10451 Best Sights in USA

Niagara Falls generates power at one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world (the largest in New York State). The visitor center, 4½ mi north of the falls, has more than 50 hands-on exhibits, including an operating model-size generator, and educational displays on energy efficiency and hydroelectric power generation. Atop the Robert Moses Power Plant, the visitor center has sweeping views of the Niagara Gorge.

The Niagara Scenic Trolley travels a 3-mi route through the park, picking up and dropping off passengers at six locations.

The Niagara USA Discovery Pass includes Niagara Scenic Trolley tickets and admission to the Aquarium of Niagara, Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, the Prospect Point Observation Tower, and the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center. It's available from the Prospect Park Visitor Center.

A scenic drive east of the Silverado Trail twists past Lake Hennessey to Nichelini, a throwback to Napa’s past, which bills itself as the county's oldest continuously family-owned and operated winery. Structures Anton Nichelini, an Italian-Swiss immigrant, built in the late 1800s still cling to a steep embankment where the road skirts a cliff. Anton's great-great-granddaughter Aimée Sunseri makes whites that include a sparkling wine, a barrel-fermented 100% Semillon named Caterina, after Anton's wife, and Muscadelle (aka Sauvignon Vert) from vines planted in 1946. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Bordeaux-style blends are the primary reds.

Sandier and less private than most of the rocky beaches surrounding it, this little beach is great for picnics. You can sit at a picnic table high up on a bluff overlooking the ocean or cast out a fishing line. Surfers call it Zero Beach because the waves take the shape of a hollow tube when winter swells peel off the reef. Peak weather attracts local food trucks. This site also hosts a 4-acre traditional Chumash village, which replicates a day in the life of the indigenous Chumash people, including their homes, canoes, handicrafts, and ceremonies. Request a guided tour in advance. Amenities: parking (fee); lifeguards; toilets; showers. Best for: solitude; surfing; walking; windsurfing.

An 1898 Upper West Side town house contains this small, eccentric museum dedicated to the work of Russian artist Nicholas Roerich, who immigrated to New York in the 1920s and quickly developed an ardent following. About 200 of his paintings hang here—notably some vast canvases of the Himalayas.

The only Mt. Vernon Street home open to the public, the Nichols House was built in 1804, and its design is attributed to Charles Bulfinch. It became the lifelong home of Rose Standish Nichols (1872–1960), Beacon Hill eccentric, philanthropist, peace advocate, and one of the first female landscape architects. Nichols inherited the Victorian furnishings, but she added a number of Colonial-style pieces to the mix, and the result is a delightful mélange of styles. To see the house, you must take a guided tour, and space is limited.

The former Centennial Railroad Depot now houses this museum at the eastern edge of town. The museum displays ranching, farming, and mining equipment, plus artifacts typical of what you'd find in a pioneer home; there's also an outdoor-equipment exhibit. Most of the items have been donated by local families. The museum is open Memorial Day through September.

Some of the best brew in San Diego is served at this little beer bar that occupies an old jail in Julian. Owner Tom Nickel is considered one of the most creative brewers in the region and is always cooking up new recipes that win accolades from judges and fans. There are 16 taps and contents change regularly. The Jalapeno Gold is peppery, the C. C. O'Neill's Irish Red is summery, and the Stonewall Stout is like a meal in itself. For something Julian-memorable, try the apple pie beer. If you're having trouble making your pick, go for the flight of six beers for $16. The patio is dog-friendly.

This imposing white mansion on Main Street was built in 1807 by Captain William Nickels to show off the wealth he'd amassed in shipbuilding and international cargo shipping, which brought prosperity to Wiscasset in the early 19th century. The high Federal-style structure went on to become a hotel until it was bought and restored by the Sortwell family at the beginning of the 20th century. Furnished with fine period antiques, its beautifully carved woodwork and flying staircase are testament to the artistic skills of Captain Nickels' shipwrights.

These 1,961 acres were once part of a vast estate belonging to Roland C. Nickerson, son of Samuel Nickerson, a Chatham native who founded the First National Bank of Chicago. Roland and his wife, Addie, lavishly entertained such visitors as President Grover Cleveland at their private beach and hunting lodge in English country-house style, with coachmen dressed in tails and top hats and a bugler announcing carriages entering the front gates. In 1934 Addie donated the land for the state park in memory of Roland and their son, who died during the 1918 flu epidemic.

