After two years of COVID-19 we could all use a little color in our lives. 24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of the most colorful natural wonders on Earth. Ranging from deserts to oceans and from hot springs to waterfalls, they offer more than a little color and truly span the globe.
Fortunately, with international travel restrictions being lifted, these amazing places are becoming accessible to adventurous souls once again. (Here are 50 natural wonders everyone should see at least once.)
The reasons why these natural wonders are so colorful vary. For example, the rocks that cap Utah’s Bryce Amphitheater have a pink hue, whereas the waters of Tuscany’s Cascate del Mulino are turquoise. (See these beautiful pictures of the world’s biggest waterfalls.)
In some places wildflowers provide the colors. Antelope Valley and Carrizo Plain are famous for their floral displays. Antelope Valley is home to the state-protected California Poppy Reserve, which boasts the most consistent blooms of the state flower. Colombia’s Caño Cristales River is known as the “River of Five Colors” and the “Liquid Rainbow” because of the amazingly colorful aquatic plants that grow there.
A bioluminescent species of ostracod crustacean known as the sea firefly accounts for Okayama, Japan’s place on our list. It produces a brilliant blue glow that can be seen in the area’s shallow waters and rocky shoreline.
There’s also Lake Hayes in the South Island of New Zealand, one of the closest countries to the South Pole where the Aurora Australis originates. The skies there are sometimes lit up with amazing green and pink displays.
Click here to see the most colorful natural wonders on Earth
