425 Best Sights in USA

One of Acadia’s premier attractions, 1,530-foot Cadillac Mountain is the Eastern Seaboard's tallest mountain. Stunning panoramic views sweep across bays, islands, and mountains on and off Mount Desert Island. You can see Bar Harbor below on the northeast side and Eagle Lake to the west. Low-lying vegetation like pitch pine and wild blueberry plants accent granite slabs in the "subalpine-like" environment. There’s a paved summit loop trail and several hiking trails up Cadillac, named for a Frenchman who explored here in the late 1600s and later founded Detroit. From mid-May–mid-October, a vehicle reservation (done through  www.recreation.gov) is needed to drive to the summit. Sunrise slots are in high demand, as this is one of the first places in the country to experience first light. It's also the perfect spot to watch the sunset or stargaze. Bar Harbor’s light ordinance helps with the latter, but keep in mind that the access road is only open 24/7 in early spring and late fall.

One of the more easily accessible and rewarding adventures in the national monument, this picturesque canyon rife with oak trees, cacti, and sandstone pictographs is reached via the 6-mile round-trip Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail, which starts at Calf Creek Campground, 15 miles east of Escalante and 12 miles south of Boulder along scenic Highway 12. The big payoff, and it's especially pleasing on warm days, is a 126-foot spring-fed waterfall. The pool at the base is a beautiful spot for a swim or picnic.

A walk—or 4x4 journey—to the south tip of Cape Lookout on South Core Banks feels like standing on the world's edge. The island is watched over by a 169-foot, double-walled lighthouse built in 1859. The structure withstood retreating Confederate troops' attempts to blow it up to keep it out of Union hands (they stole the lens instead). With its white-and-black diamond markings, the beacon continues to function as a navigational aid. A small museum inside the visitor center on Harkers Island tells the story of the lighthouse from its first incarnation in 1812. Anyone 44 inches or taller may climb the tower's 207 steps from mid-May to mid-September, although renovations are underway with a scheduled 2025 reopening. A private ferry, Island Express Ferry Service, runs between both Beaufort and Harkers Island to the lighthouse and rents 4x4 Kubotas ($150/half day) that allow you to explore the entire island.   The National Park Service offers 23 rustic cabins on South Core Banks for an overnight experience. Camping is also allowed on the beach. Either requires reservations via Recreation.gov.

Although it once was, Castle Island is no longer, well, an island. Capping the South Boston neighborhood, Castle Island is accessible by car and by foot from Day Boulevard. Its centerpiece is Fort Independence, built in 1801 (although there have been battlements on-site since 1644), open for free tours on summer weekend afternoons. Castle Island is a popular spot to walk dogs, jog, or cycle, whether just around the island itself or along the water-set Pleasure Bay Loop. There's also a nice playground for kids. Stop by Castle Island institution Sullivan's for a hot dog, fried seafood dinner, or ice cream. Views of the harbor and its outlying islands are expansive.

Whether it's the view of the imposing and stunning Gothic St. John's Bridge, which rises some 400 feet above the Willamette River, or the historic significance of Lewis and Clark having camped here in 1806, this 23-acre park is divine. Though there's no church, the park gets its name from the picturesque arches supporting the bridge. It's rumored that the ghost of a young girl haunts the bridge, and that may be true, but if you're told that it was designed by the same man who envisioned the Golden Gate Bridge, that's just a popular misconception. There's an off-leash area for dogs, and pollinator gardens have been added in recent years.

This 21-acre swath of green was the central venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The benches at the Fountain of Rings allow you to enjoy the water and music spectacle—four times a day, tunes are timed to coincide with water displays that shoot sprays 15 feet to 30 feet high. The All Children's Playground is designed to be accessible to kids with disabilities. Nearby is the world's largest aquarium and the Children's Museum. The park also has a café, restrooms, and a playground, and typically offers ice-skating in winter.

Don't miss seeing Centennial Olympic Park at night, when eight 65-foot-tall lighting towers set off the beauty of the park. They represent the markers that led ancient Greeks to public events.

In keeping with the historic character of the area, Charles Street is void of neon signs, but you will see bricks aplenty in Beacon Hill's most popular—and only—commercial development. Spend the day shopping at locally owned clothing, antiques, and gift boutiques. Make sure to stop for lunch at one of the local cafés or the legendary Sevens bar. Charles Street sparkles at dusk from gas-fueled street lamps, making it a romantic place for an evening stroll.

Find some shade and maybe have a picnic in this unique, 3-acre park. It's not only filled with fountains and luscious landscape but also some funky, interactive art, including walk-through sculptures. Don't miss the LED installation depicting a couple in forward walking motion at the park's western edge.

