The Planet Earth Online

We Live on a big, beautiful planet stocked with a great variety of scenery and landscape. It is a planet made for humans to live on, but most of it is covered by fields and mountains and deserts and oceans. It is a real planet full of living plants and animals, and a few billion people, each of which are unique and interesting. People have shaped the world in many ways, building houses and cities and farms. Roads, a man-made feature, criss-cross the whole earth, tying together its endless variety into one common network.

Since 1999, UntraveledRoad has been capturing the scenery of modern highways, mountain roads, city streets and trails, visiting places both exotic and familiar to create a photographic virtual world, where you can stop to look at wildflowers, lakes, mountain vistas, and read historic markers, all from the comfort of your computer chair. With 396,883 hand-held camera photographs, UntraveledRoad preserves a repository of beautiful scenery which you can explore at your leisure. If you want to see the beauty of National Parks, the serenity of an alpine wilderness, the solitude of the desert, or wander randomly along highways, it is waiting for you now at a mouseclick.

These virtual tours consist of stops along roads, streets and trails, where four pictures are taken, one in each direction. Each page shows an ahead-facing picture along with two side view thumbnails. You can turn in any direction, and proceed to the next stop. Where appropriate, extra pictures show high-resolution views of scenery, or historic and interpretative markers. Some complicated intersections include pictures for diagonal directions. To skip uneventful sections of roadway, a jump feature takes you to the next important town or intersection. See the legend at the bottom of this page for more information.

This page highlights only a few samples of the many explorations you can make on UntraveledRoad.

Artists Drive

In spite of being the hottest and driest place in America, nearly a million people visit Death Valley yearly. The climate is so severe that almost no plant life can survive, But the alien landscape and quiet and solitude provide an appeal that many more beautiful places do not. Much of Death Valley is below sea level, bottoming out at 282 at Badwater Basin. The highest recorded temperature was 134 degrees. With these extremes, you feel like you've been somewhere unusual.

Death Valley features a number of interesting places to visit including the colorful Artists Drive and Mustard Canyon, historic places like the Harmony Borax Works and the overlook at Dante's View. Escape the stress of modern life with a visit to this faraway place.

Arbon

Imagine a rural valley that almost no one has ever heard of, full of grassland and waving fields of grain, and surrounded by beautiful forested mountains. A small paved road runs through the middle of it, passing by scattered farmhouses, abandoned cabins, and a tiny school. This is Arbon Valley.

Arbon Valley is nestled between the Deep Creek Mountains and the Pleasantview Hills in southern Idaho. It is presided over by Deep Creek Peak at 8,748 feet, which is roughly 3,500 feet above the valley floor. There is nothing spectacular about it except for these three things: 1: Its beautiful scenery, 2: It is a showcase of what's right with America, and 3: You can visit it now in this online tour.

Point Imperial

Looking into the Grand Canyon from South Rim is one of the most breathtaking scenes in the world. The Colorado River, a mile lower in elevation, is not even visible, being lost in the depths. But layer on layer of cliffs and colored rock stretch from horizon to horizon on the canyon walls, punctuated by fantastic formations with fanciful names like "The Battleship" and "Zoroaster Temple."

For some a visit to the Grand Canyon is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For those who have the opportunity to return frequently, there is no end to the opportunities for exploration. An easy day at the Grand Canyon would involve a stroll along the rim next to Grand Canyon Village, with stops at gift shops and eateries. For a seasoned Grand Canyon explorer, it would involve grueling overnight hikes on trails like the Kaibab or Bright Angel trails.

Don't forget the North Rim, especially if you prefer to avoid crowds. But allow time for the five-hour drive to get there from South Rim. Fabled view like Point Imperial and Bright Angel Point await you there.