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Great video! We are current owners of the Desert of Maine. We are a few years into a massive overhaul of this nearly 100 year old tourist attraction. We have many new exhibits, a new self-guided tour that dives deep on the history, geology, and ecology of this unique landscape, and lots of other changes. Ask us anything!

Having NO idea about the “drift less” area of Minnesota and Wisconsin, driving through there for the first time this summer I will say I was VERY confused as to the geography and what I was seeing around me. It was a VERY cool area.

I’ve spent a lot of time in western Nebraska and it’s a hidden gem. The water there is so fresh, the lakes have perfect sand & there’s nobody out there. Nebraska national forest is awesome, the stargazing is on another level

Siberia. I've always been surprised by how little anyone talks about this massive area.

No matter what state you are in, save for maybe Delaware and Rhode Island due to size, you cannot truly witness their beauty from the interstate highways alone. Highway developers find the easiest available terrain to build in, and additionally are only interested in connecting points of population, preferably through corridors of as continuous of population as possible. I always recommend travelers get off the beaten paths! Especially in states that have no major reputation for natural scenery. A state that left a huge impression on me long ago through exploration was lower Michigan. I was shocked at how much of lower Michigan is genuinely beautiful away from the cities and highways, and so few know it.

My favorite geographical oddities outside the US: Waw an Namus (Libya) - Like you're looking on a Satellite map of the Sahara and think "Oh, it's just endless sand with an oasis here and there", but then you zoom in on Libya, and see a big grayish-black dot in the southern portion of the country. Then you realize...that's a volcano Victoria Island (Canada) - There you can find a third-order island, an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island Ross Island (Ross Dependency; New Zealand) - southernmost active volcano, extreme cold meets extreme hot Great Blue Hole (Belize) - You're enjoying a barrier reef, you're surrounded by paradise and small islands...and then you see a giant marine sinkhole that looks like a portal to another world. And that's not even the deepest marine sinkhole! The deepest one is in the Paracel Islands and it's called the Dragon Hole. According to legend, the Dragon Hole is where the Monkey King found his cudgel.

The Sandhills of Nebraska are indescribable. I've been lucky enough to have been to the bahamas, the virgin islands, and different parts of Europe, along with the majority of US states. But just floating down the Loup River on a summer day in the sand hills is just absolute serenity. Catching a glimpse of a river otter, or a hawk overhead while blissfully floating along in absolute silence is something that just has to be experienced.

Two or three unusual sites in West Virginia - Dolly Sods (a natural cranberry bog on a mountain top), the New River (supposed to be the oldest river in north America, and flows north and west, instead of the usual south/east flow in that region). Canaan Valley is also unusual, in being a very broad, relatively shallow valley in the middle of the Appalachians.

You could make an entire episode about the pacific northwest. So many are unaware that western Oregon/Washington/BC is actually a temperate rainforest. Even fewer are aware that practically all of eastern Oregon/Washington is highland desert. Then there's the large sand dunes and other anomalies. The only biome the PNW doesn't have is tropical.

One of the very few places in California that truly looks "out of place" as far as scenery goes is the Sutter Buttes. Located in the Sacramento Valley and about 10 miles (16 km) across, these volcanic remnants are near Yuba City. They stand about 2000 feet (600 meters) above the surrounding valley.

The western panhandle of Nebraska is basically the southern end of the black hills of South/North Dakota. It’s genuinely a beautiful part of the country and if you’ve never been there I highly recommend checking out that part of Nebraska in particular

I actually lived in the driftless area my whole life, and let me tell you, the land formations around Trempeleau and la crosse are DEFINITELY something

Again, more great content! I never knew these things about Nebraska and Oklahoma. Makes me think twice about the two states, they're not just flat and boring landscapes 👏💯

People: Nebraska is just miles of cornfield! Nebraska: *Amazing, every word of what you just said...was wrong*

The tobacco growing region in Connecticut, setting for the novel "Parish", is an interesting microclimate region displaced from the more typical tobacco growing regions.

One of the coolest things imo are the beach "mountains" of central Florida, aka the Lake Wales Ridge. Basically Florida was an archipelago like the Bahamas when sea levels were higher, all of which had sand dunes and the associated flora/fauna. When sea levels retreated/uplift of the land started, the flora and fauna stayed, creating an inverse island. It's home to a bunch of endemic species only found there that probably started as species found on the islands.

