2155 Best Sights in USA

A reminder of an ugly episode in U.S. history, this site is where more than 10,000 Japanese-Americans were contained behind barbed-wire fences between 1942 and 1945. A visit here is both deeply moving and inspiring—the former because it’s hard to comprehend that the United States was capable of confining its citizens in such a way, the latter because those imprisoned here persevered despite the adversity.

The best place to start is the outstanding interpretive center, which screens a 22-minute documentary film and displays historical photos, artifacts, and a model of the camp as it was during WWII. Although few of the original 1940s structures remain, the area known as Block 14 has a restored mess hall and reconstructions of a women's latrine as well as two barracks, where four exhibits highlight what daily life was like here. You can also drive or bike the 3.2-mile road through the site, taking a self-guided tour of Japanese rock gardens, various signposted ruins, and a small cemetery.

The modest Queen Anne–style residence is where Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised. Besides items that belonged to the family, the house contains an outstanding multimedia exhibit focused on the civil rights movement. A limited number of visitors are allowed to tour the house each day. Advance reservations are not possible, so sign up early in the day. 

Note: Tours of the Birth Home will be suspended until November 2025 to allow for an extensive rehabilitation project. 

San Diego's monument to sports and fitness, this 4,235-acre aquatic park has 27 miles of shoreline including 19 miles of sandy beaches. Playgrounds and picnic areas abound on the beaches and low, grassy hills. On weekday evenings, joggers, bikers, and skaters take over. In the daytime, swimmers, water-skiers, paddleboarders, anglers, and boaters—some in single-person kayaks, others in crowded powerboats—vie for space in the water.

At the center of the Mission Trail and the largest mission, Mission San José is known as the Queen of Missions. It's near the historical park's visitor center and it's the best place to catch a tour, led by a Texas Ranger or volunteer, because the history of San José is critical to understanding the story of the missions and San Antonio. The mission was founded in 1720 by Father Antonio Margil de Jesus, a prominent Franciscan missionary. The current church is 80% original as the outer wall, granary, convent, and Native American quarters were restored by the WPA in the 1930s. The Rose Window, sculpted in 1775, is located on the south wall of the church sacristy and considered one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in North America. 

Start your tour at the stunning Mission San José, the "Queen of Missions." It's adjacent to the visitor's center, where a National Park Service ranger or docent illuminates the history of the missions. San José's outer wall, American Indian dwellings, granary, water mill, and workshops have been restored. Here you can pick up a driving map of the Mission Trail that connects San José with the other missions.

The oldest Catholic church in the United States still serving the community for which it was built, San Xavier was founded in 1692 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, who established 22 missions in northern Mexico and Southern Arizona. The current structure was made out of native materials by Franciscan missionaries between 1777 and 1797, and is owned by the Tohono O'odham tribe.

The beauty of the mission, with elements of Spanish, baroque, and Moorish architectural styles, is highlighted by the stark landscape against which it is set, inspiring an early-20th-century poet to dub it the White Dove of the Desert.

Inside, there's a wealth of painted statues, carvings, and frescoes. Paul Schwartzbaum, who helped restore Michelangelo's masterwork in Rome, supervised Tohono O'odham artisans in the restoration of the mission's artwork, completed in 1997; Schwartzbaum has called the mission the Sistine Chapel of the United States.

Across the parking lot from the mission, San Xavier Plaza has a couple of crafts shops selling the handiwork of the Tohono O'odham tribe, including jewelry, pottery, friendship bowls, and woven baskets with man-in-the-maze designs.

The dramatic 200-foot clay cliffs along Mohegan Trail, one of the island's top sights, offer a craggy beauty not found anywhere else in New England. On a clear day you can see all the way to Montauk Point on Long Island. The bluffs can be enjoyed from street level, but to access the beach below requires descending a steep set of stairs that lead to the bottom. The cove to the west has a narrow strip of secluded sandy beach, with wave action that attracts surfers. Wear walking shoes, and don't attempt the descent unless you're in reasonably good shape. Remember, you'll also have to climb back up! Note: A 2024 storm wiped out the bottom section of the stairs, so until repairs are made visitors can only descend as far as a platform and not to the beach itself.

