10457 Best Sights in USA

Don't miss visiting the Austin Public Library's flagship branch, a striking architectural wonder reflecting the natural beauty of the Hill Country and affording beautiful views of Lady Bird Lake from the landscaped rooftop terrace. Wander through the six-floor structure, free of charge, filled to the brim with modern accoutrements that turn reading into a stimulating experience. There are art galleries, amphitheater seating for concerts and community events, kids' play areas, gaming and computer stations, and hundreds of cozy nooks and crannies to hide away with a book. On-site garage parking is easy to validate inside, and the first-floor gift shop is packed with lovely literary and Austin-centric keepsakes.

The spare, glass-walled, Japanese-inspired tasting room of this much-admired producer of Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs—the name is French for "author"—sits on a knoll overlooking a few acres of its vines and those of neighbors below. The adjacent shaded patio shares the same glorious view. Marquee vineyards from Mendocino County to Santa Barbara supply grapes for the wines that owner-winemaker Kenneth Juhasz intentionally crafts to express vintage and place of origin—a single vineyard or multiple ones from the same appellation—rather than hewing to a particular house style. Hosts of Be Here Now tastings pour these well-authored wines blind, allowing guests to contemplate the nuances on their own before explaining them. Other tastings, some with cheeses selected by Juhasz's wife, Laura, a former cheesemaker, proceed more traditionally.

Kenneth Juhasz, whose résumé includes an extended run at Sonoma's The Donum Estate and experiences in Burgundy, Oregon, and New Zealand, is the creative force behind this winery known for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Tastings of his singular wines unfold north of Sonoma Plaza in a magnolia-shaded 1915 Craftsman-style bungalow the original owners ordered from a Sears Roebuck catalog or in the cedar-paneled former garage out back. Reservations are appreciated, especially on weekends.  In 2025, the winemaker and his wife and cofounder, Laura Juhasz, opened a second tasting room in the Russian River Valley.

On a busy day in summer, only a handful of parties will fill out the trail register at the Avalanche Peak trailhead, so if you're seeking solitude, this is your hike. Starting across from a parking area on the East Entrance Road, this rigorous 4.2-mile, four-hour round-trip climbs 2,150 feet to the peak's 10,566-foot summit, from which you'll see the rugged Absaroka Mountains running north and south. Look around the talus and tundra near the top of Avalanche Peak for alpine wildflowers and butterflies. From early September to late June, the trail is often impassable due to snow, and fall also can see grizzly bear activity. Stick to summer. Difficult.

This stunning thrill ride puts you atop a dragonlike mountain banshee for the ride of your life. After a trek deep into the jungles of Pandora, you enter a room where scientists pair banshees with visitors. On instruction, you board a vehicle resembling a motorcycle that faces a blank wall. After hopping on, you don special 3-D goggles, the action begins, and you are one with your banshee. You feel it come to life beneath you, as Pandora comes to life before your eyes. The banshee's wing muscles pump as you hurtle down cliff faces and soar above the floating islands familiar from the film. The visuals are breathtaking, with dense jungles, seascapes, vast waterfalls, and alien plant life passing rapidly before your eyes. Even more astonishing, however, are the subtle smells and temperature changes that accompany different landscapes, immersing you totally in the experience. For guests with disabilities: Guests must transfer to a standard wheelchair and then on to ride vehicle. Individual Lightning Lane pass is highly recommended here, especially during summer and holiday times.

Some of Earth's tallest trees tower over this magnificent 32-mile stretch of two-lane blacktop, also known as Highway 254, that follows the south fork of the Eel River through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The highway runs more or less parallel to U.S. 101 from Phillipsville in the south to the town of Pepperwood in the north. A brochure available at either end of the highway or the visitor center, 2 miles south of Weott, contains a self-guided tour, with short and long hikes through various groves.

A trail at Founders Grove passes by several impressive trees, among them the fallen 362-foot-long Dyerville Giant, whose root base points skyward 35 feet. The tree can be reached via a short trail that begins 4 miles north of the visitor center. About 6 miles north of the center lies the 10,000-acre Rockefeller Forest, containing the world's largest concentration of old-growth coastal redwoods.

Opened in fall of 2022 in a stylish 33,000-square-foot building, this new hometown headquarters of the spirit that helped turn Portland into a craft distilling mecca offers 30-minute tours (by reservation only) of the state-of-the-art production areas, a tasting of both the gin and a cocktail in which it's used, and even a peek inside the office of actor and co-owner Ryan Reynolds.