Scenic U.S. 302 winds southeast of Bretton Woods through the steep, wooded mountains on either side of spectacular Crawford Notch. At this 5,775-acre state park, you can picnic and hike to Arethusa Falls, the longest drop in New England, or to the Silver and Flume cascades—they're among more than a dozen outstanding trails. Roadside photo ops abound, and amenities include an Adirondack-style visitor center, gift shop, snack bar, and fishing pond.

With 4½ miles of undeveloped Bold Coast between Cutler and Lubec, views from this state preserve above Cutler Harbor are likely to take your breath away. Here a wall of steep cliffs—some 150 feet tall—juts from headlands partially forested with spruce and fir. Look for whales, seals, and porpoises while taking in views of cliff-ringed Grand Manan Island and the Bay of Fundy. One of the East Coast's premier hiking destinations, the preserve's interconnected trails offer hikes of 3–10 miles, including loops. There are challenging sections, and a log ladder descends to one of the cobble beaches, but the 1.4-mile portion of the Coastal Trail from the parking area through woods to an ocean promontory is relatively easy. From here the trail follows the glorious Bold Coast for 3.4 miles. Revealing the area’s unusual terrain inland from the coast, the 4½-mile Inland Trail passes by raised peat bogs, salt marshes, swamps, and a beaver pond and wends through meadows and forest. While the coastal portion of the preserve, which has several primitive campsites, is the star attraction, most of its 12,234 acres are on the opposite (northern) side of Route 191. Forest and grassland here is laced with 19.5 miles of multiuse roads and ATV trails.

Regenerative organic and biodynamic farming is a core priority of this forward-thinking winery devoted to wines from Italian grapes. Names like Vermentino, Sangiovese, Barbera, and Primitivo may ring a bell, but the revelations here include the Falanghina and Fiano whites and Sagrantino, a lush yet earthy wine that’s as pleasingly complex as a Bordeaux red. There’s also Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir in Italian). All wine tastings involve oils from olives grown on-site (one session explores only the oils), but for a total immersion, consider the experience that starts with a tour past olive trees and into a fruit, vegetable, and flower garden over to the pigpen.

One of the gems of Utah's state park system, right at the edge of the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands, this park overlooks a sweeping oxbow of the Colorado River some 2,000 feet below. Dead Horse Point itself is a small peninsula connected to the main mesa by a narrow neck of land. As the story goes, cowboys used to drive wild mustangs onto the point and pen them there with a brush fence. There's a nice visitor center with a coffee shop and museum. The park's Intrepid trail system is popular with mountain bikers and hikers alike. If it's a nice day, be sure to walk the 4-mile rim trail loop and drive to the park's eponymous point.

When they opened in 2016, Dovetail was just the second lager-focused brewery to open in Chicago (following the now sadly closed Metropolitan Brewing). Working from a small taproom in North Center, they quickly developed a reputation for well-crafted European-style beers like their creamy hefeweizen and smoky rauchbier. It didn’t take long for them to stretch into other types of lager like the roasty Czech dark or a hearty dunkelweizen. Their brewery tours are reliably among the best in the city: tourgoers get to sample different types of water to learn how the chemistry of H₂0 can affect the overall taste of a beer, then see the brewhouse which uses a century-old tank originally built for Germany’s Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan to help create their intricately crafted beers. You’ll also get to see the barrelhouse and coolship, where their spontaneously fermented wild beers age and take on even more complex flavors.

A good destination for families, Driessen Beach Park has a playground, clean shower and restrooms, and a charming path to the beach that’s part boardwalk, part sandy path, part beach matting. It's often peppered with people flying kites, making it colorful and fun. Amenities: lifeguards (seasonal); parking (metered); showers; toilets. Best for: sunrise; surfing; swimming; walking.

This 1,255-acre park includes a 1½-mile-long beachfront with some of the area's best shelling, marshland, and tidal rivers as well as a lush maritime forest with 7 miles of trails running through it. Trails are hard-packed shell sand, suitable for bikes (4 miles are ADA accessible). The park's Environmental Learning Center features animal exhibits and a touch tank, and a small ranger station has fishing poles to lend and firewood for sale. Pets on leashes are allowed. This is an excellent jumping-off point for exploring the natural history of Edisto Island and the surrounding ACE Basin. Amenities: none. Best for: sunrise, walking, sunset.

The same West County Goldridge sandy loam soil that produces world-class wine grapes does the same for the 20 apple varieties in this cidery's 3½-acre certified-organic orchard. Topics at tastings include the regenerative farming practices the owners believe yield healthier fruit. The dry (as in not sweet) ciders crafted here might contain the juice of several apple types or only one, with herbs, spices, oak aging, or particular yeasts employed to enhance texture, flavor, and vibrancy. The tank area doubles as the tasting room (reservations recommended); picnic tables are just outside. Ethic also produces two apple brandies and always has a nonalcoholic alternative available.