As with visitor centers elsewhere, you can get help with everything at this multifaceted facility, from taking in local attractions to negotiating a backcountry adventure. But the highlights here are the museum-quality displays about Interior Alaska. A walk-through exhibit re-creates a fish camp, and you can walk through a full-size public-use cabin similar to ones you can rent on your own. Alaska Native artists frequently sell jewelry and other wares at the center; in addition to making a unique purchase, you can chat with them about growing up in the villages or, in some cases, at fish camps such as the one the exhibit depicts. Named for a Tanana leader who dedicated his life to building bridges between Native and non-Native cultures, the center hosts summer programs showcasing Alaska Native art, music, storytelling, and dance; it's also home to the Explore Fairbanks Visitor Center and the Public Lands Information Center. The center offers informational movies about Alaska throughout the day in summer. On the edge of the center's parking lot is Antler Arch. Made from more than 100 moose and caribou antlers, it serves as a gateway to the bike and walking path along the Chena River.

Sprawling beneath the Ravenel Bridge, this beautifully landscaped green space invites lounging on the grass with views of Charleston Harbor. You can also take a path up to the bridge for a stroll. Find helpful info in the visitor center, chat with Gullah artists selling traditional baskets in the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Pavilion, and spend a quiet moment listening to the waterfall fountain in the Mount Pleasant War Memorial. Kids love the playground modeled after the Ravenel Bridge, and parents appreciate that it's fenced, with benches galore. A 1,250-foot-long pier stretches into the water—grab a milkshake from the River Watch Cafe and a seat on one of the double-sided swings to watch folks fishing for their supper. Better yet, rent a rod and bait from the pier's tackle shop and cast for your own.

This is perhaps the best re-creation anywhere of an Appalachian mountain farmstead. The nine farm buildings, all dating from the late 19th century, were moved in the 1950s to this site next to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center from various locations within the park. Besides a furnished two-story chestnut log cabin, there is a barn, apple house, corncrib, smokehouse, bee gums, springhouse, chicken coop, and other outbuildings. In season, corn, tomatoes, pole beans, squash, and other mountain crops are grown in the garden, and the park staff sometimes puts on demonstrations of pioneer activities, such as making apple butter and molasses. Two easy 1½-mile walking trails begin near the museum. Dogs on leashes are allowed on the trail but not within the farm grounds. Elk are sometimes seen grazing in the pastures adjoining the farm, and occasionally you may see white-tailed deer and wild turkeys. This is an extremely popular place to visit, but in the evening after the visitor center closes, you're likely to have it to yourself.

Rising to a height of 785 feet, Mt. Bonnell offers the best views of Lake Austin from its location a few miles northwest of downtown and the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Stop by during the day for a glimpse of the sweeping panorama of rolling hills, the Colorado River, the picturesque 360 Pennybacker Bridge, and a great far-off view of the downtown skyline on a clear day. It's a short but steep climb up a flight of stone steps from a strip of informal parking spots just off the road. There is another sloping, crushed gravel trail at the end of the parking spots that also leads to the top. Once you're at the humble summit, you'll find a diverse crowd of first dates, nature and portrait photographers, families, picnickers, and just plain old tourists. The trails are open from 5 am until 10 pm, so visitors can catch stunning sunrises or starry skies.

This park—established in 1915 as North Carolina's first state park—includes the 6,684-foot Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain peak east of the Rockies. At the 1,946-acre park you can drive nearly to the summit, where an observation tower provides panoramic views to as far as Clingmans Dome in the Smokies if clouds and haze aren't obscuring the horizon. The summit was named after Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who died from a fall while trying to prove the mountain's true height.

A 5.4-mile round-trip hike takes you to an old fire watchtower, rewarding you with amazing views. The route is steep, with an elevation gain of almost 2,000 feet, so you should consider this a strenuous challenging hike. Difficult.

A playground on top of a volcano cinder cone? Yup, that's here. The cinders, or glassy rock fragments, unearthed in this 190-acre park's construction were used to surface the respite's roads; the ones leading to the very top are closed to cars, but popular with cyclists. They're also popular with cruisers—each August there's an old-fashioned soapbox derby. Picnic tables and tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts make Mt. Tabor Park a popular spot for outdoor recreation, but plenty of quiet, shaded trails and wide-open grassy lawns with panoramic views of the Downtown skyline appeal to sunbathers, hikers, and nature lovers. The whole park is closed to cars on Wednesday.