The Cranberry Glades Botanical Area in West Virginia is a fascinating habitat that shares qualities of bogs much further north in the country, as well as interesting fly-trap like plants. It's location makes it unique as well, as surrounding the bog are the dense forests and mountainous geography of the Appalachians.

When I was a little boy on summer vacation, I went on one of the staged gemstone hunts in the desert of Maine... I almost died of heatstroke (at least "almost dying" is what it felt like). Been in love with the icy chill of winter ever since.

I love this series! Please keep it going! Being from Ohio a lot of people say it's flat and boring, but the unglaciated plateau is absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorite places to go for a relaxing drive. Caves, gorges, land bridges, there is so much diversity in SE Ohio that many people don't know about! Northern Indiana also has sand dunes that are pretty unusual, right along the lake!

One day I want to take a road trip around Kansas and Nebraska. Living on the east coast I hear the term ‘fly over states’ a lot and I’m just so tired of people dismissing these states as boring. Every state in the country has beautiful scenery!

The first time I drove through Nebraska I was expecting to just by a copy and paste of Kansas. I was shocked to see the hills for hours on end. And I found the state quite beautiful as a result especially when you're driving and get near the top of a hill and can see hills endlessly to all horizons. It looks like another planet.

I'm from michigan, and something that makes me feel just so sad is that michigan used to be almost entirely old growth forest, like to the extent of it being genuinly _wild_ and dark during the day from the leaf cover, but nearly all of it was lost to logging and the fires of the late 1800's. Even hartwick state park, the last remaining old growth forest in the lower peninsula, was logged to some extent and is considered second-growth

My native Colorado's weirdest spot: the great sand dunes national park: massive 750 ft sand dunes (the tallest in north America) whipped up into a corner of the Alamosa Valley, at the base of the snowcapped and wonderfully named Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) mountains. Don't bring anything there you don't want ruined by blowing sand.

If someone in Georgia wants to spend some time in the mountains, they typically head north of Atlanta. However, there is a unique geological formation in west central Georgia, possibly older than the Appalachians, that created a series of low mountain ridges called Pine Mountain that stretch west to east across several counties. They only rise above the surrounding land around 200-500 feet in elevation in spots, but it is a pretty sight amongst mostly lower rolling hills that far south in the state. The largest state park in Georgia covers a chunk of the highest elevations along the ridge, and attractions such as Callaway Gardens and FDR's Little White House are right next to the ridge as well.

Omg!!! Nothing short of breathtakingly beautiful! I hope these areas stay preserved in their natural state forever!!!

The Palouse region of eastern Washington is an area of blown in dirt that looks like snow drifts from the air. It is some of the best farm ground in the nation, but very steep to farm. If you were in the Palouse and didn't know it, you'd say you were looking at the Tuscany region of Italy -- they look about the same. Since the dirt is all blown in, there are no rocks. Colfax, WA is pretty much the center of the area.

I am at a loss trying to think of any examples of "unexpected terrain" in my home state of California. What it is known for is its tremendous variety of topography, which makes finding unusual instances the expected state of affairs.

A geographical oddity for me near the area I live, is cheddar gorge in Somerset, UK. A large portion of Somerset is made up of the Somerset levels which are at or below sea level and prone to flooding ever since the area was drained for farmland and inhabitation. So seeing such large hills with a massive gorge running through them in a largely flat area of England always struck me as weird. In the south and east of Somerset its relatively hilly but not by much. Another one would be ham hill, a surprisingly steep hill in South Somerset which overlooks a lot of the low lying areas of Somerset and still somehow towering above other hills in the area. It's right on the edge of the flatter region of Somerset and is the source for hamstone which is used in a lot of local buildings

We have a place similar to the "desert" in Maine here in Norway too - Kvitsanden outside of the town of Røros, sand dunes far from the coast, pretty cool actually.

I love this series! The Llano Uplift in Central Texas is a really unique geologic area of the state. Out of the rolling hills of the hill country rises an area full of pink gneiss granite and ancient volcanic domes. Cool stuff!

