April 2010

“One of 10 great places to explore nooks and crevasses”

Earth Day marks its 40th anniversary next week, but Garry Hayes celebrates the planet all the time. The professor and creator of the Geotripper blog says some of the most incredible destinations on the globe owe their grandeur to geology. "The Earth is a dynamic place and always changing," he says. He shares favorite geologic sites with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Hayes suggests a visit to a coral reef like the one surrounding this island park. Reefs are constructed by tiny animals, and over millennia, they turn into limestone. "A rock made out of life is a stunning thought to me," Hayes says.