Did you know about these 10 geography facts before?

The world is a wildly fascinating place, and there are plenty of beautiful and natural wonders that are waiting for you to visit. However, you might forget that some of the strangest and most wondrous geographical points of interest can be easily found within the borders of our country.

I know it might sound a bit surprising, but it’s true! The range of natural wonders here is so wide, from optical illusions to magical, giant geodes; these places will offer you an experience that you won’t forget too soon. Curious to know more? Here are some of the most interesting places in the United States:

Monowi, Nebraska

There’s a small town in Nebraska, located very close to the border of South Dakota, that has only one resident, and that’s Elsie Eiler. Her husband died in 2004, and that’s when Eiler officially became the town’s only resident. As the BBC has stated, she automatically became the town’s mayor, clerk, treasurer, librarian, and bartender.

She pays her taxes to…herself. This way, the town can keep its lights on and its water running. Obviously, she takes care of business in plenty of other ways, too. As she stated, she applies every year for her liquor and tobacco licenses, and every year she sends them to the village secretary. Do you want to take a guess at who that is? Yep, it’s her.

A certain point in the United States is only 2.5 miles away from Russia

The Diomede Islands, which are also known in Russia as Ostrova Gvozdeva, are two islands situated in the Bering Strait. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is clearly mentioned that the islands are separated by both the US-Russian boundary and the International Date Line.

Even if Big Diomede, which is part of Russia, and Little Diomede (part of Alaska) are equally located only 2.5 miles apart from one another, they are still in completely different time zones. Isn’t this ironic?

The draining hole on the Oregon coast

The site is called Thor’s Well, and it is situated near Cape Perpetua. Even if it’s a bit unclear how the hole appeared, it’s definitely one of the most impressive sights you could ever witness. But this doesn’t mean that the hole is a complete mystery to scientists, as some researchers believe it all started as a sea cave that was slowly dug out by waves, but later on, it collapsed.

Also, according to Atlas Obscura, it is not completely “bottomless; but it is, however, very dangerous.” Researchers think the hole is only 20 feet deep, but the optical illusion of endlessness is really astounding.

The largest underground lake in Sweetwater, Tennessee

This visible portion of the Lost Sea was designated a national natural landmark in 1974. It is 800 feet long by 220 feet wide, and up until this day, the full extent of the lake is completely unknown. In fact, according to the US National Park Service, the Lost Sea is a big part of the Craighead Caverns.

At one point, the area yielded the bones and footprints of an enormous Pleistocene jaguar, which is a subspecies of the jaguar we know now. The subspecies is now extinct. If visiting the Lost Sea is something that interests you, you will be happy to find out that tours are available all year.

Prosser, Washington

On a hill very close to Prosser, Washington, shifting the car into neutral will only make it seem like you’re rolling uphill. People will keep speculating whether the road is haunted or not. Whatever it might be, watching a car seemingly roll uphill is extremely weird! Apparently, the reason you’re moving uphill as you actually move downhill is caused by nothing but an optical illusion.

The horizon line and other landscape features might cause your mind to feel as if you’re moving up, even if you’re going down a hill. In fact, you’d be surprised to find out that mystery spots like these aren’t that common, and they’re oftentimes known as “gravity hills” and “magnetic hills.” There are a minimum of 12 similar magical spots in the world.

Centralia, Pennsylvania

The Centralia Mine Fire is the worst mine fire in the entire history of the United States. The fire was initiated in May 1962, and 2012 was the year that marked the 50th anniversary of the fire. Up to this day, the fire rages beneath the ghost town of Centralia.

Over the years, no fewer than 1,500 residents had to relocate voluntarily, and now there are fewer than five homes and three families in the area. If you’re interested in finding out more information about the famous mine fire, you might want to watch the film “Centralia: Pennsylvania’s Lost Town” by the documentarian Joe Sapienza II.

Wyoming

When it comes to Wyoming, you rarely think about bodies of water. Don’t worry; it’s not anywhere closer to an ocean or the Great Lakes, either. Despite its inland location, Wyoming still has some lakes with islands within them. In fact, the vast majority of Wyoming’s named islands are somewhere located in Jackson Lake and Yellowstone Lake, even if there are a couple of others located in additional rivers and Leigh Lake.

It is still unclear how many islands there are, but some publications say that Wyoming has 31, while others say there might be 32 or 35. Some of these islands are commonly known as Dot Island, Bush Island, Oxbow Bend, Boulder Island, and Elk Island.

Crystal Cave in Put-in-Bay, Ohio

The cave was initially discovered in 1897 when Heineman’s Winery was digging in there to build a well. Well, instead of that, a huge cave was discovered, and it is filled with celestite geodes.

As the winery explained, Crystal Cave is the main reason why the business managed to stay afloat during the US’s Prohibition era, which lasted throughout the ’20s and ’30s and banned all sales and alcohol manufacturing. When Heineman’s wasn’t able to sell wine, they sold cave tours instead and kept the business going until they could go back to manufacturing wine again.

Kentucky, Mammoth Cave

The impressive Mammoth Cave is the longest-known cave system. It officially became a national park in 1946, but it was later proved that the Native Americans had been exploring the cave system for a minimum of 4,000 years before. According to Atlas Obscura, more than 400 miles of these caves have already been mapped. The place is open for visits all year.

The Trembling Giant in Utah

If you didn’t know any better, you might think that the 47,000 quivering aspen trees that are standing in a grove are just like any other average forest. But it’s not; it’s actually Pando, which is a “forest of one,” as the New York Times described it. Pando is “a forest of one,” as the New York Times explained. Pando is basically a series of trees that are interconnected via a single root system. Believe it or not, all those trees actually share the same DNA, and they are genetically male.

In other words, Pando is a clone that can easily reproduce itself. In fact, the reason it got so big is that it reproduced so frequently. But it’s worth mentioning that deer and humans are a threat to its new growth, and that’s why ecologists in Utah are trying to find some of the best ways to save him and allow him to keep on thriving.

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