A 620-foot-high double-decker torrent, the second-highest year-round waterfall in the nation, Multnomah is by far the most spectacular of the Gorge cataracts east of Troutdale. It's also incredibly popular, drawing some 2.5 million visitors annually. To help manage the sometimes excessive crowds, U.S. Forest Service has begun requiring visitors to obtain timed-use permits to visit the falls and drive the Waterfall corridor between late May and early September; you can reserve your ticket, which costs $2, at  recreation.gov. Access to the falls and Multnomah Lodge is via a parking lot at Exit 31 off Interstate 84, or via the Historic Columbia River Highway; from the parking area, a paved path winds to a bridge over the lower falls. A much steeper, also paved, 1.1-mile trail climbs to a viewing point overlooking the upper falls, and from here, unpaved but well-groomed trails join with others, allowing for hours of hiking in the rugged mountains above the Gorge. Even the paved ramble to the top will get your blood pumping.

The Arch's west entrance, facing 4th Street and the Old Courthouse, is flooded with bright natural light. From this glass atrium, you can access the visitor center, the underground museum, the lobby for the Tram Ride to the Top, the Tucker Theater, the Arch Café, and the Arch Store. The museum showcases more than 200 years of history, from the founding of St. Louis by French fur traders Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau in 1764 to the completion of the Arch in 1965. Huge digital maps, oversize murals, wall-size video screens, authentic soundscapes, interactive touch screens, and inclusive narratives bring all this history to life in six theme galleries: Jefferson’s Vision, Colonial St. Louis, The Riverfront Era, Manifest Destiny, Building the Arch, and New Frontiers. In the Tucker Theater, watch in awe as the last piece of the Arch is lowered into position in the 28-minute documentary, Monument to the Dream, produced by Charles E. Guggenheim and nominated for an Academy Award in 1967. The tram lobby features not only a replica tram car but also an exact 17-foot-wide replica of the Arch's top piece, the Keystone, with livestream video from the observation deck 630 feet above. Be sure to exit the visitor center via the north or south doors, so you can look up for a jaw-dropping view of the Arch towering overhead.

What this small three-gallery museum in the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) lacks in size and effects it more than makes up for in substance and style. You might not find interactive mannequins, elaborate displays, or overcrowded galleries at the self-declared "most fashionable museum in New York City," but you will find carefully curated, fun, and interesting exhibits. The Fashion and Textile History Gallery, on the main floor, provides context with a rotating selection of historically and artistically significant objects from the museum’s permanent collection of more than 50,000 garments and accessories (exhibits change every six months). The real draws, though, are the special exhibitions in the lower-level gallery. Gallery FIT, also on the main floor, is dedicated to student and faculty exhibitions.

This expansive history-lover's haven has exhibits representing the life and cultures of the region and sponsors an annual show on ranching handiwork (such as saddles, reins, and spurs) held in conjunction with the Cowboy Poetry Gathering each February. The map collection is renowned.

The two buildings of the National Gallery hold one of the world's foremost art collections, with paintings, sculptures, and graphics dating from the 13th to the 21st centuries. Opened in 1941, the museum was a gift to the nation from Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon. The rotunda, with marble columns surrounding a fountain, sets the stage for the masterpieces on display in more than 100 galleries.

Ginevra de' Benci, the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci on display in the Americas, is the centerpiece of the collection's comprehensive survey of Italian Renaissance paintings and sculpture. Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer, masters of painting light, anchor the magnificent collection of Dutch and Flemish works. The 19th-century French Galleries house gorgeous impressionist masterworks by such superstars as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas.

Walk beneath flowering trees in the sculpture garden on the Mall between 7th and 9th Streets. Granite walkways guide you through a shaded landscape featuring works from the gallery's growing collection and loans for special exhibitions.

There are many free docent-led tours every day, and a recorded tour of highlights of the collection is available free on the main floor adjacent to the rotunda. The Information Room maintains a database of more than 1,700 works of art from the collection.

One of the most popular museums in the nation's capital is perhaps best summed up with a quote by founding director Lonnie Bunch: "The African American experience is the lens through which we understand what it is to be an American." The museum serves as that lens, thanks to more than a dozen exhibitions that display nearly 3,000 historical artifacts, documents, photographs, memorabilia, and media.

