10405 Best Sights in USA

In a quiet Cape Ann town 32 miles north of Boston, this beach gets its name from the musical squeaking sound its gold-color sand makes when you step on it. The beach is popular with both locals and out-of-towners in summer, but parking is quite limited and near impossible for nonresidents. It's also worth a visit in fall, when the crowds have gone home and you'll have the splendid shores all to yourself. There's a snack bar at the beach, but it's worth taking a 10-minute stroll up Beach Street into town. The easiest, and cheapest, way to get here is by MBTA's Newburyport/Rockport Commuter Rail line from Boston's North Station to the Manchester stop, which is a 15-minute walk from the beach. From downtown Boston the train takes 45 minutes. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

Winding down the forested ridge, this trail passes by places where water has left the ridgetop and shaped the landscape on its way down. The most striking of these is the enormous sinkhole at the middle that gives the trail its name. Footing can be tricky. 1 mile. Moderate.

At Sinks Canyon State Park, the Popo Agie (pronounced puh-po-sha, meaning Tall Grass River to the Crow Indians) flows into a limestone cavern. The crashing water "sinks" into fissures only to resurface ½ mile downstream in "The Rise," where it reemerges and where huge fish (mainly rainbow and brown trout) swim in the calm pool. Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, black bears, golden eagles, moose, mule deer, marmots, and other wildlife wander the grounds. The park is ideal for hiking, camping, and picnicking. Visitors on the observation deck can even toss fish food, for sale on-site, to the residents of The Rise. While fishing isn't allowed in The Rise (or downstream of it to the bridge over Route 131), you can fish everywhere else in the canyon as long as you have a license. The park's visitor center is open daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Marking the city's connections with eleven global "sister cities" such as Kobe, Japan, this small, family-focused park has a prime location near Logan Circle, the Logan Philadelphia hotel, and the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. A play area for kids features a rocky area to explore and a toy-boat and wading pond, and kids can cool off in a fountain with water jets, April through October. Sister Cities is also home to Robert Indiana's AMOR (Spanish and Latin for "love") sculpture, a companion to nearby LOVE Park's famous LOVE. The handy seasonal café (closed mid-December to early March), in a modern building with floor-to-ceiling windows, has light fare including kid-friendly items.

A Tlingit war canoe sits beside this brick building officially named Harrigan Centennial Hall. Check out the museum's collection of Tlingit, Victorian-era, and Alaska-purchase historical artifacts, including spruce-root basketry, nautical instruments, and mining tools.

The exhibits and activities at this waterfront facility highlight Sitka's role as a regional hub for whale biologists, fisheries-management experts, and other specialists. Attractions include touch tanks, six wall-mounted aquariums, an 800-gallon saltwater tank, a killer-whale skeleton, and a fish hatchery. Well-placed signs throughout this working science center describe what's going on, providing a great introduction for kids to hands-on environmental science.

Maryland's only amusement park, Six Flags America combines a theme park with Hurricane Harbor, a water park. On the "dry" side, high-speed revelers enjoy eight old-fashioned wood or modern steel coasters. "Batwing" puts riders headfirst, face and belly down, with nothing between them and the ground but a safety strap. Children under 48 inches can coast on a minimodel train, "drive" an 18-wheeler, and earn their wings flying minijets. On the "wet" side, children of all ages beat the heat whizzing down waterslides and swimming in pools. The five-story Crocodile Cal's (named for Cal Ripkin, legendary star of the Baltimore Orioles) Caribbean Beach House dumps 1,000 gallons of water on unsuspecting passersby every few minutes. When your body has been through enough, sit back for the stage and musical entertainments.

With more than 160 rides and shows, this massive attraction is the region's largest theme and water park. You can visit Looney Tunes town and climb aboard DC Superhero rides such as Batman: The Dark Knight and Superman: The Ride, which is more than 20 stories tall and has a top speed of 77 mph. New rides are added frequently, like the Wicked Cyclone, a hybrid wooden structure with a steel track. Visit in autumn to catch Fright Fest haunted events and attractions.

In the Metroplex, you can rely on a couple of things here in the summer: It's going to be hot, and if you've got kids, they're going to want to go to Six Flags Over Texas. No wonder. There are more than 50 rides plus musical shows, games of chance, and lots of food. You'll find lots of Warner Bros. and DC Comics tie-ins, such as Looney Tunes USA, where preschoolers can ride attractions sized just for them, and Gotham City, where thrillseekers can speed 70 mph on Mr. Freeze or soar through the air on Batman the Ride. If you're visiting in the summer, be aware that the park will be crowded and you will be hot. But your kids? They probably won't even notice.

