The US is home to a never-ending roster of natural occurrences, from frozen waterfalls and mass animal migrations to the Northern Lights and rocks that seemingly move of their own accord (yes, really). They can be as beautiful as they are terrifying, but never anything less than mighty. Here we take a look at the most spectacular Mother Nature events in the US.

Crossing the length of the US along both the East and West Coasts, plus the Midwest, millions of monarch butterflies make the 2,485-mile (4,000km) migration from Canada to the butterfly reserves of Mexico State and Michoacán, hitting its peak each year in January and February. The average monarch butterfly only has a lifespan of two to six weeks so amazingly, the path is undertaken by as many as four or five generations for each journey to and from Canada.

Nevada’s Fly Geyser is an accidental natural wonder. After initial attempts to dig a well were abandoned in the early 20th century, scalding hot water proceeded (and has continued) to shoot 16 feet (5m) into the air. Calcium carbonate deposited around the water jets formed into three large mounds and the geyser now stands at six feet (1.8m) tall. Interestingly, the quartz inside the mounds has grown at a rapid speed which has fascinated scientists as this process usually takes tens of thousands of years. The geyser is located on a private site and can be viewed from the roadside or on a guided tour. 

These dramatic giant icicles form when it’s blood-curdlingly cold in the caves on Lake Superior’s shoreline. As they’re only accessible by foot, it’s safest to visit in February when the lake’s ice is usually at its thickest and safest to walk across – and of course, it’s vital to wrap up warm. The harsh winter temperatures make way for photogenic stacks, sheets, shelves and more.

Alaska’s salmon run takes place in high summer, between July and September, when the fish travel upstream to reach gravel beds for spawning. This spells dinner time for brown bears (and eagles) as the salmon jump up small waterfalls – it’s all this leaping and frolicking that makes them such an easy catch. They travel in large numbers which conveniently allows the bears to fatten up before winter.

Cereus, the collective name for a group of flower-producing cacti, open up to reveal their pretty white blossoms – but only for one night a year. This fleeting event usually takes place in May or June and is most prominent in Arizona’s botanical garden of Tohono Chul. Over 300 of these night-blooming plants are closely monitored so the brief phenomenon can be captured as it unfolds. In the wild, cereus can usually be found in Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, spreading into northern Mexico.

 

For a fleeting week, fortnight or month (scientists still can’t figure it out) between April and September, the beach waves of Solana Beach, Mission Bay (pictured here) and many more light up with bioluminescence. The glow comes from dinoflagellates, a type of algae that emits a red light during the day (the ‘red tide’) and neon blue come night. It's an ethereal and somewhat otherworldly sight to behold. 

A red moon, also known as a blood moon, is a sight to behold. This ominous-looking display occurs during a total lunar eclipse – usually every May – when the red edge of the Earth’s shadow is reflected on the moon. That doesn’t stop it being surrounded by superstitions and prophecies though. Native American cultures believe that the sight of a red moon means it is crying out for care. Best observed from the western USA, Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks are top spots thanks to minimal light pollution.

The eerie (yet explainable) Racetrack Playa in California sees boulders skid along the cracked, dry lakebed – seemingly of their own accord. The rocks range in size and can travel as far as 1,500 feet (457m). For centuries, people wondered how on earth (quite literally) they moved, but recent science suggests that it’s a combination of strong winds and slippery surfaces due to rainfall or ice. It’s still a hauntingly beautiful – albeit slightly odd – place to visit in Death Valley.

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When it comes to the Northern Lights, people usually think of remote Iceland or some faraway Norwegian outpost, but Idaho is an unlikely contender to catch this natural light display. The best time to marvel at the sweeps of purple and green across the clear night skies is between late September and early March, with the best viewing spots including Heyburn State Park, Schweitzer Mountain Resort and Priest Lake.

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Over 150,000 northern pintail, American black ducks, green-winged teal, Canada geese and snow geese pass through Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge every October and November. The waterfowl stop off at this reserve on the Atlantic Flyway on the Delaware coast as they migrate between Canada and Mexico. This impressive site is one of the largest remaining stretches of tidal marsh in the mid-Atlantic; the reserve's walking trails and observation towers allow visitors to see the wildlife in their natural habitats.