Thanks for mentioning Southern Indiana/Brown County. Out-of-state folks always seem to forget that the whole state isn't one giant, flat field.

I've driven through the middle of South Dakota and Nebraska from Interstate 90 to Interstate 80 around the Missouri River and North Platt River area. It is not so flat and has some interesting geographic formations.

Can confirm the desert of Maine is a tourist trap, having lived in Maine all my life there are pictures of me falling backward off of one of those camels when I was younger and nearly busting my head open as kids are want to do.

The scablands in the inland Northwest -- they're essentially the remains of a giant flood that was so powerful that it carved canyons and tossed giant boulders in one single stroke.

Some international ones to keep in mind: Spain, Hawaii and Brazil all have parts that could feasibly be in the Australian Outback

The sand hills are super dope. Literally nobody lives there, and driving through is like something out of Arabian Nights meet Wild West. Love the mention of the mountains (Arbuckle, Witchita) of OK. Maybe consider the turtle mountains and Devil's lake in North Dakota, or the Flint Hills and Chautaqua Hills in KS?

Great Sand Hills, Saskatchewan, Canada. Sand dunes surrounded by farmland.

Check out the Carcross “desert”! A small sea of sand dunes in Canada’s northern Yukon Territory, it known as desert although it receives too much annual precipitation to be considered one

2 for Texas: Lost Maples State Park, in the hills where the the fall is as colorful and brilliant as you’ll get outside of the north east. And south Texas/Mexico border worlds top bird watching spot. The river has changed course so a lot of the cut off parts are nature preserve. Texas and Mexico have redrawn the border because of the changing river before.

You should cover Eastern Montana. The rock formations and natural forests as well as water ways and reservoirs. Not many people live there but I do and I would watch.

To add to the “desert” theme the Carcross desert in Yukon. Also the Caspian Hyrcanian temperate rainforest in Iran and Azerbaijan. Another US one would be Letchworth Canyon in New York

There are shallow bluffs at the edge of the flood plain all along the Platte River, making the drive along I-80 that much more monotonous because you can't see very far. I've traveled through there many times.

In the forest filled state of Mississippi we have something called Red Bluff. It is a vibrant red gorge that you could maybe talk about

When going more in depth on the Ozarks, the Missouri Geologic Survey has a huge archive of springs, sinkholes, caves, and other features. The obvious other thing in the area is the New Madrid fault system, but including the general history of how what is now north america was nearly ripped apart would be interesting. Also the Mt Francois was a volcano. Not many people realize that.

Having grown up in Oregon, tromping all over the Cascades and Coast Range, I've been stunned at how very different the rock and strata of the hills are in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where I moved my family last year. It's like a different planet and drives home to me that not all mountains are the same.

May I suggest that if you want to start the title with 'The Desert in Maine...', you should probably put that in the front of your video and not the back. This gives the impression that The Desert in Maine is your main topic when in reality it's just one of the many Out of Place US Geographies that you're talking about which are all equally discussed in length. If you want to make this episodic, I guess you could title it as 'Out of Place US Geography Ep. X - (Sand Dunes in Nebraska, Desert in Maine, etc.)'

I love the way you talk, you are fast and very concise, not a single word is wasteful. Listening to you is like my brain thirst being quenched by a ice cold beer on a hot day after mowing the lawn!!

In keeping with the 'Oklahoma has unusual geography' theme the Fort Sill Tar Pits are quite fascinating.

I have always been surprised that a lot of people don’t know that a large portion of Washington and Oregon are what I have scrounged up on the internet to be “cold deserts”. The Columbia basin is starkly different than the mountainous or coastal regions. Having lived in both Eastern and Western Washington and born in Northern Oregon, I have always been curious as to why they are massively different. The Cascades apparently create a rain shadow that causes such a landscape; but I would love to know more. I often drive hours across Washington to visit my family’s hometown. I always wonder what the large stretches of monotonous hills were like millions of years ago. They always seem like they were once teeming with life. Unrelated, the best parts of Washington in my opinion are the mountain passes! (Snoqualmie, Steven’s, White, Satus, Chinook, etc. are all breathtaking!!). One day I hope to explore Northern Washington as well as I imagine it has it’s own beauty as well. 😍 The one time I went to Winthrop was beautiful!

