The Basin, Even Henry David Thoreau found this glacial pothole irresistible.

In the centuries since Westerners have bothered jotting it down on maps, New Hampshire's "The Basin" is without a doubt the most divine pothole to ever be blessed by literary and naturalist heroes.

Centuries worth of explorers have meandered through New England's White Mountains, delighted by waterfalls large and small wending their way through picturesque deciduous forests. Yet among the myriad cataracts formed by the Pemigewasset River, even just within Franconia Notch State Park, one glistening feature sets itself apart from the rest.

The Basin, a 30-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep bowl hewn from a torrent of rushing water pouring down the face of a granite cliffs, is a geological masterpiece. Dating back to the Ice Age when a pebble, carried in a stream bed, was trapped in a fissure of igneous rock, The Basin has swirled and churned into its current form. As thunderous, icy blue waters pour into its bowl, the gentle curves of the surrounding rocks rise and fall like great dunes frozen in time. There's something about the site that is mesmerizing. It has been so for generations.


Upon seeing the Basin for the first time in September of 1839, Henry David Thoreau called it "perhaps the most remarkable curiosity of its kind in New England." Similarly, Samuel Eastman described The Basin to early American travelers as, "One of the beautiful haunts of Nature, a luxurious and delicious bath fit for the ablutions of a goddess."

The waterfall pothole is there, right now, raging away, awaiting goddesses

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Kalavantin, , Durg A centuries-old lookout post still sits atop a natural stone spire

When nature gives you a 2,300-foot stone spire, it's time to make a strategic lookout. At least that must have been the logic behind the ancient Kalavantin Durg.

Nothing more than a small cave built into the summit of a towering spike of rock, the fort, built around 530 BC, nonetheless gives a perfect view of the surrounding Indian lands. The fort is only accessible by ascending thousands of hand-carved steps, known as the "Climb to Heaven," which rise at a dizzyingly steep angle to the top of the spire. While no one is sure of the true origins of the fort or its name, tradition holds that the lookout was named after a princess, although there is no evidence to support this. The fort no longer holds any military significance, but it still attracts waves of foreign visitors each year who want to brave the treacherous steps up to the top.

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The legend associated with these ruins understates the splendor of the mansion that once stood here.

On a private peninsula at the mouth of the harbor of Port Antonio stand the ruins of a crumbling mansion. Once the most opulent house in Jamaica, the decaying shell has attracted its share of legends — just as one would expect from any shadow of grandiosity long since passed.

Folly Ruins have been attributed to foolish and prideful man hoping to impress his bride. According to a common story, the great house was built by an American as a gift to his betrothed. In his rush to construct the mansion, he foolishly had the cement mixed with saltwater for the sake of expediency, which weakened the material and rusted the steel infrastructure. The whole building began to disintegrate soon after being built. When the rich American carried his new wife across the threshold, she saw that it was already falling apart and exclaimed, "What a folly!" She left Jamaica and never returned, and the rich man left "Folly Mansion" to crumble — like their love — back into the sand.

The true story, however, is less dramatic but far more fabulous.  In the early 1900s Alfred Mitchell, a businessman from Salem, Connecticut, visited Port Antonio with his wife Annie Tiffany, an heiress to the Tiffany fortune. They fell in love with the area, and in 1905 purchased the land (which had been known as Folly Point for at 120 years by then) and began building a villa where they could spend their winters. The finished product was sprawling, lavish mansion built in the style of a Roman villa, with over 60 rooms.

The extravagant mansion included a steam-powered generator, electric lights, running water, a sauna, and a wind-powered generator to pump seawater into an indoor swimming pool. The property included stables as well as a menagerie of peacocks and monkeys. Mitchell imported Jamaica's second automobile, a Rolls Royce touring car, to take joy rides around Folly Point.

Like any good legend, though, the one attached to Folly Ruins contains a kernel of truth. The entire first floor of the house was made of concrete (as high-quality lumber or bricks were difficult to come by in the area) and it seems that the concrete was, in fact, mixed with seawater. However, given that the concrete portion of the house has remained standing for over 100 years, this obviously did not cause the kind of immediate structural deterioration that the legend describes.

The Mitchell family lived a comfortable, luxurious life on Folly Point until 1911, when Alfred Mitchell died at the age of 80. Annie remained at the mansion for a few years, but returned to the U.S. at the outbreak of the World War I. The land was sold but the new owner abandoned the property several years later, leading to the house being scavenged and generally falling into disrepair. The second floor collapsed due to looting and negligence in 1936. It is now owned by Jamaican government.

The most lasting mark of Alfred Mitchell's grand home is actually to be found on a nearby uninhabited island. Known officially as Wood Island, the monkeys of the Mitchells' menagerie were free to roam, play, and multiply on the island, and thus it is now known to the locals as Monkey Island. 