This humbling act of nature hits the Midwest from May to July, sweeping through the Midwest states of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota. The Midwest has seen five of the biggest storms of all time – the highest wind speed has been recorded at 300mph (134m/s). Although they can occur anywhere in the world, the Great Plains area in the USA – known as Tornado Alley – is particularly prone to them, so in-pursuit visitors are advised to book onto an organised tour.

Snow doughnuts, or snow rollers, are a rare meteorological spectacle that occurs in specific weather conditions in mountainous areas such as North Cascades National Park. Their cylindrical shape is caused by the weaker and thinner inner layers that have been blown away by wind. You can find these inedible doughnuts in any snow-covered mountain terrain, such as the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

These lens-shaped clouds appear singular or stacked like pancakes that are one of a kind. Lenticular clouds are very unusual to other types in that they don’t move, and as such make them look a little like UFOs. They’re commonly found in mountainous regions such as Mount Shasta or over Lake Tahoe and tend to be avoided by pilots due to the heavy turbulence they’re prone to cause. 

 

Every October, thousands of visitors make a beeline to Connecticut River Valley to witness the golden foliage that overwhelms this top leaf-peeping area. The Connecticut River winds through New England towards the Canadian border, with thick maple trees lining the riverbanks, sweeps of fallen leaves decorating the roads and watercolour-esque river reflections of the waning season to admire. Perched high overlooking the river, Gillette Castle State Park in Connecticut’s East Haddam offers sweeping vistas.

A sun halo, otherwise known as a sun dog, is a weather phenomenon that can be viewed across the US, including New Jersey, Florida and more. Suspended high in the lowest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, sun haloes appear when ice crystals reflect sunlight, creating an illusion of a ring around the sun. Similarly, there are moon haloes. Both are visible year-round, but commonly occur before or following heavy rainfall or a snowstorm. 

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When you think of New York City, nature isn’t necessarily the first place you think of. But for two evenings in May and July, the sun sets straight between the city’s skyscraper canyons, bringing the natural and man-made worlds together for a truly spectacular moment. Manhattanhenge is named after England’s Stonehenge, with the best views to be enjoyed from 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd and 57th streets facing the west-northwest horizon. The next viewing opportunity will arrive around 29 May 2023 and then again in July.

This beautiful, terrifying feat of nature has puzzled people for years. It’s thought that Thor’s Well could have formed from a collapsed sea cave, but nobody knows for sure. This gaping phenomenon is located off the coast of Cape Perpetua in Oregon’s Siuslaw National Forest. Seawater gushes into the well-like centre, which occasionally erupts like a geyser, and is surrounded by sharp rocks and boisterous waves – best not to get too close.

Over spring and summer, thousands of Pacific walruses take to the seas between Alaska and eastern Siberia. In April, as the sea ice recedes, female walruses and their young head north from the Bering Sea towards Chukchi Sea. Most males migrate to island hangouts on Bristol Bay off the west coast of Alaska, where they forage for food and rest (as pictured here). In early October, the female walruses return south while the males head north to meet in the waters near St. Lawrence for mating season.

 

This terrifying tower of flames may only last a few minutes, but in that time it can bring a lot of destruction with it. Fire tornadoes are caused by forest and bush fires or extreme droughts, when fire is whipped up by strong, dry air. The hotter summer months (June to September) are prone to fire whirls at the likes of Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and California. 

 

For the past 110 years, the Mayor of Tokyo has gifted Washington DC Yoshino cherry trees which blossom around the Potomac Tidal Basin and East Potomac Park. The sakura season here lasts between late March to mid-April and is usually celebrated with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which includes parades, kite festivals and family-friendly events. This pastel-pink pop of colour is one of the best cherry blossom events to see in the US.