The park consists of acres of oak, pitch-pine, hemlock, and spruce forest speckled with seven freshwater kettle ponds formed by glaciers. Some ponds are stocked with trout for fishing. You can swim, canoe, sail, and kayak in the ponds, and bicycle along 8 miles of paved trails that connect to the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Bird-watchers seek out the thrushes, wrens, warblers, woodpeckers, finches, larks, cormorants, great blue herons, hawks, owls, and ospreys. Red foxes and white-tailed deer are occasionally spotted in the woods. The over 400 campsites are extremely popular: reservations are necessary.

The first Black-owned gallery in New York, Nicola Vassell swung open its doors in May 2021 to great fanfare in the art world. The gallery's focus is on discourse that widens the lens of history and about the future of art with exhibitions by a diverse group of international artists. The space shows a cross-discipline of works using the mediums of film, painting, sculpture, and video installations.

A showcase for regional artists and mostly modern artwork, the Nicolaysen Art Museum also exhibits works by national artists. The building's early-20th-century redbrick exterior and contemporary interior are an odd combination, but this makes the museum all the more interesting. There are hands-on activities, classes, and children's programs, plus a research library and a Discovery Center.

This 15,000-seat amphitheater in Jones Beach State Park presents big-name musicians, including Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, and The King of Leon. It also hosts several large-scale music festivals. The concert season usually runs June through August and most concerts are rain or shine.

Modeled after the one in Beijing's Beihai Park, this wall is graced by nine large and 500 smaller dragons, all signifying good fortune.

Located just off the park's main road 11 miles north of Flamingo, this marked kayak trail leads through freshwater marsh and mangrove tunnels that make it a favorite spot for paddlers. You can rent a kayak or canoe at the Flamingo Marina or go on a ranger-led tour from the Flamingo Visitor Center. Don't be shocked if you see an alligator or two swimming nearby. In fact, be surprised if you don't.

Sprawling Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge is the place for bird-watchers. This 2,000-acre wetland complex in the shadow of the Mission Mountains is home to everything from marsh hawks to kestrels to red-winged blackbirds. Flanking both sides of U.S. 93 are rookeries for double-crested cormorants and great blue herons, and bald eagles fish here in the winter. Roads (including U.S. 93, where stopping is prohibited within the boundaries) through the center of the refuge are closed March through mid-July during nesting season, but you can drive along the periphery throughout the year. Maps are available from the nearby CSKT Bison Range, which manages Ninepipe.

Spring brings opportunities to view the male American woodcock's mating ritual at this 858-acre refuge, but bird-watchers flock here year-round to commune with nature among 4 miles of hiking trails and diverse upland and wetland habitats, including grasslands, shrublands, wooded swamps, and freshwater ponds. There's an abandoned naval air station on Ninigret Pond, the state's largest coastal salt pond, and a fine place to watch the sunset. Wear blaze orange while hiking between November and January, when permitted hunters are allowed to cull white-tailed deer. Explore an impressive collection of wildlife and natural history displays at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center on the southbound side of U.S. 1 at 50 Bend Road.

This 227-acre park off Old Post Road, formerly a World War II–era naval air training base, now features picnic grounds, ball fields, a playground, a bike path, tennis and basketball courts, a criterium bicycle course, nature trails, a disc-golf course, and a 3-acre spring-fed swimming pond (with lifeguards on duty in the summer). The Charlestown Seafood Festival is held here in August, and the excellent Rhythm & Roots concert festival rolls into the park every Labor Day weekend.

Equally popular in summer and winter, this trail is a 1¼-mile round-trip through subalpine meadows to an overlook point for Nisqually Glacier. The gradually sloping path is a favorite venue for cross-country skiers in winter; in summer, listen for the shrill alarm calls of the area's marmots. Easy.

