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National Natural Landmarks
2007 NNL Photo Contest Winners
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2007 NNL Photo Contest Winners
Click on thumbnails for the full size picture in a new window.
For official descriptions of these NNLs please visit the NNL Guide by State.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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| Honorable Mentions |
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida
Photo by R.J. Wiley of Bonita Springs, FL
Designated a NNL in 1964, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary contains a wide variety of habitats, including pond cypress, wet prairie, pineland, and the largest remaining stand of virgin bald cypress in North America. Fire plays an important role in shaping and maintaining these habitat types.
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Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Photo by Debbie Miller of Highlands Ranch, CO
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. This landmark is a Colorado Springs city-owned park.
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McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska
Photo by Bernard Marschner of Fairbanks, AK
The McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, designated a NNL in 1968, contains a portion of the McNeil River with a series of low, shallow falls that afford easy wading and good visibility for brown bears fishing for salmon. The concentration of bears fishing at the falls provides a world renowned bear viewing opportunity. The site provides permanent protection for brown bear and other fish and wildlife populations and their habitats.
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North and South Rivers, Massachusetts & Connecticut
Photo by Peggy Roth Major of Scituate, MA
North and South Rivers, designated a NNL in 1977, is a large and diverse estuarine wetland system containing salt, brackish, and fresh water marshes. The two rivers are classic examples of drowned river-mouth estuaries. The site contains the largest salt marsh in Massachusetts and supports many bird and fish species.
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Roaring Branch Research Natural Area, Arkansas
Photo by John C. Moore of Van Buren, AR
Roaring Branch Research Natural Area, designated a NNL in 1976, includes a steep ravine with a virgin mesophytic forest representing a relict outlier of forests characteristic of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. The site also supports plant species that are rare in the Ouachita Mountains. This landmark is located within the Ouachita National Forest.
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Irvine Ranch, California
Photo by Stephen Francis of Anaheim, CA
Irvine Ranch, designated a NNL in 2006, contains a remarkably complete stratigraphic succession ranging in age from late Cretaceous (80 million years ago) to the present. The primary biological features at the site include coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities, including rare Tecate cypress woodlands.
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 Grants Lava Flow, New Mexico
Photo by Daniel Fagergren of Grants, NM
Grants Lava Flow, designated a NNL in 1969, is one of the best examples of recent extrusive volcanism. It is about 32 miles long and 18 miles wide at its widest point. Its gigantic pressure ridges, collapse depressions, and lava tubes are outstanding. Grants Lava Flow is located within the El Malpais National Monument and the El Malpais National Conservation Area.
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Valles Caldera, New Mexico
Photo by Rourke McDermott of Los Alamos, NM
Valles Caldera, designated a NNL in 1975, is a large circular depression, 12 to 15 miles in diameter, with scalloped walls rising from a few hundred to more than 2,000 feet above the present floor. It is one of the largest calderas in the world and is an excellent example of a caldera advanced in history, but still retaining the essential structures. This landmark is a part of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
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Big Springs, Idaho
Photo by Steven R. Koehler of Cody, WY
Big Springs, designated a NNL in 1980, is the only first-magnitude spring in the country that issues forth from rhyolitic lava flows. It is the source of the South Fork of the Henrys Fork River and is located within the Targhee National Forest.
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Ship Rock, New Mexico
Photo by Allen Maestas of Corrales, NM
Ship Rock, designated a NNL in 1975, towers 1,400 feet above the surrounding plain. It is an outstanding example of an exposed volcanic neck accompanied by radiating dikes. There are few such clear displays of the internal structure of a volcano. This landmark is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
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