Badwater Salt Flats, Death Valley National Park, California
Sunset lights up the clouds over the salt flats of Badwater Basin, which is -282 feet below sea level -- the lowest point in North America. Salt flats form when high levels of sodium chloride (table salt) are present in an arid climate, such that evaporation causes only the salt crystals to be left behind. The Badwater salt flats encompass approximately 200 square miles, making them one of the largest protected salt flats in the world.