American Indian art, crafts, and artifacts are on display at this small museum dedicated to preserving the culture of the Iroquois Confederacy—the Mohawks, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. It was started in 1954 by Mohawk Ray Fadden and his family, who still run the place. Baskets, canoes, paintings, beadwork, and other items are hung on the walls and from the ceilings. The museum is 14 mi northeast of Saranac Lake.

On November 22, 1963, shots rang out on Dealey Plaza, at the west end of Downtown, as the presidential motorcade rounded the corner from Houston Street onto the Elm Street approach to the Triple Underpass. Eventually the Warren Commission concluded that President Kennedy was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone and firing from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. The building is now known as the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, where exhibits explore the life and legacy of JFK, offering context of the politics of the early 1960s and the importance of Kennedy's Texas visit. One of the most popular exhibits is the re-creation of the sniper's nest at the southeast window, viewable but not accessible.

This hilltop museum surveys domestic life in early Skagit County and Northwest Coastal Native American history. There's an interesting gallery showcasing goods commonly found in the region's early general stores, and rotating exhibits interpret the different aspects of the community's rich heritage.

This center is operated by Seattle City Light, North Cascades Institute, and the national park. It's the gathering point for various tours run by North Cascades Institute and Seattle City Light and has exhibits about the utility's hydroelectric projects in the North Cascades. Pick up a map of a self-guided walking tour of historic Newhalem, as well as other park information.

Open on weekends in December and January to highlight the winter migration of bald eagles, the center offers guided hikes and educational presentations about the Skagit ecosystem.

This nicely designed museum—also known as the Trail of '98 Museum—occupies the ground floor of the beautiful building that also houses Skagway City Hall. Inside, you'll find a 19th-century Tlingit canoe (one of only two like it on the West Coast), historic photos, a red-and-black sleigh, and other gold rush–era artifacts, along with a healthy collection of contemporary local art and post–gold-rush history exhibits.

On Cape Cod Bay, Skaket Beach is a sandy stretch with calm, warm water good for children. When the tide is out, you can walk seemingly endlessly on the sandy flats. The parking lot fills up fast on hot July and August days; try to arrive before 10 or after 2. The many tide pools make this a favorite spot for families. Sunsets here draw a good crowd. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking.

Three miles south of Hamilton, turn east onto Route 38, also known as the Skalkaho Highway, and you'll find yourself on a beautiful 45-mile route leading into the Sapphire Mountains, past towering Skalkaho Falls and on to Philipsburg and the Georgetown Lake area. This fair-weather road is best traveled in summer, since 20 miles of it are gravel. Mountain bikers tour here, and there are plenty of hiking trails through the 23,000-acre Skalkaho Wildlife Management Area. Note that trailers are not recommended. Only 10 miles of the Skalkaho Highway are plowed in winter, which means the area is excellent for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

During the town's early years, Gig Harbor's waterfront was lined with wooden structures set on pilings over the water; fishermen used these netsheds to store gear and tackle. Today just 17 of these structures remain, with the town's still active commercial fishing fleet still using some of them. This 3-acre park preserves the historic home and netshed once owned by the Skansie Brothers, lifelong fishermen and boat builders. Festivals and a summer farmers' market are held on the grassy lawn, which includes a pavilion, picnic tables, and a platform overlooking the harbor.

Surrounded by trees and a white picket fence, this historic landmark is located in Ketchum’s quaint Forest Service Park. Best visited in the winter, when the town’s ski fever is running high, the museum includes a Sun Valley Ski Hall of Fame with pros like Picabo Street and Bobbie Burns, Olympic gold-medalist Gretchen Fraser, and vintage gear, including a pair of skis from the 1800s. Seasonal exhibits at the next-door Heritage Museum highlight the influences of Ernest Hemingway, the Native Americans, and the sheep-herding history of the valley.

Preteens might want to spend most of their time on the T-bar drop, Cool Runners slides, and Snow Falls downhill body slide. In addition, there's a chance to take on the Thin Ice Training Course, a wide-open area where kids can jump from one slippery mogul to the next. The moguls really look more like bobbing baby icebergs, and kids don't mind when they miss a berg and plop into the pool. For people with disabilities: Guests using water-appropriate wheelchairs can enjoy wading areas here. The optimum time to come is early in the day or after a thunderstorm, when crowds thin out. That said, lines are often short at the zipline drop and the iceberg obstacle course.

