National Natural Landmarks

Past Contest winners

2008 NNL Photo Contest Winners

1st place: Wallula Gap, Washington Photo by John Clement of Kennewick, WA Wallula Gap, designated a NNL in 1980, is the largest, most spectacular, and most significant of the several large water gaps through basalt anticlines in the Columbia River basin.   2nd place: Grande Ronde Goosenecks, Washington Photo by John Clement of Kennewick, WA Grande Ronde Goosenecks is a 1,500-foot deep canyon of circuitous meanders as photographed here.  Designated a NNL in 1980, this site illustrates regional uplift and forced entrenchment of a stream. 3rd place: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Photo by Terry Sim of Colorado Springs, CO Garden of the Gods, a Colorado Springs city-owned park was designated a NNL in 1971.  The site is an outstanding illustration of the characteristics of sedimentary rocks and the vertical forces that produced the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

2007 NNL Photo Contest Winners

1st place: Valley of Fire, Nevada Photo by Joshua Bernick of Alexandria, VA Valley of Fire, designated a NNL in 1968, is an outstanding example of thrust faulting. A great fold, exposed through erosion, reveals huge rock formations, deep canyons, and a great variety of colors. This landmark is located within the Valley of Fire State Park.   2nd place: Monument Rocks Natural Area, Kansas Photo by Rob Graham of Great Bend, KS Monument Rocks Natural Area, designated a NNL in 1968, contains pinnacles, small buttes, and spires of chalk of the Niobrara formation. Erosional remnants of sediments deposited in the ancient Kansas Sea of Cretaceous time are a rich source of marine mammal fossils. 3rd place: Burney Falls, California Photo by Mike Rubin of Shingletown, CA Burney Falls, designated a NNL in 1984, contains some of the best examples in the western United States of a river drainage regulated by stratigraphically-controlled springs, and of a waterfall formed by undercutting of horizontal rock layers. This landmark is located within McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park.

2006 NNL Photo Contest Winners

1st place: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Photo by Justin Miller of Boise, ID Garden of the Gods, designated a NNL in 1971, is an outstanding illustration of the characteristics of sedimentary rocks, including structure, color and mineral composition. The site also nicely illustrates the vertical forces that produced the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, as seen in the background of this photograph. This landmark is a Colorado Springs city-owned park. 2nd place: Eureka Dunes, California Photo by Mark Pahuta of Ridgecrest, CA Eureka Dunes, designated a NNL in 1983, provides an excellent example of wind-shaped landscapes. It is the tallest dune complex in the Great Basin region of the U.S. The site also contains an endangered grass genus, one species of which is the only plant capable of surviving on and stabilizing the steep dune slopes. Eureka Dunes is located within Death Valley National Park. 3rd place: Great Falls of Paterson-Garrett Mountain, New Jersey Photo by Gianfranco Archimede of Paterson, NJ Great Falls of Paterson and Garrett Mountain, designated a NNL in 1967, provides an excellent illustration of the jointed Watchung basaltic lava flow that occurred in the early Mesozoic Era. This event began a period of geological extrusion and intrusion throughout eastern North America and influenced present day landforms in the region, such as the waterfall depicted in this photograph. The falls are located in the heart of Paterson, New Jersey.

2005 NNL Photo Contest Winners

1st place: Medicine Lake Site, Montana Photo by Carter Thurman of Sewanee, Tennessee "Although prairie landscapes often appear subtle, this photo illustrates how the northern Great Plains have always been a dynamic place of extremes from the glacial processes that carved our landscape, to the climatic extremes that are part of each day here." 2nd place: Cathedral Caverns, Alabama Photo by Craig Stocks of Delavan, Illinois This photo of Cathedral Caverns "shows the cave entrance which is one of the widest of any commercial cave in the world - 126 feet wide and 25 feet tall." 3rd place: Black Chasm Cave, California Photo by Dave Bunnell of Angels Camp, California "This is the largest of the deep lakes in Black Chasm and boxwork (cave formations) are on the ceiling above. This is but one aspect of beauty in this National Natural Landmark."

2004 NNL Photo Contest Winners

1st place: McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska Judy Alderson "McNeil River State Game Sanctuary is one of the premier bear viewing opportunities in the world. It is open to the public by permit only. McNeil River contains a series of small, shallow falls where brown bears concentrate to fish for chum salmon." 2nd place: Paynes Prairie Preserve, Florida Dominick Martino "Paynes Prairie is a 21,000 acre wilderness in southern Alachua county Florida." This picture is of the "observation boardwalk at sunrise." 3rd place: Caverns of Sonora, Texas Heather Germaine "This site is significant because of the unusual cave formations, such as complex, bladed helictites that are often clear to transparent and the coralloid growths that give the cave a feathery or lacy appearance."