10 Otherworldly Landscapes in the American West Used by NASA and Hollywood
The American West contains landscapes so alien that NASA, Hollywood, and geologists use them as stand-ins for other planets. These include the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, a 30,000-acre salt crust used for land speed records and sci-fi filming; the Bisti Badlands in New Mexico with hoodoo formations like the Cracked Eggs; Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, where sailing stones move across a dry lakebed; the Painted Desert in Arizona with 200-million-year-old colored rock bands; Craters of the Moon in Idaho, a volcanic field where Apollo astronauts trained; the Trona Pinnacles in California, 500 tufa spires rising 140 feet; the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California, home to 4,800-year-old trees; Valley of Fire in Nevada, with red Aztec sandstone formations; Fly Geyser in Nevada, a man-made geothermal cone from a 1964 drilling accident; and Goblin Valley in Utah, with thousands of mushroom-shaped hoodoos. Each location has specific geological mechanisms and documented use by NASA or film productions.
Key facts
- Bonneville Salt Flats: 30,000-acre salt crust, remnant of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, used for land speed records since 1930s and sci-fi filming.
- Bisti Badlands: 45,000-acre wilderness in New Mexico with hoodoos formed 70 million years ago, including Cracked Eggs and Alien Throne.
- Racetrack Playa: sailing stones up to 700 lbs move via ice sheets, mystery solved in 2014.
- Painted Desert: 90,000+ acres in Arizona with red, orange, pink, gray, lavender rock layers from Late Triassic period.
- Craters of the Moon: volcanic terrain in Idaho, Apollo astronauts trained there in 1960s.
- Trona Pinnacles: 500 tufa spires up to 140 ft in California, formed underwater 10,000-100,000 years ago.
- Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest: trees over 4,800 years old in White Mountains, California.
- Valley of Fire: Nevada state park with 150-million-year-old red Aztec sandstone, used for Mars-like filming.
- Fly Geyser: man-made geothermal cone in Nevada, created in 1964, with thermophilic algae colors.
- Goblin Valley: Utah park with thousands of mushroom-shaped hoodoos from Entrada Sandstone.
Entities
Institutions
- NASA
- Burning Man
- Petrified Forest National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Craters of the Moon National Monument
- Valley of Fire State Park
- Goblin Valley State Park
Locations
- Bonneville Salt Flats
- Utah
- United States
- Bisti Badlands
- New Mexico
- Racetrack Playa
- Death Valley
- California
- Painted Desert
- Arizona
- Craters of the Moon
- Idaho
- Trona Pinnacles
- Mojave Desert
- Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
- White Mountains
- Valley of Fire
- Nevada
- Fly Geyser
- Hualapai Flat
- Goblin Valley
Sources
- Quartz —