Spanning five states and 190,000 square miles in the western U.S, the Great Basin Desert is unlike most hot, arid deserts you're used to seeing. The temperate desert has hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The Chihuahuan Desert — located in the southern U.S. in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico — is the second-largest desert in the U.S.

To get to Nebraska from the nearest gulf, bay, or ocean, you’ll have to travel through three other states (or two states and a province of Canada), regardless of your origination point. All other landlocked states in the country are either singly or doubly landlocked. Nebraska is home to about 2 million people and is known for its sprawling plains and robust agriculture industry.

Alaska’s Denali peak may reign supreme as the highest point in the United States at 20,310 feet, but Florida’s Britton Hill takes the title for the lowest high point of any state. At just 345 feet above sea level, Britton Hill doesn’t even reach the height of some skyscrapers in other states. In fact, New York’s Empire State Building is three times as high.

New England is composed of six states in the northeastern U.S. — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont — and was named by John Smith in the early 17th century. Only one of the states, Vermont, does not have any coastline, but it is home to the Green Mountains and plentiful outdoor recreation opportunities.

Almost 8,000 years ago, the volcano of Mount Mazama erupted and left a cavernous crater in south-central Oregon. Over time, it filled with water and became Crater Lake. With a depth of almost 2,000 feet, the lake is not only the deepest in the country, but also the second-deepest in North America and the ninth-deepest in the world.

Technically, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level, but it isn't the tallest from base to peak. Mauna Kea in Hawaii only rises up 13,796 feet above sea level (compared to Everest's 29,035 feet), but it also extends down an additional 19,700 feet below sea level into the Pacific Ocean. Mauna Kea is actually a volcano that last erupted 4,600 years ago.

You can visit the highest and lowest points in the contiguous U.S. without even leaving the same California county. Inyo County is home to both Mount Whitney, the highest point at 14,505 feet above sea level, and Death Valley's Badwater Basin, which sits 282 feet below sea level. The two sites are only 85 miles apart.

Alaska's coastline stretches for nearly 34,000 miles — more than all of the other U.S. states combined. In second place, Florida has 8,436 miles of coast, while Louisiana has 7,721 miles. Of the 30 states that touch water, Indiana’s coastline along Lake Michigan is the shortest — just 45 miles.

The 2,341-mile Missouri River, the 2,340-mile Mississippi River, and the 1,982-mile Yukon River are the three longest rivers in the United States. Flowing for 1,450 miles, the Colorado River — which runs from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado southwest through seven states to Mexico — is the nation’s sixth-largest river. Its most famous stretch passes through the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Considering Alaska covers 663,000 square miles — more than one-fifth the size of the entire contiguous U.S. — it should come as no surprise that the four largest cities in the country by land area are located in the state. The largest, Sitka, stretches 2,870 square miles, followed by Juneau (2,702 square miles), Wrangell (2,543 square miles), and Anchorage (1,705 square miles).