USA's top 10 natural wonders

Peering over the edge of the Grand Canyon is enough of a thrill for some, but to really appreciate the canyon’s grandeur, hike all the way down inside it to the rushing Colorado River.

Niagara Falls is not just one, but three waterfalls that gush along the US-Canada boundary between New York and Ontario: Horseshoe Falls, American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

They aren’t the USA’s tallest waterfalls, but together these powerful cascades have a bigger water flow than any others on the planet.

The world’s tallest trees grow on the fog-kissed Northern California coast. Redwoods can reach a height of 379ft, taller than the Statue of Liberty in NYC, and live for up to two millennia.

Almost half of all the old-growth redwood trees remaining that have never been logged are protected by the chain of Redwood National and State parks.

Chances are that those epic landscapes you’ve seen in classic Hollywood Westerns were shot in Monument Valley, where startling sandstone buttes rise up to 1000ft above the sandy desert floor.

Today the valley is a Navajo tribal park. For a grand sense of perspective, sign up for a guided horseback tour.

On the wind-blown, tide-splashed Atlantic coast, Acadia is a maritime treasure. Don’t miss hiking Cadillac Mountain (1530ft), the tallest peak on the Atlantic seaboard.

On New Year’s Day, you can be the first person in the USA to see the sunrise from its summit. For equally stunning panoramas, show up for golden leaf peeping in autumn.

Yellowstone is the USA’s oldest national park and is a wonderland of unique geology and wildlife.

At this Unesco World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve, you see the world’s largest collection of geysers and hydrothermal features, including hot springs, boiling mud pots and steaming fumaroles.