Three entrepreneur-investor types established AXR with a winemaker-partner, Jean Hoefliger, who describes a vineyard as "the soul of a wine" and his job in the cellar "to create an emotion." Hoefliger crafts multilayered Chardonnays from sourced grapes (including an often highly rated entrant from Sonoma County's Ritchie Vineyard) and dense yet supple 100% Cabernet Sauvignons. The collector-quality Cabs come from notable sites like Sleeping Lady in Yountville and the estate V Madrone Vineyard. Hosts at one-on-one tastings convey the passion, science, and experience underlying Hoefliger's wines and the history of the redwood-studded AXR property. Some sessions unfold in a renovated barn, others in an 1876 house once part of a pre-Prohibition restaurant and inn that thrived here.  This is the Napa Valley at its low-key classiest.

With interesting varietals and sangrias, a hip vibe, and bottomless bowls of Cheetos to accompany tastings, AZ Hops & Vines rocks the Sonoita wine-tour scene. This spunky, women-owned, and family-friendly winery, which often hosts weekend events, boasts indoor and outdoor seating, games, and a petting zoo.

Guides helming vintage Land Rovers conduct spellbinding tours of this sanctuary for zebras, giraffes, antelopes, and other endangered African hoof stock. The self-guided tour in your own car costs less, but the guided one, slightly more expensive, is recommended for the personal touch and closer-up access and timing to giraffe-feeding time.  Reservations are a must for visits to the preserve, which maintains three cottages for overnight stays.

The chefs take center stage at this boutique winery’s open-hearth kitchen, and with good reason: creating food-friendly wines is B Cellars' raison d'être. Appointment-only visits to the hospitality space—all steel beams, corrugated metal, and plate glass—often begin with a tour of the culinary garden and a stop in the caves to sip a wine still aging in barrel. Highly recommended Oakville Trek tastings of wines paired with small “B Bites” are offered from Thursday to Monday. Charcuterie and cheeses accompany the wines poured at daily Elevage sessions surveying the Napa and Sonoma appellations that supply B Cellars fruit. Kirk Venge, whose fruit-forward style suits the food-oriented approach, crafts red and white blends and single-vineyard Cabernets from estate fruit and grapes from Beckstoffer and other noteworthy vineyards.

The boutique wineries of this energetic collective pour mostly Sonoma County wines inside and on patios of Spanish Mediterranean–style buildings bordering a large piazza. Music, art, and culinary events lend the dog- and kid-friendly space a village-square feel. Smith Story, Convene by Dan Kosta, and Dot make Pinot Noir; tasting at more than one reveals the roles of clones, locations, farming, and cellar strategies in the finished product. Comstock also produces a Pinot Noir, along with Zinfandels and a few other whites and reds. The Lopez family of Aldina Vineyards, who developed Bacchus Landing, specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon. So does The Setting, whose partners include Jesse Katz of nearby Aperture Cellars.

Winemakers compete for grapes from the Bacigalupi family, who planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Russian River Valley in 1964. Doing so was fairly novel then, but the decision proved prescient a dozen years later when the prize-winning Chardonnay at the 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting partially came from their grapes. Other wineries still purchase most of the fruit the Bacigalupis grow (the Zinfandel has also long been in demand), but they reserve 10% for wines hosts pour inside a shingled tasting room or on a tree-shaded patio nearby. Two recent additions worth inquiry are the Sauvignon Blanc and Brillante, an unusual sparkling wine containing honey from the property.   A family member leads Friday-morning vineyard hikes from May to October.

One of the city's most relaxing outdoor spaces, Back Cove Trail is a 3.6-mile paved loop with gorgeous views of the Cove, harbor, and downtown. It's a favorite route for walking, running, biking, and dog walking. Several benches and seasonal water fountains can be found along the trail.

The simplest drive is on two-lane Badlands Loop Road (Route/Highway 240). The drive circles from Exit 110 off I–90 through the park and back to the interstate at Exit 131. Start from either end and make your way around to the various overlooks along the way. Pinnacles and Yellow Mounds overlooks are outstanding places to examine the sandy pink- and brown-toned ridges and spires distinctive to the badlands. The landscape flattens out slightly to the north, revealing spectacular views of mixed-grass prairies. The Cedar Pass area of the drive has some of the park's best trails.