Home to the NFL's Tennessee Titans, this stadium has played host to CMA Fest, Tennessee State University's home football games, and more recently, three record-breaking nights in May 2023 for Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Plans for a new stadium are in the works, but private tours of the current stadium can be scheduled for groups of 20 or less. The on-site Pro Shop is open daily.

Seven miles west of Marietta, this family-owned winery grows 14 varieties of French-hybrid and American grapes and produces 30 different wines, from dry to very sweet, plus some fruit wines. There are tours, tastings, and a shop with bottles for sale. You can picnic on the grounds, and in the summer there's a popular open-air concert series on the lawn.

The university's art museum displays both historic holdings—19th-century Mexican retablos, for example, representing the nation's's largest collection of this religious art form—and contemporary ones, such as Robert Rauschenberg lithographs.

Capsicum matters greatly to New Mexicans, and much of the research into this invaluable agricultural product takes place at NMSU's Chile Pepper Institute, where visitors can explore the Hall of Flame and the gift shop as well as the outdoor research garden. Guided tours are available by appointment.

This 18th-century farmhouse is the birthplace and childhood home of Noah Webster (1758–1843), the famed teacher, lawyer, early abolitionist, and author of the first American dictionary. Inside you'll find Webster memorabilia, period furnishings, and a one-room schoolhouse theater.

Adjacent to Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, 6.5-million-acre Noatak National Preserve encompasses much of the basin of the Noatak River. This is the largest mountain-ringed river basin in the country, and part of it is designated by the National Park Service as a Wild and Scenic River. The river carves out the "Grand Canyon of the Noatak" over 425 miles and serves as a migration route between arctic and subarctic ecosystems. Its importance to wildlife and plants has resulted in its designation as an International Biosphere Reserve. The Noatak River also serves as a natural highway for humans and has for thousands of years. These days, river runners head here because of its beauty, inviting tundra for camping, and good hiking in the nearby Poktovik Mountains and Igichuk Hills. Birding can be exceptional; horned grebes, gyrfalcons, golden eagles, parasitic jaegers, owls, terns, and loons are among the species you may see. You may also spot grizzly bears, Dall sheep, wolves, caribou, and lynx, as well as the occasional musk ox. The most frequently run part of the river, ending at Lake Machurak, is mostly an easy Class I–III paddle. As with other parks and preserves in this northwest corner of Alaska, no visitor facilities are available and you are expected to be self-sufficient. Do not forget first-aid supplies, clothing for all conditions, and precautions for being on the water and around wildlife. Most trips on the Noatak use the inland town of Bettles as a gateway.

Erected by Freemasons in 1957, the hall is familiar to locals mostly as a concert and lecture venue, where such notables as Van Morrison and Trevor Noah have appeared. But you don't need a ticket to check out the outdoor war memorial or artist Emile Norman's impressive lobby mosaic. Mainly in rich greens and yellows, it depicts the Masons' role in California history.

This recently constructed green space provides a welcome oasis in the middle of this high-rise district. A large shaded patio peppered with tables makes for an ideal spot to chow down on takeout from a nearby restaurant, and there are plenty of benches and even wooden loungers for soaking up some Southern sun. In the warmer months, the park hosts movie and music nights along with the occasional market.

This imposing lighthouse has spectacular views from its base of the nearby Elizabeth Islands and of Martha's Vineyard, across Vineyard Sound. The 42-foot cast-iron tower, lined with brick, was built in 1876 with a stationary light. It shines red to indicate dangerous waters or white for safe passage. Friends of Nobska Light, a nonprofit group, has carefully restored the structure, converting the lighthouse keeper's house into a museum. The grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk for sightseeing, though parking is very limited. Best to arrive by bike along the scenic bike path.  Tower tours are offered Tuesday and Thursday from 10--12:15 in season. 

In 1985, the Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904–88) transformed this former industrial plant into a showcase for his modernist and earlier works. A peaceful central garden is surrounded by galleries, showing a comprehensive selection of Noguchi’s sculptures in stone, metals, paper, and ceramics, as well as architectural models, drawings, designs, and photographs. Temporary exhibits rotate, like their 40th anniversary exhibit, along with collaborations with other artists. The museum is about a mile from subway stops, but less than half a mile from the Astoria stop on the NYC Ferry; check the website for complete directions.