Real Landscapes That Look Like They’re From Another Planet

Who ever thought worms could be so gorgeous? That’s right, the sparkling roofs of these New Zealand caves are due to the efforts of thousands of tiny glowworms which emit a luminous light.

Though one look at a picture of Wyoming’s Grand Prismatic Spring may leave you swearing it’s photoshopped, the colors you see here are all natural. These gorgeous colors are actually caused by cyanobacteria, which are kind of like bacteria’s distant cousin.

Not only is Russia’s Lake Baikal the oldest freshwater lake on Earth, it’s also so large that it contains about 1/5 of the World’s freshwater!  Around March every year, a mixture of unequal pressure and varying temperatures causes cracking in the Lake’s surface, which sometimes result in these cool glass-looking formations.

If you’ve always dreamed of a fairy tale wedding, there’s no better place to tie the knot than this gorgeous glow-in-the-dark beach in the Maldives. Scientists explain that the sparkling lights in the water are actually emitted by tiny organisms called  “ostracod crustaceans,” which are kind of like seed shrimp.

Though this wild looking Geyser is actually on a patch of private land near the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, there are still ways to get a peek. The Geyser is only about 1/3 of a mile off of State Route 34, which also functions as a viewpoint for those hoping to see the otherworldly looking formation.

The city of Pamukkale, which means “Cotton Castle” in Turkish, is packed full of natural hot springs, which create these cool terraces out of sedimentary rocks.

Want to take a trip to the clouds? Head on over to Mount Roraima, where you can make the trip without ever leaving the ground. This ancient mountain is said to have some of the most fascinating hiking trails in the world.

It turns out fire and ice actually mix quite nicely at times. This cave, formed in the glacial fields at the base of Mutnovsky Volcano, demonstrates the most gorgeous case of opposites attracting ever.

Though only reachable by kayak, the ice caves inside the 12-mile long Mendenhall glacier are stunning enough to make the trip worth the effort.

Not only is Vietnam’s Son Doong Cave gorgeous, it’s also the largest known cave in the world.

Known as “the Wave,” this rolling land formation lies right near the Arizona-Utah border. Not only are the shapes that run through the sandstone like something out of a Salvador Dali painting, they even change color with the light throughout the day.

Cool as they may look, resist any temptations to attempt to pop any of these bubbles frozen under Abraham Lake. They are actually frozen methane bubbles and can be dangerous if they are popped!

Perhaps one of the most fascinating things about Lake Hillier is that no one knows for sure exactly why it’s bubblegum pink. Scientists say that their best guess is that the color is due to a pink dye created by the bacteria that live in the lake’s salt crusts.

Though little known and rarely visited, Ethiopia’s Dallol desert features one of the most fascinating landscapes on the planet. In the area surrounding the Dallol volcano, you’ll find everything from pillars of salt to pools of acid.

As if Arizona’s Painted Desert isn’t cool enough already, sometimes the air there glows with a pink or purple haze of dust, making it look even more magical.

Also known as the Cave of Crystals, this otherworldly-looking place is an actual working mine in Chihuaua, Mexico. It’s famous for its- you guessed it- crystals.

Though we wouldn’t recommend getting too close, this terrifying land form in Turkmenistan is about the closest you’re going to get to Mordor. Keep that in mind for the next time you’ve got an evil ring that needs destroying.

Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes National Park features a collection of gorgeous waterfalls, many of which have formed natural dams, lakes, and water ways in the limestone and chalk down which they glide.

Though it may be hard to believe that this collection of over 1,000 perfectly formed hills in the Philippines is not man-made, scientists say that their construction would’ve surpassed the skill needed to build the pyramids of Egypt. Even geologists are at a loss to explain the origin of the limestone formations, which derive their name from the grass that covers them and turns brown each winter.

If you’re looking for an exotic place to visit on your next vacation, it doesn’t get much better than China’s Stone Forest. The ancient limestone formations that rise out of the Earth are massive and create a sort of labyrinth over almost 200 miles of landscape.

The next time you find yourself driving through Utah, don’t panic if you get the nagging feeling that you’re being watched. You may just be under the watchful gaze of the Goblin-like stone formations of Goblin Valley State Park.

The Moeraki Boulders may just be the only stones in the world more interesting than the beach they lie on. These bad boys are thought to have been created by the cementation of mud stone about 60 million years ago.

Chile’s Atacama Desert is considered to be among the driest deserts in the World and has been used by NASA to test equipment for upcoming Mars missions, due to how similar the landscape is to that of the red planet.

However, in 2015, a year of record rainfall due to El Nino caused the desert floor to become overwhelmed with beautiful pink malva flowers.

One of Australia’s best kept secrets, this alien-looking desert features thousands of eerie limestone pillars which rise out of the yellow sands.

Pretty as it is, the Rio Tinto River here isn’t really the best place to take a dip. Its red, orange, and yellow tones are due to years of strip mining in the area, which have also made it extremely poisonous.

If this landscape looks familiar, that’s because it doubled as “Tatooine” in the Star Wars Movies. Its sun-baked sands have been described as one of the most Mars-like places on Earth.