8 Natural Wonders Of The World You've Never Heard Of (PHOTOS)

Each year, the United Nations unveils a list of the world's most stunning natural attractions, called World Heritage sites, and chances are, you've never heard of them--Papahanaumokuakea, anyone? The designation shines the spotlight on a handful of hidden gems, while also protecting them from man.

This year's picks were especially gorgeous...and hard to pronounce! Budget Travel put together a photo tour of the newest spots, equipped with a handy pronunciation guide.

Are there any that didn't make the list that should be on there? Tell us about them!

Text, captions and photos courtesy of Budget Travel.

 

Have you been to any of these wondrous places? Send us your photos!

Find a picture, click the participate button, add a title and upload your picture

1 of 20

China Danxia, China

1 of 21

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

(Say it: chy-nah dan-syah). The region known as China Danxia spans six subtropical areas approximately 310 miles southwest of Xi'an, home of the terra-cotta warriors. Red sandstone pillars, ravines, and other fantastical shapes recall Mars more than they do southwestern China. Another don’t miss: Shangri La, our other favorite China destination. Fu Chunrong/XinHua/Xinhua Press/Corbis

Memorial Day: Atlantic City Third Most Popular Destination, Perhaps Due To Revel (PHOTOS)

Great Fast-Food Chains From Around The World (PHOTOS)

London Dining: Steak Near Covent Garden And Lesser Calamint Near Goodge Street

Born To Explore: A Really Stupid Way To Die (PHOTOS)

Rosario Dawson Talks About Why She Loves Riding The Train (VIDEO)

A Stylish Journey Across Austria (PHOTOS)

(Say it: chy-nah dan-syah). The region known as China Danxia spans six subtropical areas approximately 310 miles southwest of Xi'an, home of the terra-cotta warriors. Red sandstone pillars, ravines, and other fantastical shapes recall Mars more than they do southwestern China. Another don’t miss: Shangri La, our other favorite China destination.

Fu Chunrong/XinHua/Xinhua Press/Corbis

comments(20)

Total comments: 20 | Post a Comment

1 of 21

Place

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Ok Fascinating!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Current Top 5 Slides

loading...

Choose your Top 5 Slides

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[rosie h]

05:05 AM on 11/22/2010

Yosemite national park has the most amazing place in United states!It is blessed with the best beautiful natural surroundings I've ever been to..!It has the most astounding view as to capture of waterfalls, trees, mountains...I would really recommend this park to all, as it is a once in a lifetime opportunity..I found some amazing stuff here..
http://www.wildlifeworld360.com/yosemite-national-park.html

[WoodsideCraig]

01:37 AM on 11/09/2010

I recognize Reunion Island.

Oceanic flight 815 crashed there.

On another note I guess they missed the Great Wall in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. It's the 9th Wonder of the World that HuffPo never heard of.

[mlkx]

11:36 PM on 11/08/2010

Juizhaigou in Sichuan Province in China

and

Shilin (the stone forest) in Yunnan Province in China

are also incredible natural wonders most people outside of China have never heard about.

[WYHKTai-Tai]

02:59 AM on 11/09/2010

Also, Guilin!

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,24472,26637,27147,27403,52780&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=guilin+china&cp=7&qe=R3VpbGluLA&qesig=RAT57wNPcRIBKDRXT7T7Ww&pkc=AFgZ2tn2m9bXz6Cz9N5e9Xiq3j1LL4WPksc2AfEQUMA7xBintNsglXlM_XKhhzuxbrEdAOZ3ARI8cBhW9G0s00n3dvSN2u-QSw&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1278&bih=680

[mlkx]

07:46 AM on 11/09/2010

I am assuming you mean the karst formations - could not click on to your image - along the Li River OUTSIDE of Guilin. Guilin itself is one of the worst kinds of tourist towns in China.

The karst formations are very unique. Unfortunately the Li River is not what it use to be (often the boats cannot get down it because the water level is so low) although you can sometimes still see villagers fishing with commorants.

[rambot02]

10:27 PM on 11/08/2010

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia:

http://www.liberty-international.org/Public/LIT/CP-SVN/plitvice%20lakes.jpg

http://www.travel-2-croatia.com/images/Plitvice-Lakes.jpg

http://www.rediscover.co.uk/Images/Croatia/Plitvice/croatia_plitvice_winter.jpg

Netflix-ers: Add "Land of the Falling Lakes" to your queue:

http://www.netflix.com/Search?v1=Nature:%20Land%20of%20the%20Falling%20Lakes&oq=land%20of%20the%20fall

You won't be sorry.

=^..^=

[WYHKTai-Tai]

03:01 AM on 11/09/2010

Yes, that looks VERY cool!

[ChicagoBob]

09:16 PM on 11/08/2010

There are still lots and lots of beautiful, unspoiled places on this planet, but collectively, we are doing our best to ruin them.

[rbchilds]

03:48 PM on 11/08/2010

Réunion Island, with Piton des Neiges kind of reminds me of the Oxbow with the Tetons in the background.

[TStringfellow]

02:38 PM on 11/08/2010

I'll be stopping by Mitla/Yagul in 2 months!

[O Dannyboy]

02:17 PM on 11/08/2010

"... this set of tiny islands and atolls in northwestern Hawaii (reachable only by chartered plane). "

And what prevents ships and boats from reaching here?

[seehowtheyrun]

01:43 PM on 11/08/2010

Beautiful ! I've heard of Ngorongoro, but the others were new to me.

[iceage7]

01:21 PM on 11/08/2010

This tooLake Turkana..desert lake

http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/saturday/Turkanas%20desert%20shores%20%20%20/-/1216/959082/-/21tted/-/index.html

[iceage7]

01:22 PM on 11/08/2010

http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/saturday/Turkanas%20desert%20shores%20%20%20/-/1216/959082/-/21tted/-/index.html

[iceage7]

01:26 PM on 11/08/2010

Try again one more time
http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/saturday/Turkanas

[David Rozgonyi]

10:49 AM on 11/08/2010

Very interesting! Usually with these slideshows, I look forward to the admittedly pathetic joy I get from counting where I've been out of the slides. Since I travel about 8 months out of every year, I usually get 80% or higher. But I haven't been to a SINGLE ONE of these.* Good job, HP!

*post this list next year, HP. I dare ya. :P

[KIVPossum]

12:00 PM on 11/08/2010

What a life....travel 8 months a year. Love to get some of that action

[David Rozgonyi]

04:22 PM on 11/08/2010

Ha ha, yeah, it's all right. But you seem to do pretty well for yourself too, my friend!

[Dan Stewart]

10:31 AM on 11/08/2010

Kiribati is not 6,000 miles from Fiji -- more like 1,300 miles.