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Space travel sounds unbelievably cool, but most of us won’t ever have the opportunity to check out alien planets. Lucky for you, the Earth is vast and strange, and that means it has a host of otherworldly landscapes just waiting for your exploration—no spaceship required.

Click through the gallery and take a tour through Earth's alien-looking landscapes.

▲It may look like you're on Mars, but this Jordanian desert is very much real.

▲Also known as the Valley of the Moon, Wadi Rum is a valley cut into sandstone and granite rock.

▲The colors of this glacial lake are nothing like what you normally see on Earth.

▲Its frozen beach with black volcanic sands provides the perfect contrast for the chunks of ice that wash ashore.

▲Found in British Columbia, the "spots" in this lake are caused by minerals in the water.

▲This lake contains dense deposits of magnesium sulfate, calcium, and sodium sulphates, causing its strange-looking spots.

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This formation is the result of erosion of sandstone by water, hence its flowing shapes.

▲This slot canyon exists on Navajo land in Arizona, and it has become a popular tourist destination in the US.

▲Located near Black Rock Desert in Nevada, this crazy-looking formation was formed when a geothermic company drilled on this site and then left it to abandonment.

▲Over the past 40 years, minerals from the geothermal water have been deposited on the surface of the desert surrounding the geyser, creating a mound covered in algae, giving it a multi-colored hue.

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Located in Val di Fassa in the Dolomites, the Vajolet Towers are comprised of six summits.

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In addition to being incredibly photogenic, the Towers are also a popular destination among rock climbers.

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Located in the Canadian Rockies in Banff National Park, the lake's turquoise appearance is almost Neptune-like.

▲Its otherworldly color is thanks to glacial silt, which is carried from the glacier by streams.

▲This incredible view belongs to the world's largest salt flat.

▲The salt flats contain 10 billion tons of salt and cover more than 4,000 sq mi (10,360 sq km).

▲Located in East Java, this active volcano offers incredible views that are more than worth the hike from the village of Cemoro Lawang.

▲The jaw-dropping sunsets there are the highlight of the visit.

▲About 10% of this prairie and boreal province in western Canada is comprised of fresh water, mostly rivers, reservoirs, and around 100,000 lakes.

▲Scary, thunderous Saskatchewan skies look like a UFO could fly by at any moment.

▲In Lake Superior, in northern Wisconsin, you can find these 21 odd-looking islands, filled with caves, beaches, and trails.

▲In the winter, the shoreline can look especially alien, with icicles and frozen waterfalls in the caves and rocky coast.

▲This wonderful-looking lake is proof that beauty is indeed deceiving. Its extremely high temperatures and pH levels make this place closer to Hell than Earth.

▲On the upside, its hellish conditions produce a surplus of scarlet-colored algae that attracts millions of flamingos.

▲You may think you're looking at the Milky Way, but these caves located in Waitomo are very much found on this Earth.

▲This wonderful sight is caused by thousands of bioluminescent larvae that produce long strings of shiny mucus. Gross? Maybe. Wonderful? Absolutely.

▲The park is home to striking red sand dunes and skeletal trees.

▲Until we start sending human to Mars, this is the closest we'll get to visiting a Red Planet.

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There may not be goblins in this valley, but the whole park looks so different from most parts of the planet that it’s hard to imagine you’re still on Earth.

▲At night, it's a good place to gaze at the stars and pretend you’re somewhere else in the galaxy.

▲Located in Zhangjiajie, this 100-square-mile attraction contains thousands of sandstone pillars.

▲These formations are nature's version of skyscrapers.

▲This Canadian national park is located in the Northwest Territories and is a gorgeous example of a polar desert.

▲Though this scenery looks like it could fit well into the background of a 'Star Trek' episode, this place is located in Nunavut.

▲This mount is a popular rock climbing site.

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Volcanoes don’t just exist on Earth. In fact, Jupiter’s moon Io is actually the most volcanically active location in our solar system.

▲NASA researchers found that Io’s volcano Prometheus looks uncannily similar to Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano.

▲This is the largest cave in the world, boasting enough room to hold an entire city block of Manhattan—including 40-story skyscrapers.

▲An entire ecosystem of its own flourishes within its depths.

▲If you need proof that Death Valley has otherworldly qualities, take note that NASA used the national park as a location to run tests before landing a rover on Mars in 2012.

▲Here you’ll find sand dunes, rock faces, jagged hills, and a dry desert floor with crusty patterns and cracks.

▲These alien-looking trees, found in the Socotra archipelago, are called dragon's blood trees, and they're endemic to the area.

▲Its distinct red sap was thought to represent the dragon's blood of the ancients. It is still used today as paint and varnish.

▲This place is so distinct, it unsurprisingly was featured in a movie and a documentary: 'Journey Into Amazing Caves' (2001) and Discovery Channel's 'Planet Earth.'

▲The cave system is popular among snorkelers, experienced scuba divers, and anyone else in search of adventure.

▲Yellowstone National Park’s famed hot spring has a totally bizarre, colorful appearance, the result of pigmented bacteria and microbes that make their home in the warm mineral waters.

▲The clear blue waters at the pool’s center come from the heat of the water where it boils up from underground, so hot as to make the area completely sterile.

▲Salt formations, acidic hot springs, and gas geysers give this ghost town its alien-looking eeriness.

▲With average summer highs reportedly reaching up to 45°C (114°F), this hydrothermal area is among the hottest spots on Earth.

▲These miles and miles of jagged, rocky peaks sure are something, and that something doesn’t exactly scream “earthly.”

▲These rock formations were created by erosion, which continues to happen now.

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If planning a trip to the moon isn't in the books, consider the Moon Valley instead.

▲Located in the Atacama Desert, this valley was formed by years of erosion that have left behind jagged peaks, dry riverbeds, and a startling landscape worth the visit.

▲The valleys between the national park's rolling sand dunes fill up with water during the rainy season every year, giving this place its striking features.

▲The landscape resembles a drowned desert or a sandy lake, depending on the perspective.

▲This desert's most striking feature is its wind-shaped chalk rock formations that look like giant mushroom clouds frozen in time.

▲These otherworldly-looking formations are the result of occasional sandstorms in the area.

▲Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve owes its appearance to volcanic activity.

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The fact that it’s an International Dark Sky Park makes it look even more like another planet.

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Maui’s Haleakala Crater, Hawaii, is a sight to behold, with a landscape of cinder cones and a massive crater backfilled by lava flows.