10451 Best Sights in USA

An 1867 granite lighthouse on the northern tip of Block Island (the fourth lighthouse on this site), North Light also serves as a maritime museum. The surrounding Block Island National Wildlife Refuge is home to American oystercatchers, piping plovers, and other rare migrating birds. From a parking lot at the end of Corn Neck Road, it's a ½-mile hike over sand to the lighthouse. Seals sun themselves on nearby Sandy Point in winter, and some even summer here.

Choose from more than 240 access points to this beach, which is populated with fewer sunbathers than Myrtle Beach—especially farther south and north of Main Street's stretch of beachfront. Ocean Park, at 101 South Ocean Boulevard, offers a nice setting, with a beachfront picnic shelter and a giant, 40-foot-tall inflatable triple waterslide, dubbed the Trippo, open in summer (rides are $3). Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (metered); showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: sunrise; surfing; swimming; walking; windsurfing. 

Held rain or shine every Thursday (3 to 7:30 pm), this weekly market features more than 50 vendors selling everything from locally grown produce to fresh flowers, arts and crafts, and an impressive selection of gourmet foods. Grab a bite, get your face painted, and enjoy some live music by local performers. Save yourself a parking headache and use the adjacent North Park Parking Garage for $1/hour or $5/day.

This small facility on the park's North Rim is open sporadically and only in summer. Rangers can provide information and assistance and can issue permits for wilderness use and rock climbing. If rangers are out in the field, which they often are, guests can find directions for obtaining permits posted in the station.

Offering great views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the 3-mile (each way) North Rim Trail runs from Inspiration Point to Chittenden Bridge. Particularly fetching is the ½-mile section of the North Rim Trail from the Brink of the Upper Falls parking area to Chittenden Bridge that hugs the rushing Yellowstone River as it approaches the canyon. This trail is paved and fully accessible between Lookout Point and Grand View, and it can be accessed at numerous points along North Rim Drive. Moderate.

Inside a former powerhouse, the museum displays a 32-foot-high Pelton Water Wheel said to be the largest ever built. The wheel, used to power mining operations, was a forerunner of modern turbines that generate hydroelectricity. Other exhibits document life in the mines and the environmental effects mining had on the area. You can picnic nearby.

While planning for a new visitor center facility is underway, this unit is being housed in temporary trailers. It still offers park information and a park film. Amenities include restrooms and a gift shop. It's open daily except for Christmas and New Year's Day.

The 14-mile, two-way drive follows rugged terrain above spectacular views of the canyons, and is flanked by more than a dozen turnouts with interpretive signs. Notice the slump blocks, massive segments of rock that have slipped down the cliff walls over time. Farther along pass through badlands coulees, deep-water clefts that are now dry. There's a good chance of meeting bison, mule deer, and bighorn sheep along the way; also keep an eye out for longhorn steers, just like the ones you would see in Texas.

The round-trip hike to Exclamation Point is 3 miles; a more difficult foray to the top of 8,563-foot Green Mountain (a mesa, really) is 7 miles. The trail leads you along the North Rim; keep an eye out for especially gnarled pinyon pines—the North Rim is the site of some of the oldest groves of pinyons in North America, between 700 and 900 years old. Difficult.

The small center rescues and rehabilitates stranded, sick, and injured seals, sea lions, dolphins, and porpoises. Placards and kiosks provide information about marine mammals and coastal ecosystems, and even when the place is closed you can observe the rescued animals through a fence enclosing individual pools. Call the day of your visit to find out when feedings will occur.

Commonly called Dunraven Pass, this 19-mile segment of Grand Loop Road climbs to nearly 9,000 feet as it passes some of the park's finest scenery, including views of backcountry hot springs and abundant wildflowers. Near Tower Falls, the road twists beneath a series of leaning basalt columns from 40 to 50 feet high. That behemoth to the east is 10,243-foot Mt. Washburn.

Part of the Museum Campus, Northerly Island is a man-made peninsula in Lake Michigan. It's home to the Adler Planetarium as well as a 40-acre park, with walking and biking trails and the 12th Street Beach.

The company offers single and multiday winter aurora tours going north to the Arctic Circle and the Brooks Range.

The construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad was instrumental in opening up the West to settlers, and the arrival of the line in Missoula is a key point in the city's history. The depot, opened in 1901, is an example of the Renaissance Revival architecture that dominates the north end of downtown. Today, the depot houses private offices, but you can still look around inside, enjoy a picnic outside, and examine Crossings, a sculpture of giant red-enamel Xs representing railroad trestles over mountain ravines.

Built by Andrew Carnegie in 1914 as the village library, this structure now houses exhibits about the history, culture, and geography of Northport and its environs. Walking tours of Northport, educational programs, and lectures are offered.

Focusing on the history of African Americans in the Northwest, this museum housed in an old school building tells stories through a diverse collection of well-curated and insightful photos, artifacts, and compelling narratives. Past exhibits have included Xenobia Bailey: The Aesthetics of Funk, and The Test: The Tuskegee Project, focusing on the first African American aviation units in the U.S. military to serve in combat. One gallery is dedicated to the work of local artists. NAAM also hosts film screenings, talks, and other community events.