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Snowdon, The highest peak in Wales is said to be the final resting place of a giant killed by King Arthur

The highest point in Wales at 3,560 feet tall, Snowdon is home to an outstanding view on clear days, Britain's only rack-and-pinion railway, multiple Arthurian legends, and a gift shop that is almost two centuries old.

The centerpiece of Snowdonia National Park in northern Wales, Snowdon attracts over 300,000 visitors to its summit each year. Visitors can simply ride the Snowdon Mountain Railway from Llanberis Station for 4 miles or hike one of seven main routes, with Llanberis Path considered the easiest, yet also longest, trail at over 4.5 miles long. Rock climbers also flock to the mountain's rough cliffs, which were used by Edmund Hillary and his crew to train for their climb that would take them up Mount Everest.

On the summit is the new visitors' center, Hafod Eryri, opened in 2009 and containing a café and gift shop. A building has been on the summit since 1820, with even a small community of huts around it. A multi-purpose building was built there in 1934. This building would fall into disrepair, with even Prince Charles commenting that it was "the highest slum in Wales." Hafod Eryri would replace it years later.

Snowdon's name in Welsh, Yr Wyddfa, means "the tumulus" and according to legend, a giant named Rhitta Gawr was buried there after he was killed by King Arthur. The knight Bedivere is salso aid to have thrown Excalibur into one of the lakes on the mountain's slopes.

Visitors can tell tales of their own from the mountain on a clear day, when the view can reach all the way to the Isle of Man.

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A naturally occurring tunnel in this Nordic mountain makes it look like it's been shot

It would take a bigger gun than anything humans have invented to shoot a hole through a mountain, but that doesn't mean we don't know what it would look like, thanks to the natural tunnel that runs through Norway's Torghatten mountain.

Torghatten is an imposing mound of granite that rises up out of the surrounding Nordlands like its own island. It would make for a lovely, if uninteresting geological feature in itself, but it is the natural tunnel that runs straight through it that really makes it something special. The short shaft looks like it was drilled or blown through the rock, but the tunnel is actually a naturally occurring phenomenon. Or if the legend is to be believed, a supernaturally occurring phenomenon.

As the local myth surrounding the cavehole goes, it was created out of a troll's hat. An amorous troll was chasing a woman and she was getting away. Rather than let her live free, the troll tried to shoot her with an arrow, but the troll king threw his hat in the arrow's path to block it. The arrow left a hole in the hat, and then the hat turned into the mountain now known as Torghatten. Sometimes, myths are just plain weird.

Vistors to Torghatten can follow a path up the base of the mountain and pass through the incredible tunnel. It may be one of the only places in the world where anyone can waltz straight through a solid mountain.

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This precariously balanced boulder is said to be a hunk of stolen butter dropped by the gods

Forever (hopefully) perched on a steep rock slope in the historic town of Mahabalipuram, India, the massive round boulder known as Krishna's Butter Ball refuses to give in to gravity or the shoves of tourists.


The giant boulder appears to be frozen in its roll down the hill it sits on, and no one is quite sure why. The huge boulder is likely a glacial erratic that got stranded in a serendipitous position on the hill, but local legend has another version of the story. According to Hindu mythology, when the great god Krishna was just a baby, he was fond of stealing butter. Following this tradition, the big orange stone has been likened to a giant dollop of purloined butter that the god dropped.

The actual name of the stone is "Vaan Irai Kal," which translates to "Sky God's Stone," and according to one source, the more playful name was given to the rock by a local tour guide. However it got its sort of silly name, it stuck.

Reinforcing the stone's strangely balanced position, the slippery stone slope is used by local children as a slide. Today Krishna's Butter Ball is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors to the site love to try to get behind the stone and try to push it down the hill. So far no human power has been able to budge the buttery boulder.

Best of all, sometimes the local goats climb on top of it. It's adorable.

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Legend says that these tall basalt pillars are the petrified wives of a trickster god

Jutting skyward near Washington's Wallula Gap, the pair of massive basalt columns known as the Twin Sisters are not only a picturesque natural wonder, but according to local legend, they were created by a jealous trickster god.


Science tells us that the Twin Sisters formation is the result of erosion sculpting the two spires between 12-15,000 years ago when the area was pounded by a massive flood. The resulting towers of black stone have since become a popular hiking spot. However, local legend tells a different story of their origin.

According to Native American legend, the pillars were once two of three wives who married the trickster god Coyote. The trio had been trying to catch fish in a fish trap, but the mischievous god deity kept destroying them. Finally, as the women began to starve since they could not catch fish, coyote agreed to build them a trap if they married him. They agreed, but unfortunately the deal didn't work out so hot. Coyote became bored with/jealous of his wives and turned one of them into a cave, and the other two into the Twin Sisters rock formation.

While the formation was clearly created by erosion, and not magic, the site is nothing less than enchanting, and well worth a visit from anyone who is interested in either nature or folklore.

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