The most untamed areas on Earth are havens for wildlife, offering breathtaking landscapes and pristine environments. From the Amazon Rainforest to Antarctica, these regions provide a refuge for nature to flourish, offering a glimpse into the planet’s untouched beauty.
The most untamed areas on Earth
The most untamed areas on Earth Seek out these isolated locations where nature is at its most spectacular to heed the call of the wild.
Second Beach, US
The US’s northwest region offers a varied landscape of untamed coasts, towering Douglas fir forests, and glaciated mountains. Adventure seekers from across the United States and day-trippers from nearby Seattle flock to Washington state’s Olympic National Park for its striking vistas. Popular trips include wild beaches like Rialto and Second Beach, known for their crumbling sea stacks draped in mist. These beaches offer a plethora of private coves, tide pools, driftwood, and caves to explore.
Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea
Thirty kilometers off the north coast of Papua New Guinea, Karkar Island hosts Mount Uluman, an active volcano framed by rows of coconut trees and morning clouds. Photographer Chris Caldicott captured this image from the bridge of the expedition ship Coral Discoverer, which explores the rarely-visited archipelagos scattered across the Coral, Solomon, and Bismarck Seas between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Bipeng Valley, China
Bipeng Valley, located 200 kilometers northwest of Chengdu, showcases untamed natural beauty amidst snow-capped mountains. The U-shaped valley is bordered to the north by the vast panda corridors, to the west by the Tibetan Plateau, and to the south by Mount Siguniang, the highest peak in western China. The valley takes on vibrant features for each of the four seasons; in summer, it boasts colorful alpine trees and waterfalls, while in winter, it’s home to enormous glaciers and frozen lakes.
Rainbow Mountain, Peru
Imagine Vinicunca, often known as Rainbow Mountain, as the result of a big outdoor cement mixer. Under Peru’s Andes, tectonic plates heave upward and downward. Wind and rain oxidize exposed minerals. Goethite and limonite turn sandstone brown, iron sulfide colors it yellow, and chlorite gives it a green hue. This vibrant palette attracts geologists, locals who revere the 5,200-meter peak as the goddess of Cusco, and an increasing number of hikers. These visitors either make a day trip to Rainbow Mountain for their Instagram feeds or tackle the 70-kilometer Ausangate circuit, renowned as one of the toughest hikes in South America.
Lake Toba, Indonesia
Lake Toba is 100 kilometers long, 30 kilometers wide, and reaches a maximum depth of 505 meters. Thus, “inland sea” would be a more accurate term.
The lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia, formed from the largest volcanic eruption in the past 25 million years, which spewed ash as far as Africa.
The island of Samosir, which you can see in the distance and is home to the local Batak people, is located in the lake and is about four hours’ journey from Medan.
White Desert, Egypt
The most untamed areas on Earth These sculptures of icebergs stranded in a sea of sand are from Sahara el Beyda, Egypt’s national park situated in the White Desert.
The chalky waves of the desert, which rise to heights of many stories, were formerly a single, continuous calcite plateau situated 600 kilometers southwest of Cairo.
However, over millennia, the constant force of sand and wind shaped them into interesting shapes like camels, chickens, and mushrooms, as well as dunes. In summer, temperatures can reach 47°C.
Shiprock Pinnacle, US
The Navajo people have many tales associated with the region. The rust-red remnants of a volcanic plume that originated thirty million years ago, known to the inhabitants as Tsé Bit’a’í, or “the rock with wings,” are Shiprock Pinnacle.
There are two different legends about the reason for this. One claims that the angular 482-meter-tall rock was once a gigantic bird that took the Navajo people to New Mexico before turning to stone. Another tradition describes two enormous birds who lived atop the rock and periodically descended to feast on the locals.
If you go west on Highway 64 toward the Four Corners, the intersection of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, you can catch a sight of the outcrop.
Cirque de Mafate, Réunion Island
Reunion Island rises out of the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar. It is located both continent and ocean away from France, which first noted the island in the 17th century when it used it as a stopover on its trading routes via the East Indies.
Currently, it serves as a stopover because of its stunning natural surroundings, which include Cirque de Mafate and white sand beaches. This rugged, rainforest-covered caldera can only be accessed by helicopter or by foot via its valleys, rivers, and waterfalls.
County Galway, Ireland
The dark machair grasslands of western Ireland are a rare environment that evokes a scene from Game of Thrones. In addition, this undeveloped area follows the coast and is most notable for Gurteen Beach and Dog’s Bay. Furthermore, travelers will discover crystal-clear waters and powder-white sand just beyond the headland. Specifically, the sand is composed of broken seashells crushed to a powder by the powerful Atlantic Ocean.
Caddo Lake, US
The most untamed areas on Earth Long ago, Caddo Lake revealed its secrets. The rush subsided almost as fast as pearls were found in the 1910s.
The same thing happened with oil when larger deposits were found in other parts of the Lone Star state.
However, if you take a leisurely stroll through the intricate channels of the 10,300-hectare lake situated on the Texas-Louisiana border, you will discover that despite the massive cypress trees, silvery mosses, and sporadic glimpses of alligator tails, there is still a great deal of Southern Gothic mystery to be discovered.