You can ring the old school bell at the Northwest Montana History Museum, housed in the Central School Building that served as the educational backdrop for students of the Flathead Valley for nearly 100 years. The museum hosts galleries, activities, and displays about regional heritage and history, including local Native American culture. You'll also find a café, a museum store, conference rooms, and a reference library.

Affectionately known as the MAC, the museum is in an impressive six-level glass-and-wood structure filled with audiovisual displays and artifacts that trace Spokane's history. There's also a fine Native American collection that includes baskets and beadwork of the Plateau nation. Wander to the adjacent Victorian home, the Campbell House, to admire the interior or view mining-era exhibits.

Erected in 1929, this triangular, 12-story art deco office building is the anchor of the North-Milwaukee–Damen intersection and is used as a reference point from miles around. According to the Chicago Tribune, some artists dubbed it the Coyote Building in the 1980s, because they thought that the base attaching the flagpole to the rest of the tower "resembled a coyote howling at the moon." The tower has a café on the ground floor, a hotel (The Robey Chicago), a rooftop lounge, and a club.

This spectacular, 723-acre wildlife park 30 miles southeast of Tacoma is devoted to native creatures of the Pacific Northwest. Walking paths wind through natural surroundings, and you can see beavers, otters, and wolverines; get close to wolves, foxes, coyotes; and observe several species of big cats and bears in wild environments. Another option is to book the separate Wild Drive Premier Tour, which lets you slowly explore the park grounds from your own car, near free-roaming bison, elk, mountain goats, caribou, and a female moose named Aspen. 

This private university, founded in 1851 by town namesake John Evans, puts Evanston on the map. Its sprawling Evanston campus hugs Lake Michigan. Strolling around its ivy-covered walls while listening to the crashing waves hitting the shore is a delightful experience. The campus is home to highly regarded undergraduate and graduate schools (the Medill School of Journalism and Kellogg School of Management among them) as well as the Block Museum of Art, which has more than 6,000 works in its permanent collection. Northwestern's Big Ten athletics program draws a mix of students and locals to games, especially when the Wildcats football team play.

One of the park's more interesting hikes, this 1½-mile round-trip trail takes you over moderately difficult terrain and up a ladder. Winds at the notch can be fierce, but it's worth lingering for the view of the White River Valley and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. With breaks to enjoy the views, you'll probably spend more than an hour on this hike. Moderate–Difficult.

Touring the south's largest existing antebellum mansion will give you an appreciation of the grandeur of the area's plantation homes, but Nottoway is lacking in the information it provides about slavery's central role in the construction and maintenance of the estate, and is also falling into some disrepair. Built in 1859, Nottoway's mansion is Italianate in style, with 64 rooms, 22 columns, and 200 windows. The crowning achievement of architect Henry Howard, it was saved from destruction during the Civil War by a Northern officer (a former guest of the owners, Mr. and Mrs. John Randolph). An idiosyncratic, somewhat rambling layout reflects the individual tastes of the original owners and includes a grand ballroom, famed in these parts for its crystal chandeliers and hand-carved columns. You can stay at Nottaway overnight from Thursday through Sunday each week. A formal restaurant, which normally serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, is currently closed for renovations. The plantation is 2 miles north of its namesake, the town of White Castle (you'll understand how the town got its name when you see this vast, white mansion, which looks like a castle).

Located in the city's Arts District and home to artist's studios, galleries, shops, and a café, the Garage hosts special events throughout the year. It's also home to 1,200 square feet of gallery space for The Noyes Museum of Art and the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey.

About 140 miles southwest of Bethel and separated from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta by the Etolin Strait, Nunivak Island is part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The terrain includes interior craters and deep lakes from the island's volcanic origins, plus over 40 rivers and a tundra that gives way to shorelines and lagoons. The island sustains a large herd of reindeer managed by residents of the only permanent settlement on the island, the Cup'ik village of Mekoryuk. There's also a transplanted herd of musk ox, along with vast seabird colonies, migratory birds, and an array of sea mammals. For information on the island and travel options, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bethel.

This art center just a 10-minute drive from Grand Coteau overflows with creativity, with a busy monthly calendar that includes art classes, philosophy sessions, French-language gatherings, live music, and much more. They host a monthly drum circle on the first Saturday of the month, a unique singer-songwriters circle on the third Sunday of the month, as well as one-off live performances on scheduled evenings. Rotating artists have works on display for visitors to enjoy.

More than 9,100 modern and antique nutcrackers—some of them centuries old—are displayed in this museum, which in 2022 was added to Guinness World Records for having the world's largest nutcracker collection. You can also view exhibits on the region's Native American heritage and pioneer families presented by the Upper Valley Historical Society. The museum gift shop stocks nutcrackers of all sizes and in the likeness of all kinds of characters.

At one time, nearly 50 coal towns sprung up along the New River Gorge, including Nuttallburg. This prosperous community was founded by John Nuttall who saw the lucrative potential of this coal-rich region. Long-abandoned mining structures remain today, including the headhouse, coal conveyor, coke ovens, coal tipple, and the mine entrance.