Fun fact: the largest desert on earth is....Antarctica. Deserts aren't defined by heat, but by having very little precipitation; and Antarctica hardly gets any.

I've driven thru the Sandhills in NE and it was a really neat experience.

Thank you, I love this country and I had no idea of the diversity of the different areas you have featured. Thank you for these, and Keep up the great work sir!

This was pretty awesome. I learned something new about Nebraska’s landscape. I was also cool to learn about the Driftless Area.

North-central Pennsylvania has "The Grand Canyon (of Pennsylvania)" and the darkest skies in the country... perfect for stargazing. And yes, the first oil well in the western hemisphere was in northwest PA (Titusville). Grew up in SE PA, and there are plenty of surprises, like anywhere really (if you look hard enough). Nice video!

In addition to the superior content here - engaging, instructive, fascinating - I find watching these videos very soothing: I put them on in the background when I’m doing light mental tasks and they seem to keep me going for a while. Thank you for such excellent work, and please keep them coming!

I love you for mentioning nebraska the first 5 seconds this place is so vast and beautiful and I am stuck like glue in it

The Long Valley Caldera is a huge topographic bowl in eastern California with crazy stone columns (Crowley Lake Stone Columns & Devil's Postpile)

Sand Dunes National Monument is amazing. It's like Saudi Arabia in the US. Kansas has some insane rock formations that used to be at the bottom of a gigantic ancient sea. I've been to both places. Crater Lake is also quite unbelievable. A collapsed volcano now constantly filled with crystal clear water.

I quickly recognized the overhead shot at 4:44 as that of Thedford, NE. That's where US-83 and Nebraska hwy 2 intersect. Went through there many times working for a traveling custom harvest crew. The sandhills are one of my favorite places throughout the plains. It's a shame so many people experience that part of the country only by driving across interstate highways, if even experiencing it at all.

I recently came across your channel and I LOVE IT! The detail is great and I'm pretty sure in the few vids I've watched so far has taught me more than school! I never heard of the drift less or the Maine desert! I LOVE learning about the different states too! Thank you for your hard work!

I have a fascination for places like these. I would love to see this turn into a full series. If you do, would you do it like this or by region/state?

Very interesting--first time I've seen your Channel. Being a history major/geography minor, and a Texan, I am fascinated by The Edwards Plateau, the Caprock, and specifically, Palo Duro Canyon. Driving from Lubbock in the Panhandle north towards Amarillo, it is FLAT as FLAT can be, and all of a sudden, just past Canyon, TX, your eyes just bulge out, as the 2nd largest canyon (next to the Grand Canyon) resides at this point in the upper Panhandle. It was not a surprise to me, as I knew the topography and what to expect, as I was going there, as in the Summer, where there is a Play, (similar to the Musical, "Oklahoma," called, "Texas," which is a history of the Panhandle/Plains region, and a natural Amphitheater is situated down in the Canyon. Even in summer in HOT Texas, the temps are cool at night, as there is no humidity. It is a very interesting area, and I would suggest you explore this area, and produce a video about the Aquifer you mentioned, The Edwards Plateau, the Caprock, and Palo Duro Canyon. Thanks alot!

This video helped me realize how beautiful parts of the world are, even in places I’d never expect like some of the states I previously had thought to just be boring middle-of-nowhere places. I’m excited to watch the other videos in the series!

Great video!! Indiana Dunes would be great for a future list. It's one of the most diverse ecosystems of any National Parks and really feels like you are at the ocean.

I recently drove from New York City to Cleveland Ohio on I-80 and wondered if people thought all of Pennsylvania looks like I-80. There are many large cities, thousands of medium sized towns created during east to west settlement in the 1700s where towns are placed 10 miles apart so people could walk between them easier, hundreds of covered bridges, thousands of acres of rich farmland, nuclear power plants, large rivers, Amish communities, an engineering marvel PA turnpike, lots of mountains and hills, and it’s a big underestimated state.

The sand in the Nebraska Sandhills didn't blow in. It's from outwash from glaciers in the Rockies accumulated from the 20 or so glacial eras during the Pleistocene. This material was later sorted by the wind, producing the dunes. Finer silt-sized material blew out to the southeast, piling up hundreds of feet deep and producing the Central Loess Hills, a photo of which appears at 4:32. The landscape shown was clearly formed by moving water, not wind. Other than those two minor points, this was another excellent video. I was gratified to see my home area given the attention.

