# If you had to pick the iconic American landscape, what would it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386 "2014-10-15T08:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/1 "2014-10-15T08:49:03Z")
Let’s say you were an art director and you had to chose a single static nature shot that had to represent the idea of America, what would you choose? The shot has to be one of nature with no or minimal signs of human construction and has to be instantly recognizable to anyone across the globe as representing “Americanness”. While there are obvious choices when it comes to cityscapes, landscapes seem a lot harder to me due to how diverse the US is. After a lot of racking my brains, my personal choice would be [something like this shot](http://www.imgbase.info/images/safe-wallpapers/photography/landscape/30452_landscape_red_rock_desert.jpg) (spoiled to avoid biasing anyone else) What would your shot be of the iconic American landscape? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/2 "2014-10-15T09:36:17Z")
[Something like this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Yosemite_Valley_from_Wawona_Tunnel_view%2C_vista_point..JPG) came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/3 "2014-10-15T10:29:47Z")
First thing I thought of was [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Steinberg_New_Yorker_Cover.png) one. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/4 "2014-10-15T10:33:30Z")
May first thought was identical to the OP’s. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/5 "2014-10-15T10:38:25Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > May first thought was identical to the OP’s. Third. I don’t think you’ll get that much variety especially with the constraints outlined in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/6 "2014-10-15T12:31:59Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > instantly recognizable to anyone across the globe as representing “Americanness”. To be honest I would have guessed that to be somewhere in Africa or Australia. The mountain/valley could be in Norway, New Zealand, or other places. They don’t look any more American than similar photos from places outside the US or even the Americas, if you mean North America rather than the US. I don’t think there is anywhere in the US that doesn’t look like somewhere else on the planet unless you focus on very specific geographic features like Meteor Crater or the Grand Canyon. Even if you allow human habitations and go for a classic ‘american suburbia’ shot, those are found everywhere from China to Capetown nowadays. Ditto cityscapes. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/7 "2014-10-15T12:41:41Z")
Grand Canyon seems the obvious choice. Its pretty distinctive. Either that or one of those rock formations that appears in every Western movie and TV show. [Monument Valley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley#mediaviewer/File:Monument_Valley_2.jpg) for example. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/8 "2014-10-15T12:51:44Z")
When _Doctor Who_ actually shot an episode in the USA, they picked Monument Valley as their first location. Most of America does _not_ look like that–but it’s been iconic since [Stagecoach](http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/09/28/12-movies-shot-monument-valley-navajo-nation-151484). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/9 "2014-10-15T13:19:05Z")
Yes, if we’re restricting ourselve to natural landscapes I think it would have to be Monument Valley. Even the Grand Canyon isn’t that unique looking. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/10 "2014-10-15T13:20:01Z")
I’d do something more [like this](http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/high-plains-to-front-range-panoramic-aaron-burrows.jpg). Get your spacious skies, amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties in there. Shots of some rocks or holes in the desert are distinctive but don’t really represent “America” as a whole to me so much as “tourist attraction in America”. Of course, my shot lacks the oceans and deserts and swamps and all that but for a single photo, I’m sticking with my ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/11 "2014-10-15T13:26:52Z")
I would go for the Great Plains. Just miles and miles of perfectly-flat fields, as far as the eye can see. No mountains or trees in view. Other things may be more iconic, but it seems like the flat emptiness impresses everyone from other places as something unique and strange. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/12 "2014-10-15T13:39:43Z")
I would go with Sequoia National Park. I don’t think there is an equivalent anywhere else in the world. I mean, look at em! [http://www.naffziger.net/images/utah/IMG\_5481.JPG](http://www.naffziger.net/images/utah/IMG_5481.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/13 "2014-10-15T14:18:57Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > I would go with Sequoia National Park. I don’t think there is an equivalent anywhere else in the world. > > I mean, look at em! > > [http://www.naffziger.net/images/utah/IMG\_5481.JPG](http://www.naffziger.net/images/utah/IMG_5481.JPG) I’m pretty sure that’s in Endor. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/14 "2014-10-15T14:19:35Z")
My first thought was Monument Valley - same as OP. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/15 "2014-10-15T14:44:27Z")
I think I would go with a picture of the Mississippi River, it covers a large geographic region. The whole Mark Twain thing is very American. [http://www.spiritofpeoria.com/images/info/river-big.jpg](http://www.spiritofpeoria.com/images/info/river-big.jpg) I see how things like the Grand Canyon are more instantly recognizable, but I feel like that is more recognizable as “the Grand Canyon” and that it’s Americaness is more of a secondary feature. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/16 "2014-10-15T15:32:30Z")
Without reading anything but the thread title, I thought of Monument Valley, for the same reasons laid out by others in this thread. Only a very tiny part of the US looks like that, but nothing anywhere else in the world looks like that, and thanks to movies and TV it screams “America!” like nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/17 "2014-10-15T16:57:58Z")
Is Mt. Rushmore too specific? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/18 "2014-10-15T17:33:53Z")
I never saw my POV as so skewed about what America looks like, but I’m the only one to say [George Inness](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/The_Storm_George_Inness_1885.jpeg)? I’m pretty sure its Somewhere off of Rt 23 or Rt 15… Yes, that’s NJ too… ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/19 "2014-10-15T17:45:40Z")
Like others I immediately thought “Monument Valley” without reading any other posts. I know it is not typical American landscape, but what matters is that it is distinctive. Various other countries have mountain ranges, vast rolling planes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386/20 "2014-10-15T21:25:32Z")
For me, it’d be the backdrop to those classic [Marlboro Country](http://www.tvacres.com/images/tobacco_marlboro_country2.jpg)-type ads, which always looked like the Rockies or High Plains to me, not the desert - Montana, maybe? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-the-iconic-american-landscape-what-would-it-be/701386.md?page=2)