10457 Best Sights in USA

A handful of structures remain from the communities that existed before this park was established including three churches: Mammoth Cave Baptist Church, Good Spring Church, and Joppa Church. Joppa Church was established in 1862, but the present building was built around 1900. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. An outdoor exhibit gives some of its history.

Washington State University's outstanding Museum of Art has more than 4,000 pieces in its permanent collection, including works by regional, national, and international artists. Its six galleries showcase art from the university's collections and host visiting exhibits. The architecturally stunning building nicknamed the "Crimson Cube" opened in 2018.

Works from the 20th and 21st centuries are a specialty in these handsome galleries on the University of Oregon campus. They feature works by many leading Pacific Northwest artists, and European, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese works are also on view, as are 300 works commissioned by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s and '40s. You can also view an ever-changing collection of important works from private collections by internationally recognized artists through the museum's Masterworks On Loan program.

This 2-mile-long sandy beach has a view of Cape Cod across Nantucket Sound. Occasional food vendors and calm, warm waters make it a popular spot for families. Arrive early or late in high summer: the parking spots fill up quickly. It's best to bike, walk, or take the shuttle here. Amenities: parking (no fee). Best for: swimming.

An extraordinary example of Federal architecture, this 1803 residence and National Historic Landmark reflects the urban lifestyle of a well-to-do rice-planting family and the African people they enslaved. Engaging guided tours reveal a stunning spiral staircase, rooms that have been preserved in period style, and American, English, and French furniture from the early 19th century. While the tour is supposed to touch on urban enslavement, the amount of information provided about the lives of the hundreds of people enslaved by Manigault—including those forced to labor at this address—varies by docent. 

Outside, stroll through the artfully maintained period garden; unfortunately, most of the historic outbuildings were torn down long ago, now replaced with interpretive signs that note their former locations.

The house where General Joshua Chamberlain resided for 50 years is now a museum documenting the life of Maine’s most celebrated Civil War hero. In addition to playing an instrumental role in the Union Army's victory at Gettysburg, Chamberlain served as Maine's governor from 1867 to 1871 and as president of Bowdoin College from 1871 to 1883. There's also a statue of him across the street, on the edge of the Bowdoin College campus.

This visitor center, the most frequented of the park's four, has maps and interesting exhibits illustrating park geology, cultural and historic sites, and hiking and rock-climbing activities. There's also a small bookstore, café, restrooms with flush toilets, and rangers available to give advice.

Nebraska's major art museum exhibits a surprisingly impressive selection of paintings and sculptures from around the world, some of which dates back more than three millennia. Here you’ll find works by Titian, El Greco, Degas, Renoir, Monet, and more modern works by the likes of George Ault and Jackson Pollock. Outside the museum, there’s a grassy sculpture garden with fountains and reflecting pools as well as the colorful “Discovery Garden,” which celebrates discovery through creation, inspiration, exploration, and education.

Figment, a fun-loving dragon, takes you on a sensory adventure designed to engage your imagination through sound, illusion, gravity, dimension, and color. After the ride you can check out Image Works, where several interactive displays allow you to further stretch your imagination. Although this ride is geared to smaller kids, there are a few bangs and a brief period of darkness. Though Disney hasn't announced anything, there is constant speculation that this attraction is going to be updated or closed during the EPCOT renovations. For people with disabilities: Ride and Image Works are wheelchair accessible. Equipped for handheld-captioning and audio-description devices.

The interactive exhibits at this museum explore the history of the Black Hills from the age of the dinosaurs to the days of the pioneers. Its five permanent collections cover Native American and pioneer history, geology, paleontology, and archaeology. Special programming and exhibitions occur throughout the year.

One of the last remaining sections of old-growth forests in Appalachia has incredible 400-year-old yellow poplars that measure as large as 20 feet in circumference, along with huge hemlocks, oaks, and sycamores. Don't expect sequoias, but you're still likely to turn a corner on the trail and gasp with amazement at the scale of these behemoths. If you haven't seen a true virgin forest, you can only imagine what America must have looked like in the early days of settlement. A two-mile trail, moderately strenuous, takes you through wildflower- and moss-carpeted areas. During June, the parking lot is an excellent spot to see the light shows of the synchronous fireflies, which blink off and on in unison.