Orkney Islands, Scotland
The Standing Stones of Stenness on Mainland, one of the oldest stone circles in the British Isles, sit on one of the 70 rocky outcrops that form the Orkney Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland. Stone Age settlers left the stones behind and used them for rituals around 5,000 years ago. Four millennia later, Vikings utilized the stones to worship Norse gods. This month two centuries ago, the Orkneys became famous for something else thanks to the book Frankenstein. In pursuit of a spouse, author Mary Shelley sent her creation to this desolate area.
Lake Eyre, Australia
In the Lake Eyre Basin, water is in short supply. At 15 meters below sea level, the lake, located in the center of South Australia, is the lowest spot in the entire nation. Furthermore, although it covers more than a million hectares and is mostly dry and desolate, on the rare times when it floods, it grows to become Australia’s largest lake. The basin, its rivers, and the life they sustain are all explored in the new book Lake Eyre Basin Rivers.
Mount Anne, Australia
In the 19th century, sailors shipwrecked off the southern coast of Tasmania relied on the South Coast Track as their route back to civilization. Today, hikers seeking an escape from the modern world similarly turn to this 85-kilometer bushwalk. It winds through Tasmania’s largest wilderness, Southwest National Park, offering a profound connection with nature. There aren’t any lodges, either luxurious or not, so bring a tent. The rewards include beaches, old woods, verdant mountains like Mount Anne, and unique, untamed Tassie flora like these reddish-pink pandani plants that are unique to the island.
Hossa National Park, Finland
The most untamed areas on Earth Though it could easily be called the Land of a Thousand Forests, Finland is commonly known as the Land of a Thousand Lakes. Its forests cover over 70% of Europe’s least populous nation. Hossa, a new national park, was created to commemorate the nation’s centennial. Its lakes and forests, like this one in Aulanko, in the Kanta-Häme region of southern Finland, turn into a frozen wilderness in the winter, so bring snowshoes.
Cumberland Island, US
Just off the coast of the US state of Georgia, Cumberland Island offers an ideal setting for leisurely outdoor treks. With 28 kilometers of white sand beaches facing the Atlantic, visitors can explore not only the pristine shoreline but also the ancient oak trees and abandoned historical ruins that dot the landscape. Furthermore, there are four times as many wild horses as people, so you’re more likely to run into one than a human. Since the 16th century, when the Spanish first brought them to the island, they have been allowed to live freely and procreate—there are currently over 150 of them. Get a copy of photographer Anouk Krantz’s book Wild Horses of Cumberland Island if you are unable to visit them.
Sea Ranch, Hong Kong
By the end of the 1970s, Sea Ranch—a dream development complex featuring a clubhouse and helipad on Lantau Island—had largely fallen into abandonment and become isolated from the rest of Hong Kong. Consequently, it now stands as a nearly deserted area, accessible only by private boat from nearby Cheung Chau. Therefore, we hired Gary Ng, a local photographer, to take drone photos of Sea Ranch.
Tottori Sand Dunes, Japan
The Tottori sand dunes stretch 16 kilometers along the coast of Honshu, the main island of Japan. They resemble the Sahara more than Shinjuku. Located three hours from Osaka, this desert, which spans half the size of Manhattan, lies on the outskirts of Tottori Prefecture. Notably, some of the dunes rise nearly 50 meters high. These dunes formed over 100,000 years ago when sediment and volcanic ash from the Chugoku Mountains accumulated and were carried by the Sendai River to the Sea of Japan.
Garajonay National Park, Spain
To uncover this wilderness, venture deep into Garajonay National Park on La Gomera Island in Spain’s Canary Islands. Here, the mist from the island’s summits funnels into El Cedro’s central valley. as a result, you will find the epicenter of the park’s 70% evergreen laurel cloud forest, creating a scene straight out of a Tolkien fantasy. However, the only issue is that getting there requires both hiking and taking a ferry from the nearby island of Tenerife.
Kaskawulsh Glacier, Canada
A glacier’s day is characterized by relative slowness. you could be a meter or so ahead of where you were one month ago right now. In Yukon’s Kaskawulsh Glacier in northwest Canada, life moves even more slowly.
Because of its immense size—the glaciers collectively span over 25,000 square kilometers—it can take up to 7,000 years for the ice to move 70 kilometers across the St. Elias Mountains and reach the rivers at its terminus. for comparison, the width of this intersection of the arms is over six kilometers.
Julian Alps, Slovenia
The architectural studio OFIS’s Kanin Winter Cabin, perched dangerously on Mount Kanin in Slovenia’s Julian Alps, pushes the boundaries of mountain lodging. furthermore, this location is harsh: it is more than 2,000 meters high, filled with caverns and chasms, and severely damaged by wind, rain, and snow. the view from the cozy 104-square-foot aluminum and timber hut, which spans the Slovenian-Italian border, is your reward after navigating through all that. Moreover, it might be advisable to write to OFIS about snatching a bunk, as the cabin is now undergoing testing.
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