This is a red moon with a difference. In 2021, the blood moon coincided with a super moon, which is when the moon is closest to the Earth and gives it a larger size (and thus its name). Thanks to its Pacific Ocean location, Hawaii and its surrounding islands are one of the best places to watch this awesome event. The super flower red moon only appeared once in 2021 and 2022.

Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth, some one hundred feet (30m) in length. Between mid-June to September, these marine mammals pass by San Diego’s coastline as they migrate from hotter breeding grounds in the south like Costa Rica to the cooler, deeper waters of the North Pacific to feed on krill. Travelling in pods of 2,000 to 3,000, this is believed to be the largest group of blue whales in the world. Whale-watching tours brings visitors one step closer to these sea giants.

This active volcano is in a near-constant state of eruption. It’s technically still experiencing one of the longest eruptions in known history, having started back in 1983. Kilauea has spewed some 550 acres of molten lava which has formed new land. The active site is situated in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park along with Mauna Loa, the world’s largest volcano at 30,000 feet (9,144m) high. It’s best to visit until night-time, when the lava stream appears luminated against the pitch-black landscape.

Find out more about Mother Nature at its most beautiful (and terrifying)

Florida’s Palm Beaches is a returning nesting spot for thousands of loggerhead, green and leatherback sea turtles. They rely on the Earth’s magnetic fields to bring them to one of the world’s most densely populated beaches for sea turtles. The nesting season runs between May and October where roughly 110 eggs per nest are laid. While 2021 saw fewer loggerheads, there was an increase in green and leatherback turtles, which was partly achieved by the town’s rigorous ‘lights out’ rule at night time.

The Wildflower Capital of Colorado is home to dazzling nature all year round, with the Rocky Mountains dutifully serving as a picturesque backdrop, but spring is arguably the best season to visit for Mother Nature at its most vibrant. May to early June is blanketed with yellow marsh marigolds and droplets of red columbine; late June to July blooms with blood-red Indian paintbrush and burnt orange sneezeweed and July to early September offers carpets of native Rocky Mountain penstemon and clusters of cow parsnip. 

Located on the northern outskirts of San Antonio is Bracken Cave, home to over 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats. The world’s largest bat colony is an integral site for females to give birth and rear their young and they consume over a hundred tonnes of corn earworm moths every summer evening. Visitors (who must be members of Bat Conservation International) can see it for themselves on guided visits during early spring and summer. 

Sakura season hits Portland between March to April. One hundred Akebono cherry trees were gifted to the Japanese American Historical Plaza to commemorate the internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. In Waterfront Park, along the Willamette Riverbank, this pastel-pink scene is somewhat reminiscent of the Philosopher’s Path in Kyoto. Let the blossoms sprinkle like snow with the breeze or simply stroll between them to welcome the unfurling of a new season.

Minnesota is another great spot to watch the Northern Lights in the US. Voyageurs National Park sits at the northeastern border of Canada and thanks to its vast outdoor space, tall mountain peaks and high waterfalls, there’s plenty of celestial activity to observe between late autumn and early spring. But this isn’t the only dark sky delight the North Star State has to offer. It’s also possible to catch sight of the Perseid meteor shower between mid-July and mid-August, followed by the Leonid shower in November.

 

September and October in northern Vermont is the stuff of autumnal dreams. Stowe is regularly voted as the Fall Colour Capital of the US for good reason. September to mid-October is the small window when ruby, crimson and gold-coloured foliage transforms the town, with different elevations bringing different coverage times – higher points like Mount Mansfield see an earlier coverage. A scenic self-guided drive is the best way to take in the maples, birch, elm, poplar, hickory and redbuds of this charming town.

There’s no missing the staggering Niagara Falls on the border between New York and the Canadian Province of Ontario. The three mighty waterfalls are at their most awe-inspiring during winter, when temperatures can plummet as low as -25°C (-13°F). Not only do the sheets of water transform into breathtaking ice formations but the surrounding area is blanketed in thick snow, fulfilling all our winter wonderland fairy tales.