Covering about a quarter of the park, this 100-square-mile area is part of the country's largest prairie wilderness. About two-thirds of the Sage Creek region is mixed-grass prairie, making it the ideal grazing grounds for bison, pronghorn, and other native animals. The Hay Butte Overlook (2 miles northwest on Sage Creek Rim Road) and the Badlands Wilderness Overlook (1 mile south of the Pinnacles entrance) are the best places to get an overview of the wilderness area. Feel free to park at an overlook and hike your own route into the untamed, unmarked prairie.

At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater is the lowest spot of land in North America—and also one of the hottest. Stairs and wheelchair ramps descend from the parking lot to a wooden platform that overlooks a spring-fed pool, a small but remarkably persistent reminder that the valley floor used to contain a lake. Be sure to look across to Telescope Peak, which towers more than 2 miles above the landscape. You can continue past the platform on a broad, white path that peters out after 1 mile. Bring water and a hat since there's no shade whatsoever.

Your mouth is sure to drop to the floor the first time you lay eyes on this stunning structure, a nine-sided building that incorporates architectural styles and symbols from many of the world's religions. With its delicate lacelike details and massive dome, the Louis Bourgeois design emphasizes the 19th-century Persian origins of the Bahá'í religion. The formal gardens are as symmetrical and harmonious as the building they surround. The Bahá'í faith advocates spiritual unity, world peace, racial unity, and equality of the sexes. Stop by the welcome center to examine exhibits that explain it; you can also ask for a guide to show you around.

This 6-mile drive winds through thick stands of saguaros and past two picnic areas and trailheads to a few short hikes, including one to a petroglyph site. Although the road is unpaved and bumpy, it's a worthwhile trade-off for access to some of the park's densest desert growth. It's one-way between Hugh Norris Trail and Golden Gate Road, so if you want to make the complete circuit, travel counterclockwise. The road is susceptible to flash floods during the monsoon season (July and August), so check road conditions at the visitor center before proceeding. This loop route is also popular among bicyclists, and dogs on leash are permitted along the road.

West of the Golden Gate Bridge is a mile-long stretch of soft sand beneath steep cliffs, beloved for its spectacular views and laid-back vibe (read: small chance you'll see naked people here on the northernmost end). Its isolated location makes it rarely crowded, but many San Franciscans know that there is no better place to take in the sunset than this beach. Kids love climbing around the old Battery Chamberlin. This is truly one of those places that inspires local pride. Amenities: parking (no fee); toilets. Best for: nudists; solitude; sunsets.

This cool, contemporary museum at Artis–Naples displays provocative, innovative pieces, including renowned miniatures, antique walking sticks, works by modern and contemporary American and Mexican masters, and traveling exhibits. Dazzling pieces by glass artist Dale Chihuly include a fiery, cascading chandelier and an illuminated ceiling layered with many-hued glass bubbles, glass corkscrews, and other shapes that suggest the sea. This installation alone warrants a visit, but with three floors and 15 galleries, your cultural curiosity is sure to pique elsewhere, perhaps in the glass-domed conservatory. Reward your visual arts adventure with lunch at the on-site café.

In the middle of Newport Harbor is a charming community filled with quaint streets and multimillion-dollar cottages and homes with personal docks in their backyard. The island doesn't have a hotel, just vacation rentals available on VRBO and Airbnb. Stroll along Marine Avenue lined with picturesque cafés and apparel, decor, and souvenir stores. There are bicycle and walking paths encircling much of the island for an easy and scenic visit. 

To get here, you can either park your car on the mainland side of the PCH in Newport Beach and walk or bike over the bridge onto Marine Avenue, or take the Balboa Island Ferry.

Suspended an arm's length away on this antique merry-go-round is the brass ring that could earn you an extra free ride (it's one of the few carousels in the world that continue this bonus tradition). Hand-carved in 1910, the original menagerie carousel features colorful murals, big-band music, and bobbing animals including zebras, giraffes, and dragons; real horsehair was used for the tails.

Grab your flashlight before heading out from the Chaparral Trailhead parking lot for this 2.4-mile loop that takes you through the Balconies Caves. This trail is especially beautiful in spring, when wildflowers carpet the canyon floor. About 0.6 mile from the start of the trail, turn left to begin ascending the Balconies Cliffs Trail, where you'll be rewarded with close-up views of Machete Ridge and other steep, vertical formations; you may run across rock climbers testing their skills before rounding the loop and descending back through the cave. Easy–Moderate.