Get a quick overview of Houston by taking in the entire urban panorama from the 60th-floor observation deck of Texas's tallest building (weekdays 8–5). Architect I. M. Pei designed this 75-story structure, built in 1981.

A 110-acre urban wildlife habitat, this marshy wetland is the perfect spot to don your binoculars to spot songbirds, shorebirds, turtles, beavers, and other small mammals. Interpretive signs are located throughout the park for self-guided tours along paved trails and boardwalks; or take one of the guided tours conducted by volunteer park rangers from the Eastside Audubon Society on the first Sunday each month. Just to the north of Juanita Bay Park is Juanita Beach Park, a great spot for picnicking, sunbathing, and swimming. On Friday nights, June through September, there's a farmers' market.

A five-story cast-iron building from 1870, 101 Spring Street was the New York home and studio of minimalist artist Donald Judd. Although SoHo used to be home to many single-use cast-iron buildings, this designated historic building is one of the few that remain. Judd bought it in 1968, and today, guided 75-minute tours (book online, as early as possible, since tours sell out weeks in advance) explore his living and working spaces, offset with art installations arranged prior to his death in 1994. Note that climbing five flights of stairs is required and photos aren’t allowed.

The tame, deserted Judith flows more than 60 miles from the Lewis and Clark National Forest through arid plains and sandy mesas before emptying into the Missouri. The scenery is stunning, but the variably low water levels and stifling hot summer sun are not conducive to float trips. This is, however, excellent fossil-hunting ground, and the Judith River Dinosaur Institute sponsors frequent digs here. Most of the land surrounding the river is private, though, so check before you start wandering the banks looking for bones. As always, remember to leave fossils where you find them, and report anything significant to the Dinosaur Institute.

The city’s oldest park is a verdant 89-acre playground that's home to a zoo, kid-friendly Discovery Center, Boise Art Museum, and two museums of Idaho’s history. In September it's the venue for the Art in Park festival. A rose garden and duck pond with paddleboats also make it a popular retreat worthy of a picnic for an all-day adventure. The park is on the leafy Boise River Greenbelt, a paved 25-mile pathway that runs along the Boise River, links the “String of Pearls” park circuit, and connects to downtown.

The park provides fine hiking, from an easy ½-mile stroll with marvelous coastal views to a strenuous 6-mile trek through redwoods. The big draw here, an 80-foot waterfall that drops into the ocean, gets crowded in summer; still, it's an astounding place to contemplate nature. Migrating whales, harbor seals, and sea lions can sometimes be spotted just offshore.  Trails east of Highway 1 and beach access to McWay Falls were closed in 2023 due to storm damage; check the website for updates.

Contemporary art dealers have adopted this strip in the Warehouse District as their own. The street is lined with galleries and specialty shops, with the greatest concentration stretching from South Peters Street to St. Charles Avenue. On the first Saturday evening of each month, gallery owners throw open their doors to show off new exhibits to the accompaniment of wine, music, and general merriment. During White Linen Night in August and Art for Art's Sake in October, the galleries welcome visitors with artist receptions and live entertainment.

Although lights are out by 10 pm, this brewery might be the closest thing to nightlife in Julian. On tap are craft farmhouse-style beers along with small plates and bar bites when you need to sober up. The cheesesteaks are heaped with Texas brisket, onions, green peppers, and house cheese sauce, all rolled into a split grilled roll.  As the largest venue on Main Street, they have games, events, and plenty of indoor–outdoor seating for you and your crew. Live music draws a crowd on Friday and Saturdays from 6 to 9 pm.

When the gold mines in Julian played out, the mobs of gold miners who had invaded it left, leaving behind discarded mining tools and empty houses. Today the Julian Pioneer Museum, a 19th-century brewery, displays remnants of that time, including pioneer clothing, a collection of old lace, mining tools, and original photographs of the town's historic buildings and mining structures.