The building's structure resembles nothing else on the Mall. The shape of its bronze-color corona was inspired by a Nigerian artist's carving, prominently displayed in one of the galleries. The corona's filigree design was patterned after railings made by enslaved 19th-century craftsmen. The museum's three tiers are hung at the same angle as the Washington Monument's capstone (it makes for a dramatic photo). Powerful quotes from African Americans are strategically placed throughout the space. The museum divides into two parts: 60% is underground, and the remaining 40% is aboveground. Lower-level exhibits showcase a somber and wrenching historical timeline from slavery through civil rights. Aboveground galleries celebrate the cultural contributions of African Americans.

To best experience this museum, start at the underground Concourse History Galleries. Here you'll see a portion of a slave ship that broke apart off Cape Town, South Africa, in a 1794 shipwreck that drowned 212 people; a 19th-century, Edisto Island, South Carolina, slave cabin that was occupied until 1980; the original casket of 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly flirting with a white woman; a railcar with its very different first-class and "colored" sections; and a biplane used to train the Tuskegee Airmen who fought in WWII. Also on the main concourse level is the 350-seat Oprah Winfrey Theater, which hosts musical performances, lectures and discussions, film presentations, and other programming. The Center for African American Media Arts is on the second floor, where visitors can research their families in a genealogy center.

The third- and fourth-floor galleries explore the achievements of African Americans. Highlights include sports memorabilia like Jesse Owens's cleats, Michael Jordan's 1996 jersey, Joe Louis's gloves, Muhammad Ali's robe, Gabby Douglas's leotard, and nine Olympic medals won by Carl Lewis. Other of the collection's many gems include a lobby card from the 1967 movie Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Louis Armstrong's trumpet, Michael Jackson's sequined jacket, and the jacket and skirt that Marian Anderson wore when she performed a 1939 concert from the Lincoln Memorial.

You must have a timed pass to enter the museum. Same-day timed passes are available online daily beginning at 6:30 am. A limited number of walk-up passes are given out weekdays beginning at 1 pm, but they go fast. Download the NMAAHC mobile app to further enhance your visiting experience.

Visually and conceptually, the National Museum of the American Indian stands apart from the other cultural institutions on the Mall. The exterior, clad in Minnesota limestone, evokes a sense that wind and water carved the building. Inside, four floors of galleries cover 10,000 years of history of the western hemisphere's indigenous tribes. Nevertheless, only a small portion of the museum's holdings are on display at any time. Live music, dance, theater, and storytelling are central to experiencing this museum. Tribal groups stage performances in the Rasmuson Theater and sunlit Potomac atrium. Americans, a permanent exhibition, reveals how Native Americans exist in unexpected ways in the history, pop culture, and identity of the United States. Other rotating exhibits explore the many indigenous groups throughout the Americas.

Visit between 11 and 2 on a sunny day to see the Potomac atrium awash in rainbows created by the light refracted through the southern wall's prisms, which are aligned to show the passage of time with specific patterns marking the equinoxes and solstices. The museum's family-friendly imagiNATIONS Activity Center includes hands-on activities throughout the year. For those looking for a quick bite, check out their award-winning restaurant, whose menu takes you from Canada to South America, exploring the diverse cuisine of the indigenous groups. It's a favorite lunch spot for many locals working in the area.

The glassy atrium of this 120,000-square-foot homage to the military's finest soars into the sky next to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The design was inspired by the iconic photograph of marines lifting the American flag on Iwo Jima. Inside the museum, visitors can experience the life of a marine. The museum is an interactive experience and has a staggering collection of tanks, aircraft, rocket launchers, and other weapons. There is even a rifle range simulator, where guests of all ages can learn how to hold a laser rifle and practice hitting targets. Service animals are welcome inside the museum, and pets are permitted on the grounds (look for designated relief areas).

Two unoccupied 13th-century cliff pueblos, Betatakin and Keet Seel, stand under the overhanging cliffs of Tsegi Canyon. The largest ancient dwellings in Arizona, these stone-and-mortar complexes were built by Ancestral Puebloans, obviously for permanent occupancy, but abandoned after less than half a century.

