Sand, sun, stones, and heat — that's probably what you picture when you think of a desert landscape.
But, if you've seen one desert, you haven't seen them all.
The planet comprises a wide variety of desert landscapes, featuring everything from towering sand dunes and rock formations to alien-looking terrain and even ice.
Nature lovers, take note: These are eight mind-blowing desert landscapes that you absolutely need to see.
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Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
The world's largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni can be found in Bolivia, located in the Andes mountain range. Formed when a prehistoric salt lake dried up, the 4,086-square-mile flat is covered with blanched white salt and a thin layer of water during the wet season. This layer causes a perfect mirror effect over the surface of the flat, prompting many to call it the world's largest mirror.
Sahara, Africa
The Sahara covers a mind-boggling 3.6 million square miles, making it the largest "hot" desert (i.e., traditional desert) in the world. Located in North Africa, the desert primarily comprises stone plateaus, but the "sand seas" (large areas covered with sand dunes) will blow you away with their enormity, with some dunes measuring more than 590 feet high.
The Mojave Desert, parts of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona
Located primarily within California and Nevada but also branching into bits of Utah and Arizona, the Mojave Desert covers nearly 25,000 square miles and is the driest desert in North America. The Mojave has little vegetation but is known for the Joshua tree, which grows only there. The trees stand as stark sentinels over the rocky landscape.
Geologic features like salt pans, valleys, and basins are the result of the various mountain ranges that stretch through the desert, and rugged rock formations are made of orange and red hues.
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