3966 Best Sights in USA

Fascinating if dated, this museum showcases the largest collection of authentic ancient Egyptian artifacts on display in Western North America. Walk through a tunnel to reach a hidden burial chamber lined with murals, see a mummy more than 2,500 years old, try to figure out which animal mummies aren't what they appear to be, take a tomb tour, and learn about games ancient Egyptian children played. If that's not enough, the planetarium shows space films.

Kids love this butte that looks uncannily like the famed Peanuts beagle lying atop red rock instead of his doghouse. You can distinguish the formation from several places around town, including the mall in Uptown Sedona, but to get a clear view, venture up Schnebly Hill Road. Park by the trailhead on the left immediately before the paved road deteriorates to dirt. Marg's Draw, one of several trails originating here, is worthwhile, gently meandering 100 feet down-canyon, through the tortured desert flora to Morgan Road. Backtrack to the parking lot for close to a 3-mile hike.

Well-to-do Palo Alto and its intellectual neighbor, Stanford University, are about 35 miles south of San Francisco. Stanford's gorgeous grounds are home to a primordial-looking cactus garden, a stone river sculpture by Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy, wood carvings and indigenous artworks from Papua New Guinea, and an excellent art museum—the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts (open daily except Tuesday)—whose lawn is planted with bronze works by Auguste Rodin. Free one-hour walking tours of the campus leave daily at 11 and 3:15 from the visitor center.

The world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus was launched and commissioned in Groton in 1954 and spent her 25-year active career as a showpiece of U.S. technological know-how. She is permanently berthed at the Submarine Force Museum, where you're welcome to climb aboard and explore. The museum, outside the entrance to the submarine base, is a repository of artifacts, documents, and photographs detailing the history of the U.S. Submarine Force component of the U.S. Navy, and has educational and interactive exhibits.

At this hands-on, high-tech science museum, kids can engineer multicolored bacteria, attempt to steer themselves in a vehicle like ones astronauts use for forays outside the space station, experience earthquakes of different magnitudes, or design, build, and program a robot. The on-site domed IMAX theater shows a mix of nature programs and Hollywood blockbusters. Take a quick swing through the museum during the last hour and get a discounted rate.

The only place to see the triple-tier Umauma Falls, this kid-friendly 200-acre park has 14 waterfalls and a classy visitor center. Options include a zip and rappel, where zip liners can zip, swim, and rappel over caves, waterfalls, and pools; the standard zip adventure; and the zip and dip, a refreshing swim in a private waterfall pool after a nine-line zip. Visitors can also choose various à la carte adventures, such as a walk through the tropical grounds, a flume trail hike, kayaking, and a giant swing.