The well-preserved, 135-room Betatakin (Navajo for "ledge house") is a cluster of cliff dwellings from AD 1250 that seem to hang in midair before a sheer sandstone wall. When discovered in 1907 by a passing American rancher, the apartments were full of baskets, pottery, and preserved grains and ears of corn—as if the occupants had been chased away in the middle of a meal. For an impressive view of Betatakin, walk to the rim overlook about ½ mile from the visitor center. Ranger-led tours on either a 3- or 5-mile trail take between three and five hours to complete and require a 700-foot descent into the canyon. These trips leave at 7 am on weekends from late May to early September. No reservations are accepted; a signup sheet will be posted in the visitor center for interested hikers on a first-come-first-serve basis. 

Keet Seel (Navajo for "broken pottery") is also in good condition in a serene location, with 160 rooms and 5 kivas dating from AD 950. Explorations of Keet Seel, which lies at an elevation of 7,000 feet and is 8½ miles from the visitor center on foot, are currently not offered.

In a little more than 14 miles, Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) climbs more than 3,500 feet, from Gatlinburg to the gap through the crest of the Smokies at 5,046 feet. It takes you through Southern cove hardwood, pine oak, and Northern hardwood forests to the spruce fir forest at Newfound Gap. This is the primary route through the park. There are mile markers starting at the park entrance near Gatlinburg. The Sugarlands Visitor Center is at mile marker 1.7. At Newfound Gap (mile marker 14.7), you can straddle the Tennessee–North Carolina state line and also hike some of the Appalachian Trail.

On the west side of Raleigh, the NCMA houses more than 5,000 years of artistic heritage, including one of the nation's largest collections of Jewish ceremonial art. The museum hosts touring exhibitions of works by such artists as Caravaggio and Rodin. There are gallery tours offered daily, and on Saturdays at 10:30 you can catch a guided tour of the surrounding park. The 164-acre park features nine monumental works of art, which visitors can view on foot or by bike.

With seven floors of immersive exhibits spread across two buildings connected via sky bridge, this museum is the largest of its kind in the Southeast. Exhibits and dioramas celebrate the incredible diversity of species in the state's various regions. There are enough live animals and insects—including butterflies, snakes, and a two-toed sloth—to qualify as a midsize zoo. Massive and rare whale skeletons hang from the ceiling. The pièce de résistance, however, is the Terror of the South exhibit, featuring the dinosaur skeleton of "Acro," a giant carnivore that lived in the region 110 million years ago. The impressive bones are the world's most complete Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur skeleton. In the Nature Research Center, visitors can have live conversations with scientists.

Wide concrete pathways loop through and around this 7.5-acre section of the national park, where a natural grass amphitheater is the site of concerts and other events throughout the year, including Blues at the Arch every August. The north section is also home to the Explorers’ Garden, which is planted with flora that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered on their journey west and features paths scaled for children. Enjoy incredible views of the Arch, the city skyline, and Eads Bridge, which was completed in 1874, making it not only the world's first all-steel span but also the oldest bridge over the Mississippi River.

One of North Portland's strips of indie retailers, the liveliest section of North Mississippi Avenue stretches for several blocks and includes a mix of old storefronts and sleek new buildings that house cafés, brewpubs, collectives, shops, music venues, and an excellent food-cart pod, Prost! Marketplace. Bioswale planter boxes, found-object fences, and café tables built from old doors are some of the innovations you'll see along this eclectic thoroughfare. About a 10-minute walk east and running parallel to North Mississippi, the bike-friendly North Williams corridor is a more recently developed area of almost entirely new, eco-friendly buildings and condos rife with trendy restaurants.

You can learn all about this Victorian-era seaport, one of only three such places on the register of National Historic Sites, at this striking contemporary building on the waterfront; it's the center of operations for the Wooden Boat Foundation, which stages the annual Wooden Boat Festival each September. The center has interactive exhibits, hands-on sailing instruction, boatbuilding workshops, a wood shop, and a pilot house where you can test navigational tools. Engaging history and wildlife cruises ($22) of Port Townsend Bay are given on summer Saturdays on the Admiral Jack catamaran. You can launch a kayak or watch sloops and schooners gliding along the bay from the boardwalk, pier, and beach that front the buildings. There's also an excellent gift shop, The Chandlery, and a cheerful coffee bar, Velocity.

On a small island just off the tip of Cape Neddick, Nubble Light is one of the most photographed lighthouses on the globe. Direct access is prohibited, but the small Sohier Park right across from the light has stunning coastal views, parking, historical placards, benches, and a seasonal information center that sells gifts and shares the 1879 light's history.