Thank you KZfaq! Every once in a while you do a good job suggesting. Subscribed.

Great vid! Thanks for all your hard work doing the research and editing. If you get the chance, check out the Kobuk desert in Alaska. COLD desert, for sure!

I love how varied the geography in much of the US (and really, the world) is past how it's commonly seen. I'm from Illinois and we apparently have a species of cactus, not to mention a big forest in the south and that driftless northwest corner

These videos are really well researched and written....good work man! Reelfoot Lake in Northwestern Tennessee is the only natural lake in the entire state and was formed by an earthquake in the early 1800's...has a cool story to it - would love to see you break it down and put it in a video. Congrats on almost 100K!

I love how Brown County Indiana was featured! Its a truly BEAUTIFUL area that I visit frequently! Also the town of Nashville right in the middle of the county has awesome little stores and restaurants

This is such a good idea for a video. I’d love to see more of these.

Came here wondering if the driftless area would make it! Having lived in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, I can say it's one of my favorite landscapes in the midwest!

Do give an idea of the "canyons" of the drifters zone, imagine the grand canyon as it was only, say, a quarter finished. That is what the Mississippi River valley is like inside the drifters zone. It's very cool to be in the valley and the largest city in the area is La Crosse, WI, so that is a good place to look up to find pictures.

Fascinating content, it kind of brought Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado to mind as well. Not in the US but one place I visited that had geographic features that were amazing was in Meteora, Greece. That one might be worth traveling for!

So glad you covered the lava fields of Carrizozo! Such an amazing place. The picture you included does not give it justice! Spans for miles, has pits that are about 20 feet deep, cliffs that are 20 feet tall, huge fissures that go down 5 feet and are only 1 foot wide, and many more oddities. The coolest part is just how black everything is in some areas. Definitely a slept on attraction in New Mexico.

If your taking suggestions you should take a look at the Saugatuck sand dunes in Michigan. A story kinda similar to the Maine Desert but the dunes there are decently tall. Another area you might want to take a look into is the Balcones Fault Line in Texas. It splits the state between the flat farmland to the Hill Country and Edwards Plateau in the west. An aquifer is in the area and supplies San Antonio with water. Anyways love these geography quirk videos.

There's several geographic anomalies that come to mind in Louisiana, but that's largely because people just assume that the whole state is swamp. Prairies: There used to be a ton of prairies in Louisiana. The three main types I'm aware of are saline prairies, calcareous prairies, and the great southwest/Cajun prairie. The most notable one for me is the southwest prairie because it was huge and was in a region with enough rainfall to easily support trees. In terms of vegetation it's more similar to what you would expect from a prairie in Texas than what you would expect in south Louisiana. Unfortunately, a lot of it has been turned into agricultural land or otherwise destroyed. Sandstone: There's exposed sandstone in the western portion of the state. It's really unusual to go from gentle rolling hills to steep sandstone that can sometimes be cliffs. There's trails in the Kisatchie Hills wilderness area, and hiking up some of those ridges can kick your butt. Limestone: There used to be limestone outcroppings in Winn parish. Unfortunately these were all mined, but they were very unusual and were homes to populations of calcium loving plants that did not occur anywhere else in the state.

Great video! Beautiful landscapes and very interesting too. Top man.

Great video, great information! A suggestion on future vids: when showing overhead maps, be sure to show the outlines of the states, as well as the outlines of the areas that you are discussing, so we can get more of a feel of where they are located. I live in TX, and have driven through OK, being VERY surprised at the lush greenery, trees and waterways I saw in the southern portion of the state. Absolutely beautiful there. Originating from Wisconsin, I had never heard of the "driftless" area, but as I'm now moving back, it's definitely something I want to check out, so thanks for all the cool "intel!"

I think snowy/cold places in regions typically thought of as warm. Like the ski resorts in Africa and Australia

As you introduce places could you also show a satellite map of the area with basic political boundaries such as county, state and country lines? Otherwise I really enjoyed this video and am looking forward to more!

THAT is interesting! I really enjoyed your video so I will be watching more of them. Thanks!

