5 Dense Forests To Visit Around The World

A forest is an area with a high density of trees. Forests cover approximately 9.4 percent of the Earth's surface (or 30 percent of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50 percent of total land area). In addition to the large number of forests that are well-known tourist destinations in the world, there are also small and very unusual forests which are less well known to the general public.

# Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar

The Avenue of the Baobabs is a prominent group of baobab trees lining the dirt road between Morondava and Belon'i Tsiribihina in the Menabe region in western Madagascar. Its striking landscape draws travelers from around the world, making it one of the most visited locations in the region. It has been a center of local conservation efforts, and was granted temporary protected status in July 2007 by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, the first step toward making it Madagascar's first natural monument.

# Sunken Forest of Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's Lake Kaindy is one of a kind. Located 2,000 meters (6,560ft) above sea level, this 400 metre-long (1,300ft) lake reaches depths approaching 30 metres (100ft) in some places. What makes this body of water truly remarkable, however, are the tall, dried-out trunks of submerged Schrenk's Spruce trees that rise above the water's surface from the bottom of the lake like the masts of mysterious sunken ships.

# Deadvlei Forest, Namibia

Deadvlei is a magic place near the famous salt pan of Sossusvlei in the Namib-Naukluft Park of Namibia. The place is surrounded by some of the tallest dunes in the world, reaching up to 400m (1,300ft) in elevation. These dunes have nicknames like “Big Daddy”.

# Crooked Forest, Poland

The Crooked Forest is a grove of oddly-shaped pine trees located outside Nowe Czarnowo, West Pomerania, Poland. This grove of approximately 400 pines was planted around 1930, when its location was still within the German province of Pomerania.

# Wild Apple Forest, Kazakhstan

Before Carl Frederich von Ledebour (German-Estonian botanist) happened upon this incredible apple forest in the early 1830s, it was unknown to the Western world. It lies deep within a mountain range in what is now Kazakhstan. In the midst of the forest is the bustling city of Almaty (meaning "fatherland of apples" in Kazakh). The location has both its good points and bad points as far as the fate of the forest is concerned: good, because the proximity of the growing city has allowed scientists to access to the forest, which in the past was remote and almost inaccessible; bad, because the city is encroaching on the forest as land is cleared for high-rises and vacation homes.