Rock Beauty Gallery

Sunset at Smith Rock State Park in Oregon

Sunset at Smith Rock State Park in Oregon with view of Crooked River. This tremendously beautiful, and enormously popular, natural attraction is nestled between Madras and Bend on the east side of the Cascade Mountains.
The park covers over 650 acres and is around 3000 feet in elevation.T he major rock faces are welded tuff, or compressed volcanic ash formed 30 million years ago

© David Gn Photography

Halong Bay, Quang Nin, Vietnam

View of Halong (or Ha Long) Bay, near Ha Long City (also known as Hong Gai), capital of Quang Nin Province, Vietnam. Ha Long Bay (meaning Descending Dragon Bay) is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a popular travel destination. It is known for its distinctive rocks, as can be seen here

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10415348

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Valley View Point - Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California. The valley is about 8 miles (13 km) long and up to a mile deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan, and densely forested with pines. The valley is drained by the Merced River and a multitude of streams and waterfalls including Tenaya, Illilouette, Yosemite and Bridalveil Creeks. Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America, and is a big attraction especially in the spring when the water flow is at its peak. The valley is renowned for its natural beauty, and is widely regarded as the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park, attracting visitors from around the world.
The Valley is the main attraction in the park for the majority of visitors, and a bustling hub of activity during tourist season in the summer months. On July 2, 2011 there was a record 20, 851 visitors to the valley.
Most visitors enter the valley from roads to the west and pass through the famous Tunnel View entrance. Visitor facilities are located in the center of the valley. There are both hiking trail loops that stay within the valley and trailheads that lead to higher elevations, all of which afford glimpses of the park's many scenic wonders.
As you leave Yosemite Valley, perhaps for a day trip down to the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias near Wawona or a scenic drive up to Glacier Point or Tioga Pass, be sure to stop off at this roadside lookout. Here youa??ll see a beautiful portrait of the Merced River (something thata??s missing from earlier Tunnel View), flanked by massive El Capitan on the left and the skyscraping twin Cathedral Rocks and Spires. Look for this viewpoint along one-way Northside Drive, before the Pohono Bridge

© MICHAELGERARDSANTOSCERALDE