Mars On Earth

Despite us knowing more and more about Mars everyday, it’s still a hell of a long way away, and quite expensive to get there. Luckily, there are some places here on our own beautiful planet that look quite a bit like the Red Planet. So much so, that they’ve been used as stand-ins for Mars scenes in movies for decades. One of the most authentic looking and beautiful of these is Wadi Rum, also known as The Valley of the Moon in Arabic. Located in Jordan, in between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Wadi Rum desert covers 278 square miles and some of the most beautiful red sand environment we’ve seen. The Red Planet, The Martian, and even Lawrence of Arabia used This special desert as the stand in for Mars.  Really exciting to know about these rarely visited places, to know that Earth always has more to share.

Wadi Rum desert

The very Mars-like landscape of Wadi Rum, this vantage point has no landmarks to give it away as an Earth destination. Photo by Daniel Case.

wadi-rum-moss-and-fog-2wadi-rum-moss-and-fog-3

Wadi Rum desert

Scrub and low vegetation in the Wadi Rum desert. Photo by Daniel Case.

Camels in Wadi Rum, Jordan.

Camels walking in the giant open vistas of Wadi Rum