The Grand Canyon and 9 Other Overrated Natural Attractions

In order to take the only truly breathtaking tour of the Grand Canyon, you have to reserve your spot over a year in advance. If you just show up, you will hardly get close enough to see anything extraordinary. Plus, every other American family on vacation will be fighting you for a parking spot.

(image via Flickr)

Lodging anywhere near Niagara Falls is insanely expensive, and for what? Any grandeur of the waterfalls is lost in the sea of tourists and casinos. This is precisely what Joni Mitchell was singing about when she mentioned people who “paved paradise to put up a parking lot.”

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Devils Tower is nothing more than an oddly shaped mountain. It’s not like you can hike up it and take pictures from the peak. No, you simply have to stay on the ground and wonder what it would be like if you could somehow reach the top.

There is a mystery surrounding the construction of this rock formation, but we have blown it way out of proportion. It seems far more likely that an ancient civilization had more advanced technology than we give them credit for rather than the structure being placed here by aliens to warn us about the end of the world.

Being in “four places at once” really doesn’t seem so special once you realize that state border lines are just arbitrary boundaries drawn for ownership purposes. Plus, you will be hard pressed to find a real bathroom, and a portable toilet is absolutely unbearable when it spends its life in the desert.

(image via Flickr)

Yes, the crystalline blue waters look great on the face of a postcard, but you have to take overpriced boats to get to them. Plus, the Blue Grotto only has that picturesque look when the weather is nice, which it rarely is in this area. There are other lagoons that are just as lovely.

(image via Flickr)

Some Irish traditions are just plain weird. Visitors think they will walk away with good fortune if they kiss this stone, but what they will really end up with is germs. Lots and lots of germs.

People lose their minds over rock formations in Utah, but they would be better off going to Colorado instead. There, you would find views that are just as gorgeous. Plus, there are other activities you can actually participate in. You won’t find much else going on in the deserts of Utah.

(image via Flickr)

If it weren’t for some barely believable rumors and a few fuzzy photographs, no one would ever bother to talk about this Scottish lake. Plus, if there actually is a monster in Loch Ness, wouldn’t you want to be as far away as possible? Maybe that's just me. Regardless, Scotland has much more to offer.

(image via Flickr)

It is impressive that this monument was built at all, especially considering the time period and the fact that most of the work was performed with dynamite. Still, from the lookout point, you are so far away that you can’t even really tell what you looking at. You can easily get a better (and closer) view online.

(image via Flickr)