John Day 's beautiful badlands contain some 50 million years worth of plants and animals ; you can get all that ancient natural history straight at the excellent Thomas Condon Paleontology Center . The West offers a wide selection of remarkable national monuments . But the United States has also been home to some truly extraordinary places that have inspired generations of Americans. See where Mount St. Helens destroyed 230 square miles of forest with volcanic ash in 1980 .
The West offers a wide selection of remarkable national monuments . But the United States has also been home to some truly extraordinary places that have inspired generations of Americans. See where Mount St. Helens destroyed 230 square miles of forest with volcanic ash in 1980 .