Winding trails through maritime forest and along the Intracoastal Waterway invite hikers, naturalists, and wildlife seekers into a 588-acre world of natural beauty and history. Pack a picnic to explore saw palmettos and the old moonshine still, or reserve a camping spot to marvel at the night sky over the Skidaway Narrows. RV hookups, group shelter, and cabins available.

This four-year coeducational college, founded in 1903, sponsors year-round cultural events and entertainment, and is the summer home of the New York State Writer's Institute.

This unusually graceful fountain, built in 1888, is the centerpiece of Ankeny Square, a plaza around which the Portland Saturday Market takes place. Two nymphs uphold the brimming basin on top; citizens once quenched their thirst from the spouting lions' heads below, and horses drank from the granite troughs at the base of the fountain.

Rising from the south bank of the Willamette River, this forested enclave provides the best views of any of the city's parks; it also has the greatest historic cachet, since it was here that Eugene Skinner staked the claim that put Eugene on the map. Children can scale a replica of Skinner Butte, uncover fossils, and cool off under a rain circle. Skinner Butte Loop leads to the top of Skinner Butte, traversing sometimes difficult terrain through a mixed-conifer forest.

Jewish history and culture are the focus at this museum on the campus of Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion. Exhibits explore immigration, Jewish life-cycle events, the Holocaust, and the Torah.

The mission of this Jewish cultural institution in the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains is to explore the connections "between 4,000 years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of American democratic ideals." The extraordinary museum, featuring exhibits like Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America, has a massive collection of Judaica—the third largest in the world. A big family draw is the Noah's Ark interactive exhibition, where children are invited to re-create the famous tale using their own imagination.

As you wind along a path into the heart of a towering mountain, the mood grows more ominous. Navigating darkened corridors that are inhabited by "scare actors" (hence the warning that kids might find the preshow too intense), you pass a proliferation of skulls and then meet an old crone, who hints that something unsettling lies ahead—and you'll find that out when you and your fellow travelers enter a primeval world where things get very scary, very quickly.

To the eerie chants of "Kong! Kong! Kong!" your guided tram drives through a towering set of doors where the skeletal remains of a great ape greet you. Put on your 3-D glasses, and soon other amazing sights will appear—namely Peg, a steely nerved scientist whose exploits are the centerpiece of the attraction. Swarms of bats are followed by swarms of pteranodons that lift her up and away, and now it's up to you to come to her rescue. Although Peg works to save herself, she lands in the middle of swamp infested with scorpions and slimy snakelike creatures. As she blasts them with a machine gun, you feel the splash of their guts before the tram speeds to the next scene, where velociraptors try taking a bite out of your tram. Those agile, snapping dinosaurs are soon overshadowed by a Tyrannosaurus rex, who is soon overshadowed by your hero: King Kong.

With the action taking place on both sides of the tram, you're in the middle of a high-energy, over-the-top battle that's thrilling from start to finish. Hint: after riding it once, go back again and wait for a seat on the opposite side to catch scenes you may have missed (they're just as exciting). This ride might be too intense for preteens. Pregnant women and guests with heart, back, neck, or motion-sickness problems should also skip this one. For people with disabilities: Guests using wheelchairs must transfer to a ride vehicle. The preshow is part of the fun, so go even if the line is long.

A reproduction train travels a few miles of the route of its 1920s predecessor, a fume-spewing gas-powered motorcar that shuttled passengers along a rail line dating from the 1880s logging days. Nicknamed the Skunk Train, the original traversed redwood forests inaccessible to automobiles. There are also excursions from the town of Willits and seasonal and holiday-theme tours.

For a separate fee you can pedal the same rails as the Skunk Train on two-person, side-by-side, reclining bikes outfitted for the track, an experience many patrons find more diverting (albeit pricier) than the train trip.

Run by a dedicated, local nonprofit, this volunteer-staffed 15-acre park near the northern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park educates visitors on the region's celestial and terrestrial attributes. It has an observatory dome with a 14-inch telescope, nature trails that feature desert plants, a meditation garden, numerous sculptures, and an orrery (a 20 billion–to-1 scaled model of the solar system). The campus is always open for walks or stargazing with your own equipment, but the big dome and telescope are only available during the free Night Sky Programs, which are held once a month on the Saturday night nearest the new moon. Programs usually start an hour after sunset and last two hours. The observatory also hosts an annual Night Sky Festival.

Sevierville's newest major attraction includes the Southeast's longest mountain coaster and a hilltop village with farm animals and a restaurant accessed via chairlift. The Western-themed complex includes two attractive white barns framing a courtyard where live bluegrass musicians and rodeo-style lasso experts perform.