The stonework of this 40-room cliff dwelling is impressive, but you're likely to be even more awed by the skill it must have taken to reach this place. Perched in a sandstone cove 600 feet above the floor of Soda Canyon, Balcony House seems suspended in space. Even with modern passageways and trails, today's visitors must climb a 32-foot ladder and crawl through a narrow tunnel. Look for the intact balcony for which the house is named. The dwelling is accessible only on a ranger-led tour.

Reached by ferry from Southport, this beautiful 12,000-acre island resort is a self-contained, car-free community, complete with a grocery store, restaurants (Jules' Salty Grub, on the harbor, and AQUA, at the Shoals Club, are highlights), a marina, two B&Bs, two club complexes with restaurants and pools, and the gorgeous 18-hole George Cobb golf course. There are scores of rental properties, from shingled cottages to luxury homes. You can explore the semitropical island's maritime forest preserve and its 12 miles of deserted beaches on foot, by bicycle, or in a golf cart. Climb to the top of the quaint "Old Baldy" lighthouse, visit the Smith Island Museum to learn about the island's maritime history, watch the loggerhead turtles nest on the beach, or take a guided ghost walk. Walk out onto Cape Fear, the southern tip of the island where the infamous Frying Pan Shoals extend for 30 miles into the ocean, and you'll feel like you're standing on the edge of the continent—you are—and it becomes clear why so many shipwrecks have occurred in these shallow, shifting sands.  The 20-minute ferry ride costs $23 per person round-trip; for most of the year, it leaves Southport's Deep Point Marina on the hour and Bald Head Island on the half hour. Advance reservations are necessary for the ferry and resort. 

It's appropriate that one of Yakima Valley's top breweries is surrounded by hop fields. First planted in 1932 by the great-grandparents of the three siblings who now own it, the fields supply fresh hops to the beloved Topcutter IPA, Bottomcutter double IPA, and several other classic and seasonal brews. The "Dealer's Choice" sampler is a great reasonably priced way to sample a range of beers, either in the taproom, the heated glass-walled sunroom (it’s dog-friendly), or out on the patio and grassy lawn, complete with games and rotating food trucks doling short-order comfort fare.

This combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and film archive, known for its extensive collection of over 25,000 works of art and 18,000 films and videos, is also home to the world's largest collection of African American quilts. Artworks spans several centuries and include modernist notables Mark Rothko, David Smith, and Hans Hofmann. The Pacific Film Archive specializes in international films, offering regular screenings and performances. The architecture's contrast of art deco and a curvy stainless steel roof alone is worth a photo stop.

Seven centuries before the Declaration of Independence was signed, compact city-states existed in the Southwest. This 33,677-acre wilderness is home to a fascinating collection of preserved petroglyphs and cave dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people, relatives of today's Rio Grande Pueblo Indians, who thrived on wild game, corn, and beans. Suddenly, for reasons still undetermined, the settlements were abandoned.

Remnants of one of the most impressive examples of these dwellings can be seen at Frijoles Canyon. At the canyon's base, near a gurgling stream, the remains of cave dwellings, ancient ceremonial kivas, and other stone structures stretch out for more than a mile beneath the sheer walls of the canyon's tree-fringed rim. Along a paved, self-guided trail, steep wooden ladders and narrow doorways lead to a series of cave dwellings, one that contains a kiva large and tall enough to stand in. Named after author and ethnologist Adolph Bandelier (his novel The Delight Makers is set in Frijoles Canyon), it also contains backcountry wilderness, waterfalls, and wildlife. Some 70 miles of trails traverse the park; the short Pueblo Loop Trail is an easy, self-guided walk. Pick up the $2 trail guide at the visitor center to read about the numbered sites along this trek. A small museum in the visitor center interprets the area's prehistoric and contemporary Native American cultures, with displays of artifacts dating back to the 13th century.

Note that from mid-June to mid-October, visitors arriving by car between 9 am and 3 pm must park at the White Rock Visitor Center 10 miles east on NM 4 and take a free shuttle bus into the park. This sleek, eco-friendly visitor center also serves as a terrific resource for learning about local attractions. The modern, comfortable Hampton Inn & Suites Los Alamos is next door.

One section of the park, an Ancestral Puebloan ruin called Tsankawi (pronounced sank-ah-wee) lies 12 miles from the main section, on NM 4 just south of NM 502 (because it is part of Bandelier, you must pay the park admission to enter it). On the 1½-mile loop trail, you can see petroglyphs and south-facing cave dwellings, and there's a large, unexcavated pueblo ruin on top of the mesa.