So glad to see this video, Carter. I haven't seen you post anything in many months. Or, maybe your uploads weren't showing up in my feed. I will make sure to click the notification bell.

In The Netherlands, you know, the country of dikes and cows and mills and water, there are also deserts like in Maine. Their origin is also the same: overuse of natural soil caused the sands to become exposed. Do a search on Kootwijkerzand!

Great video! I would love to see a video on the geographic anomalies of Mexico

Finally, someone who says states in the Great Plains aren't just flat. Thank you! I am from KS, & in many places throughout the state, there are beautiful rolling hills & lakes, & there are chalk rock formations & small canyons in the western part of the state. Glad i found your channel!

This is amazing! I can’t wait to see more of the series.

The Maine one reminds me of Jockey's Ridge state park in the outerbanks, NC. I didn't think much of it before my family actually got there but the dunes were the biggest I've ever seen on the east coast. Idk how tall they were - maybe 150 feet or so? They seem out of place considering they don't occur anywhere else in the OBX. From a satellite view, if one had to guess where large sand dunes should go, I would have guessed Hatteras or another cape

Great video keep up the great work man.

Before it became a tourist attraction, my grandfather died crossing the desert in Maine. He didn’t know it was there and perished on a hunting trip.

I live about 50 miles from White Sands National Park. The dunes are actually full of water. Even on the top of a dune, you can dig down just a few inches to where the sand is cool and damp. Another result of the state being covered by ocean during the Cretaceous is that there are scads of tiny clamshells everywhere around Las Cruces. The access roads built from digging out irrigation canals are a great place to find them. They range in size from a pea to no larger than a nickel. It may have been an ocean 100 million years ago, but these days it's dry desert and often only 4% humidity.

I’ve been to the Sandhills they are a very pretty place. Now I want to go back and explore other parts of Nebraska like the pine ridge. Some other cool locations could be the loess hills of Iowa, or the mountains/hills and cliffs of northeast minnesota next too Lake Superior which you showcased in this video with the footage of split rock lighthouse at the end. And one last cool place you should take a look at is spring green preserve in Wisconsin which is also a desert like location. Thanks for the great videos.

You should cover the natural springs of florida. I know it's known for its water between lakes and beaches, but the crystal clear water in the middle of the state is stunning, and I've heard the aquifers are what make the area around Gainesville hilly as opposed to the otherwise flat state

I visited Tularosa NM in 2020. It's so cool to be driving through a brown, sandy colored desert and then to see a large black spot in the distance slowly getting closer. One of the main highways in the region runs right through the lava field and gives you a very up-close look of the formations of pahoēhoē lava.

This is lovely and very informative. Kudos for seeking out what appear (I'm no expert) real pictures of the places in question.

You should make a video about Old Growth Coast Douglas Fir and particularly the Nooksack giant in Washington State. Did you know that the valley-bottom lowlands of Vancouver BC, Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, Olympia, Portland lied an endless bounty of firs, cedars, hemlocks, etc that had a treeline that averaged 200-300 feet? Did you know that the tallest tree in the world was likely a douglas fir? The theoretically genetic height capacity of a douglas fir compared to a redwood is something like 480ft vs 440ft. 5% of redwoods remain, while only 0.01% of lowland-valley bottom douglas firs remain. The tallest, widest, and straightest trees were logged first. The redwoods that remain are marvelous, but one of the reasons they are so special is because of how genetically similar they are. They are much more likely to be similar size and structure as one another, making them on average the largest trees. But Douglas fir is different, is genetics stretch far and wide, allowing the height maximum to be very very higher than what you might expect. So while not every douglas fir tree in an untouched valley-bottom old growth ecosystem was over 400feet tall; it begs the question...how many? And did the Nooksack giant exist? Ravenna Park is a good example of what was lost, we could've had a treeline preserved near UW that stretched as high as 350-400 feet. But no, we logged them seemingly overnight in the 30s and 40s and a prime example of our ecological history was lost and the cultural knowledge seemingly forgotten and unappreciated for the sake of suburbs and urban sprawl.

man you’re good as hell

These videos are the reason I leave terrain on on Google Maps. Tells you so much more about the spatial situation of things than just the regular map.