you still find one where you can stay overnight on an authentic paddle steamboat like they had in the 19th century. The Delta Queen offers a variety of trips down the Mississippi, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Arkansas Rivers, stopping at various ports from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania all the way down to New Orleans, Louisiana.

Vast sand dunes under a partly cloudy sky with mountains in the background. No people are visible

Hands digging in soil, revealing a bright purple gemstone

An empty wooden sidewalk leads to an old Western-style saloon and other rustic buildings in a deserted town with a visible wooden sign for an inn

Northern Lights illuminate the night sky over a quiet road with light trails from passing cars, and silhouetted trees in the background

A rocky shoreline with large smooth stones and seaweed under a bright sky with scattered clouds, next to a forest of pine trees

People walking and sitting by outdoor restaurants in a town with buildings designed in a Bavarian style. The sky is clear and sunny

Salt flats with cracked patterns, reflecting mountain range and sky

Art sculptures depicting mammoths stuck in tar, located at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. The sculptures are near a reflecting pond

Three wild horses graze on a sandy dune with tall grasses in the background

A serene waterfall flows into a clear, turquoise pool surrounded by lush trees and rocky cliffs in a peaceful forest setting

A person stands in a bright section of the curving, narrow sandstone walls of Antelope Canyon, taking in the stunning rock formations above

A lush forest scene with a narrow dirt path winding through tall, moss-covered trees and dense green foliage. No people are present

Field of wildflowers with Mount Rainier in the background, capturing the essence of nature's beauty

The Delta Queen steamboat shown docked, with its large paddlewheel and prominent "Delta Queen" signage

A woman stands observing the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, surrounded by pine trees with the vibrant hot spring spreading out in the distance