Nature’s Fireworks: 4 Marvels that Outshine Pyrotechnics

The Fourth isn’t the same without the flash of fireworks. Whizzing rockets and sputtering mortars stuffed with pyrotechnics have dropped jaws since the 7^th century, when the Chinese stumbled upon the world’s first gunpowder.

While we’re on board for the safe and responsible use of fireworks (keep them away from our parks and forests, please!), we prefer watching explosions of color in nature.

Volcanic Eruptions:

CALBUCO from Martin Heck | Timestorm Films on Vimeo.

You can’t light a fuse and count down to explosion, but a lava-spewing volcano is truly terrifying and grand. As long as you’re out of harm’s way and the area has been evacuated, nothing beats watching a mountaintop glow, mushrooming smoke punctuated by erratic slashes of lighting.

Biking through Colorado Wildflowers:

There’s a reason why merchants fascinated by China’s explosive innovation referred to fireworks as “Chinese Flowers.” Ripping down Colorado singletrack, valleys blooming and booming with blue Lupine and purple Elephant Heads, the colors shift as you flow across the landscape. Elation is yours – unless you flip over the bars into a patch of Skunk Cabbage.

Coral Reefs:

Coral reefs aren’t easily within reach in the contiguous 48. Florida’s the only state to claim one, the third biggest in the world; northeast Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef and the equally stunning Belize Barrier Reef lead the list. Venture to tropical waters, dive down and don’t blink. Between glimmering fish and veritable forests of color, scuba diving or snorkeling in a coral reef is an adventure at every turn.  

Aurora Borealis:

This year, the Northern Lights were visible here in Colorado. A rare occurrence, savvy Coloradoans stayed up for a glimpse of solar storm-charged Northern Lights. Whether you’re in CO or you can make the trip north to Alaska, Norway or Iceland, taking in the Aurora Borealis firsthand is a spectacle no county fairground display can match.