50 Photos That Prove America Is Totally Beautiful

50 Photos That Prove America Is Totally Beautiful

"From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam..."

Recognize that song lyric? America's landscape is so vast and varied, sometimes it's mind blowing to think about how many different types of unique scenery exist from one state or region to the next.

Summer is the season for celebrating America -- from Memorial Day to the Fourth of July to Labor Day -- so why not take a moment and admire the natural beauty of the 50 states?

1. Alabama
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Mize Mill Falls, Sipsey Wilderness, Bankhead National Forest

2. Alaska
beautiful alaskaMountains reflected in the Kenai River

3. Arizona
colorado river horseshoe
Horseshoe Bend

4. Arkansas
beautiful arkansas
Flatside Wilderness, Ouachita National Forest

5. California
mcway falls
McWay Falls, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur

6. Colorado
rocky mountains colorado
Maroon Bells, Aspen

7. Connecticut
enders falls
Ender's Falls

8. Delaware
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Rehoboth Beach

9. Florida
dry tortugas
Dry Tortugas National Park

10. Georgia
wormsloe historic site
Wormsloe Historic Site

11. Hawaii
wailua falls
Wailua Falls

12. Idaho
bruneau dunes
Bruneau Dunes State Park

13. Illinois
shawnee national forest
Garden of the Gods, Shawnee National Forest

14. Indiana
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Cornfield in Millville

15. Iowa
malanaphy springs
Malanaphy Springs State Preserve

16. Kansas
prairie kansas
Big Basin Prairie Reserve

17. Kentucky
kentucky
A view of the Cumberland Gap and Fern Lake

18. Louisiana
lake martin louisiana
Lake Martin

19. Maine
acadia national park
Coastline at Acadia National Park

20. Maryland
maryland
The Brighton Dam at the Tridelphia Reservoir

21. Massachusetts
massachusetts
The Knob, Falmouth

22. Michigan
pictured rocks national lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore at sunset

23. Minnesota
minnehaha falls
Minnehaha Falls

24. Mississippi
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Cypress Swamp, Natchez Trace Parkway

25. Missouri
greer spring
Greer Springs

26. Montana
montana
Grinnell Lake, Glacier National Park

27. Nebraska
scotts bluff
Scotts Bluff National Monument

28. Nevada
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Valley of Fire State Park

29. New Hampshire
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The Androscoggin River and the Great North Woods

30. New Jersey
pinelands
The Pine Barrens

31. New Mexico
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White Sands National Monument

32. New York
171057989Taughannock Falls State Park

33. North Carolina
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Thomas Divide, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

34. North Dakota
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Badlands sandstone formations, Theodore Roosevelt National Park

35. Ohio
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Upper Falls at Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills State Park

36. Oklahoma
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Mount Scott, Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

37. Oregon
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Mount Hood

38. Pennsylvania
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Youghiogheny River Gorge at Ohiopyle State Park

39. Rhode Island
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Mohegan Bluffs Beach, Block Island

40. South Carolina
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Botany Bay Road, Edisto Island

41. South Dakota
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Badlands National Park

42. Tennessee
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

43. Texas
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Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park

44. Utah
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Bryce Amphitheater, Bryce Canyon National Park

45. Vermont
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Green Mountain National Forest

46. Virginia
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Shenandoah National Park

47. Washington
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Palouse Falls

48. West Virginia
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Canaan Valley

49. Wisconsin
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Pewit's Nest, Devil's Lake State Park

50. Wyoming
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String Lake, Grand Teton National Park

Before You Go

ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
This completely fascinating Texas art installation was clearly borne out of the 1970s, because why not stick a few Cadillacs nose-first into the ground and let passers-by graffiti them? The site has become enough of a classic Americana landmark to have its own "In popular culture" section on Wikipedia. (See also: Carhenge)
P Photo/Cedar Point
Cedar Point just feels like "America's amusement park," whether or not you're a roller coaster aficionado (there are 17 coasters at the park). Mostly I just want to visit the park's animatronic dinosaurs and reenact "Jurassic Park" for some great Instagram shots.
AP Photo/Amy Smotherman Burgess, Knoxville News Sentinel
Dolly Parton is an American treasure and her theme park, Dollywood, embraces that. How many other amusements parks offer roller coasters, a bald eagle sanctuary and a one-room schoolhouse?! There's also a restaurant called Aunt Granny's All-You-Care-To-Eat Buffet, to which I say, "Yes, please!"
AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz
Four states -- Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado -- come together at one place. That has to be worth updating your Facebook profile photo, right?
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Pictured here is London Bridge in London, but did you know there's a London Bridge in Arizona that's not a reproduction? When London Bridge began "falling down" into the Thames in the 1960s, it was auctioned off to an American businessman who transported the bridge around the world to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. America truly does have everything. (London, of course, built a new bridge.)
Mark Erickson/Getty Image
I love the Mall -- the big, green, open area in the middle of my Washington, D.C., hometown, that is. The Mall of America seems to be everything the Mall is not, but I'm curious to visit a massive shopping emporium that has its own aquarium, Nickelodeon theme park and a life-size Barbie Dreamhouse.
AP Photo/www.travelsd.com
It took 350 people more than 14 years to carve four presidents' faces into the South Dakota mountainside. That's at least worth pulling the car over, right?
Original Buffalo Bill Museum Collection/Buffalo Bill Center of the West via Getty Images
"This is not Hollywood, this is the real West." I've been to a few ghost towns in my day but there's something special about Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming (founded by Buffalo Bill himself). All I ask if that there's somewhere to rent ye olde costumes for the full step-back-in-time experience.
AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald
This may be a hard one to fulfill, as I'm terrified of ghosts, but Halloween in Sleepy Hollow is an event any lover of American literature should experience... even if you do have to observe events while peeking through your fingers.
BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
Live mermaids, people. Mermaids! There's something so campy yet charming about this ridiculous retro attraction, which has been in business since 1947.

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