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Kentucky’s Cumberland Falls is one of the best spots to see a moonbow, otherwise known as a lunar rainbow. The faint, curved arcs are the work of moonlight rather than sunlight and are much more uncommon than their daytime equivalents. The mist that hangs above the water at Cumberland Falls makes the perfect setting. Otherwise, the best conditions are during a full moon, around two to three hours after sunset, or before sunrise.

From protruding shapes to elongated tubes, mammatus clouds are unusual and distinctive in their own right. They’re normally associated with thunderstorms as they’re formed when there’s been turbulence within the storm cloud which creates an uneven cloud case. While these peculiar shapes can appear anywhere in the world, storm-ridden Nebraska is particularly prone to them – their peak tornado season is May and June.

As the autumn and winter sun sets behind the 4,930-foot-tall (1,503m) Whiteside Mountain, a bear-shaped shadow appears on the mountainside. The transcendent Shadow of the Bear is visible every day between 5.30pm and 6.15pm from mid-October to early November and mid-February to early March. This uncanny sight can be seen near the village of Cashiers in Jackson County, with the best vantage point from Rhodes Big View Overlook – which also doubles up as a great spot for admiring the surrounding autumnal foliage. 

The natural spectacle of Horsetail Fall comes in two parts. First, the 3,280-foot-high (1,000m) waterfall only flows down the east face of El Capitan, a vast rock formation in California’s Yosemite National Park, during winter and early spring. Then, come mid-to-late February, thousands of visitors flock to the site when the ‘firefall’ occurs. It looks unbelievable, like a strip of free-flowing lava, but it’s actually the setting sun tilting at just the right angle, transforming the water’s colour for all of ten minutes.

Kitch-iti-kipi Springs is an ancient forest beneath translucent waters in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s nicknamed the Mirror of Heaven and it’s clear to see why: every second, 10,000 gallons of water fissure from its limestone base some 40 feet (12m) below. Visitors can peer into the waters via an observation raft and take in the thousand-year-old tree trunks and branches, simultaneously appreciating ancient culture and miraculous Mother Nature alike.

This optical illusion occurs before sunset or after sunrise and appears as a green spot above the sun. From 5.30pm to 7pm are the best times to try and see it, but best be quick, as it's gone in – well, a flash. It’s caused by light refracting in the atmosphere but you’ll need a clear view of a distant horizon on a clear day, making the Aloha State an ideal location. Film fans might recognise this phenomenon from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. 

Mother Nature puts on a truly captivating display in the heart of the Antelope Valley, California. Every spring, the rolling hills are blanketed with purple lacy phacelia, golden delicate fiddlenecks and native California poppies. Visitors can see this Claude Monet-like spectacle between mid-March to April, although depending on the weather conditions, they can bloom earlier in mid-February and last until May.

Fire rainbows, less excitingly known as circumhorizon arcs, are created by ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus (short, wispy) clouds. Light passes through the crystals and refracts, causing the colour split. The technicalities don’t stop there: the sun has to be 58 degrees above the horizon and the crystals must be plate-shaped and aligned horizontally. They’re rare but do occur across the US – West Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina and New Mexico to name a few – during the summer months.

The frozen waterfalls of Starved Rock State Park in northern Illinois is like looking at a photograph. During the winter months, the falls, which range between 15-80 feet (5m-24m) high, form into dripping icicles, frozen-over creek beds and cascades that appear suspended in time. The French Canyon ice fall is closest to the visitor centre, while slightly further out are Wildcat Canyon, Ottawa Canyon and St. Louis Canyon ice falls, plus more. There’s an extra sprinkling of winter nature between late December and March when bald eagles flock to the park.

Thanks to its grid layout, allowing the sun to align with the east-west oriented streets, Chicagohenge is another man-made-meets-Mother-Nature combo. What is usually a fast-paced city slows down for this special solstice, which falls around the end of September from 6.30pm onwards – Madison and Kenzie streets are particularly good spots to watch the spectacle. In 2023 the date is set for 23 September and will occur around 6:30pm.

Now take a look at more of the world's most beautiful waterfalls