Atlas Obscura

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Atlas Obscura 

Atlas Obscura, self-proclaimed  “definitive guide to the world’s wondrous and curious places,” is a collaborative project with user-added locales. Perfect for finding places to explore both near and far, the site is navigable by both the what (craters, churches) and the where (Turkmenistan, Tallahassee).

There are photographs, maps, and historical information about an 80-year-old house constructed entirely of newspapers in Rockport, Massachusetts. Or, across the country, a glimpse of the gnarled arches of Little Finland near Mesquite, Nevada, nicknamed “Hobgoblin’s Playground” for its shadow-happy rock formations.

Photo by Philippe Schuler

There’s Moonhole, the 1960s brainchild of retired New Yorkers Thomas and Gladys Johnston, who crafted a cliff-nestled enclave of 19 homes in the Caribbean Grenadines islands using whalebones and hardwoods scavenged from the beach.

And, on the west coast of Scotland, there’s the 72-foot-tall Fingal’s Cave, composed of towering hexagonal basalt columns—an ancient legendary site mentioned in the music of both Mendelssohn and Pink Floyd.

Drawing by William Daniell

Submit your own sites and get lost in the database here.

—Erica Berry

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