Following the lead set by Callan Bentley, the list of “101 American Geo-sites you’ve gotta see” (as published in a new book by Albert Dickas) has been circulating the geoblogosphere. While it seems a bit exclusionary to our non-USian geo-colleagues, I couldn’t resist the chance to look through the list and see which sites I’ve visited. Those to which I’ve been (however vague my childhood memories of the geology), are listed in bold.
1. Wetumpka Crater, Alabama
2. Exit Glacier, Alaska
3. Antelope Canyon, Arizona
4. Meteor Crater, Arizona
5. Monument Valley, Arizona
6. Prairie Creek Pipe, Arkansas
7. Wallace Creek, California
8. Racetrack Playa, California
9. Devils Postpile, California
10. Rancho La Brea, California
#11. El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California. Photo by A. Jefferson.
12. Boulder Flatirons, Colorado – Not yet, but I’ll be in Boulder next month for a conference and I’ll make sure to see them then.
13. Interstate 70 Roadcut, Colorado – at least once, sometime in the early 1990s.
14. Florissant Fossil Beds, Colorado – Again, in the early the early 1990s.
15. Dinosaur Trackway, Connecticut
16. Wilmington Blue Rocks, Delaware
17. Devil’s Millhopper, Florida
18. Stone Mountain, Georgia
19. Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
20. Borah Peak, Idaho
21. Menan Buttes, Idaho
22. Great Rift, Idaho
23. Valmeyer Anticline, Illinois
24. Hanging Rock Klint, Indiana
25. Fort Dodge Gypsum, Iowa
26. Monument Rocks, Kansas
27. Ohio Black Shale, Kentucky
28. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky – Spring 2011. I blogged about in December 2011.
29. Four Corners Roadcut, Kentucky
30. Avery Island, Louisiana
31. Schoodic Point, Maine – Not there exactly, but spent a summer on Mt Desert Island in 1998.
32. Calvert Cliffs, Maryland – Yes, in the summer of 1999.
33. Purgatory Chasm, Massachusetts
34. Nonesuch Potholes, Michigan – As a child, and verified by my mother that we indeed walked along the stream and saw the potholes. I remember the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park as utterly wild and beautiful.
35. Quincy Mine, Michigan – On the same trip as above. We didn’t go underground, because we missed the last tour of the day, but we did see the workings from the surface.
36. Grand River Ledges, Michigan
37. Sioux Quartzite, Minnesota – I’ve driven across it on I-90, but not stopped to go to Pipestone. I’ve spent more time in the area of the Morton gneiss, which is older.
38. Thomson Dikes, Minnesota
39. Soudan Mine, Minnesota – Yes, twice as a child.
40. Petrified Forest, Mississippi
41. Elephant Rocks, Missouri
42. Grassy Mountain Nonconformity, Missouri
43. Chief Mountain, Montana
#44. Madison slide as viewed from upstream on Quake Lake, Montana. Photo by A. Jefferson.
45. Butte Pluton, Montana
46. Quad Creek Quartzite, Montana
47. Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska
48. Scotts Bluff, Nebraska
49. Crow Creek Marlstone, Nebraska
50. Sand Mountain, Nevada
51. Great Unconformity, Nevada
52. Flume Gorge, New Hampshire
53. Palisades Sill, New Jersey
54. White Sands, New Mexico – Yes, in about 1991.
55. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico – On the same trip as above, in about 1991.
56. Shiprock Peak, New Mexico
57. State Line Outcrop, New Mexico
58. American Falls, New York – In 1995.
59. Taconic Unconformity, New York
60. Gilboa Forest, New York
61. Pilot Mountain, North Carolina – In May 2009, and I blogged about in September 2011.
62. South Killdeer Mountain, North Dakota
63. Hueston Woods, Ohio
64. Big Rock, Ohio
65. Kelleys Island, Ohio
66. Interstate 35 Roadcut, Oklahoma
#67. Crater Lake and Wizard Island in the remnants of Mt. Mazama, Oregon. Photo by A. Jefferson.
68. Lava River Cave, Oregon – Yes, in 2002, but I lack photos.
69. Drake’s Folly, Pennsylvania
70. Hickory Run, Pennsylvania
71. Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania
72. Beavertail Point, Rhode Island
73. Crowburg Basin, South Carolina
74. Mount Rushmore, South Dakota – Twice, before the advent of digital photography.
75. Mammoth Site, South Dakota – In the early 1990s.
76. Pinnacles Overlook, South Dakota – In the early 1990s.
77. Reelfoot Scarp, Tennessee
78. Enchanted Rock, Texas
79. Capitan Reef, Texas – In 1991, on the same trip as Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands.
80. Paluxy River Tracks, Texas
81. Upheaval Dome, Utah
82. Checkerboard Mesa, Utah
83. San Juan Goosenecks, Utah
84. Salina Canyon Unconformity, Utah
85. Bingham Stock, Utah
86. Whipstock Hill, Vermont
87. Great Falls, Virginia
88. Natural Bridge, Virginia
89. Millbrig Ashfall, Virginia
91. The OSU Hydrophiles embarking on a Toutle River raft trip, downslope from Mt. St. Helens and in the path of the lahars. Evidence of the eruption was clear all along the river.
91. Mount St. Helens, Washington – In 2003 and 2004.
92. Dry Falls, Washington – In 2005, blogged in June 2009.
93. Seneca Rocks, West Virginia – In 1997. This is where I had my first rock climbing experience.
94. Roche-A-Cri Mound, Wisconsin
95. Van Hise Rock, Wisconsin
96. Amnicon Falls, Wisconsin – Several times in the 1980s and 1990s.
97. Green River, Wyoming
98. Devils Tower, Wyoming – In 2002.
99. Fossil Butte, Wyoming
#100. Steamboat Geyser, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Photo by C. Rowan.
101. Specimen Ridge, Wyoming
A couple things have become clear to me in going through this list: The period of digital photography is quite short relative to even my 3.3 decades of travels. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the traveling I did with my Mom and Dad as a kid. There’s still so much to see! I’m looking forward to more geo-travels in this country and abroad in the months and years to come.
Nice plan for content warnings on Mastodon and the Fediverse. Now you need a Mastodon/Fediverse button on this blog.