This early-19th-century town house, attributed to William Jay, was designated in 1965 as Savannah's first National Historic Landmark. "Daisy" Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, was born here in 1860, and the house is now owned and operated by the Girl Scouts of America. Mrs. Low's paintings and other artwork are on display in the house, restored to the style of 1886, the year of Mrs. Low's marriage. Droves of Girl Scout troops make the regular pilgrimage to Savannah to see their founder's birthplace and earn merit badges. In addition to its value as a pilgrimage site for Girl Scouts, the home is a beautiful look into the lives of Savannahians during the Victorian era. Tickets sell fast, so book in advance if you want to tour the house on a specific day.

In 1861, pretzel maker Julius Sturgis opened America's first pretzel bakery. These days, the original site, a stone house on the National Register of Historic Places, operates guided tours and a hands-on lesson in pretzel twisting. An on-site bakeshop has souvenirs and fresh pretzels. Tours with lessons are by appointment only.

Heading south, U.S. 395 intersects the June Lake Loop. This gorgeous 16-mile drive follows an old glacial canyon past Grant, June, Gull, and Silver lakes before reconnecting with U.S. 395 on its way to Mammoth Lakes.  The loop is especially colorful in fall.

Exhibits at this city-run museum interpret pioneer, mining, and Tlingit history. A diorama of a fire assay lab shows how the Bureau of Mines measured the gold content of rock samples, and there's a reconstructed Tlingit fish trap. Pioneer artifacts include a century-old store and kitchen. Digital story kiosks shed light on Alaska's quest for statehood, how government works here, civil rights in Alaska, and the cultures of Juneau. In the hands-on room, youngsters can try on clothes similar to ones worn by the miners and look at gold-rush stereoscopes. Engaging historic walking tours of downtown ($31.50) take place three times a week from May through September; other tours, scheduled periodically, include a stroll along the historic Treadwell Mine Trail.

Cruise through three continents and along four rivers: the Congo, the Nile, the Mekong, and the Amazon. The canopied launches are loaded, the safari-suited guides spin the helm, and the Irrawady Irma or Mongala Millie is off for another "perilous" journey. The guide's shtick is surprisingly funny in a wry and cornball way, provided he or she has mastered the art of enunciation. Along the way, you'll encounter Disney's famed Audio-Animatronics creatures of the African veld: bathing elephants, slinky pythons, an irritated rhinoceros, and a bunch of hyperactive hippos. Then there's Old Smiley, the crocodile, who's always waiting for a handout—or, as the guide quips, "a foot out."

The animals are early generation and crude by Disney standards—anyone who's seen the real thing at the Animal Kingdom or even a good zoo won't be impressed. Unless you're an old-school Disney fan, the Jungle Cruise isn't really worth longer than a 45-minute wait. For people with disabilities: Several boats have lifts that allow wheelchair access. The ride is equipped for assisted-listening, and sign language is provided some days.  Don't go after dark—you miss too much.

This 170-acre botanical garden and bird sanctuary has trails through stands of wisteria, palms, lilies, irises, and ferns, and offers a lovely perspective on south Louisiana wilderness. Bird life includes white egrets and Louisiana herons, and there's also a 900-year-old statue of Buddha. These gardens belonged to Edward Avery McIlhenny, the son of the Tabasco company's founder, who brought back plants from his travels: lotus and papyrus from Egypt, bamboo from China. You can park your car at the beginning of the trails and strike out on foot, or drive through the gardens and stop at will.

Children 12 and younger can learn more about the park's extensive human, animal, and geologic history as they train to become a Junior Ranger.

Educational activities aimed at younger visitors include the chance to earn a Junior Ranger badge. Kids do so by attending at least one nature program and completing the free Junior Ranger Handbook, available at visitor centers and the Zion Human History Museum.

This self-guided program for kids of all ages is taught through a free booklet of nature-based activities (available at visitor centers). Upon completion of the course, kids are given a Junior Ranger badge or patch.

Kids ages 6–12 learn about Crater Lake while earning a Junior Ranger patch in daily activities in summer at the Rim Visitor Center, and year-round they can earn a badge by completing the Junior Ranger Activity Book, which can be picked up at either visitor center.