In this urban outdoor oasis, sloping green hills, giant boulders, and winding walkways offer great views of the Reedy River, but the best views of the waterfalls are along the architecturally ingenious Liberty Bridge. The Peace Center amphitheater hosts moonlight movies, Shakespeare plays, and open-air concerts during the summer.

Inspired by Miami's Wynwood Arts District, Flagler + Art + Technology (or Food + Art + Technology) Village encompasses several square blocks of a formerly blighted warehouse district in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It's now thriving with a slew of production studios, art studios, and loft-style apartments. On the last Saturday of the month (except in December), FATVillage hosts an evening art walk, in which businesses display contemporary artworks by local talent and food trucks gather. There are libations, of course, and the warehouse district erupts into a giant, culture-infused street party.

The expansive winery on a 15-acre estate offers daily tastings, live music on weekends (plus Friday in summer and fall), and special events and programs such as Sunday yoga in the vineyard. Best-known wines include the estate Pinot Noir, Sparkling Rosé, and Le Mistral Joseph's Blend. Chefs in the on-site restaurant cook up small plates with wine pairing suggestions. Tours of the winery and organically farmed vineyards are available by appointment.

One of the nation's largest urban wildernesses (5,200 acres), this city-owned, car-free park supports more than 50 species of birds and mammals and more than 80 miles of trails through forests of Douglas fir, hemlock, and cedar. Running the length of the park is the 30-mile Wildwood Trail, which extends into adjoining Washington Park (and is a handy point for accessing Forest Park), starting at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Hoyt Arboretum. You can access a number of spur trails from the Wildwood Trail, including the 11-mile Leif Erikson Drive, which picks up from the end of N.W. Thurman Street and is a popular route for jogging and mountain biking.

The centerpiece of this multiuse state park is the 1834 pentagon-shaped fortress, built under the supervision of a young Robert E. Lee. From atop its walls, where six cannons still point out toward the harbor, take in the gorgeous 360-degree views of Beaufort and across the ocean. The fort was briefly used by the Confederacy against the Union during the Civil War, but was quickly surrendered under siege in 1862. A visitor center and museum include exhibits on the ecology of the area, which you can experience firsthand via nearly 4 miles of trails through the 365-acre park that also offers picnic areas and a mile-long beachfront with a large bathhouse, showers, and refreshments. The beach has lifeguards on duty June through Labor Day and is known as one of the best surfing breaks in the Crystal Coast area.

At least once during your visit you should stop in front of Bellagio to view its spectacular water ballet from start to finish. The dazzling fountains stream from more than 1,000 nozzles, accompanied by 4,500 lights, in 27 million gallons of water. Fountain jets shoot up to 460 feet in the air, tracing undulations you wouldn't have thought possible, in near-perfect time with music ranging from Bocelli and the Beatles to "Billie Jean" and tunes from Tiësto. Some of the best views are from the Eiffel Tower's observation deck, directly across the street (unless you've got a north-facing balcony room at The Cosmopolitan). Paris and Planet Hollywood have restaurants with patios on the Strip that also offer good views.

Three-mile-long Goose Rocks, a 10-minute drive north of Kennebunkport, has a good long stretch of smooth sand and plenty of shallow pools for exploring. It's a favorite of families with small children. Pick up a $30 daily parking permit at one of two kiosks along the beach: one outside of Goose Rocks Beach General Store at 3 Dyke Road and the other at the Proctor Avenue beach path. Dogs are allowed (on a leash), but only before 9 and after 5 during the summer season. There is one Porta Potty behind the General Store, but otherwise no facilities are available at the beach. Amenities: parking (fee). Best for: swimming; walking.

Grafton Notch Scenic Byway (Route 26) runs through its namesakes—the park and the notch—at the northeastern reach of the Mahoosuc Range (White Mountains). A favorite fall foliage destination stretching along the Bear River valley 14 miles north of Bethel, it's a short walk from roadside parking areas to the waterway's distinctive Screw Auger Falls, which drops through a gorge, creating pools (.4 mile trail network); V-shaped Mother Walker Falls (.2 mile round-trip); and Moose Cave, a feature of another gorge (.4 mile loop trail; watch for slippery rocks). Also aside the road: the nicely shaded Spruce Meadow picnic area and the trailhead for the Appalachian Trail, the departure point for day hikes that follow or incorporate it. Table Rock Loop Trail (2.4 miles round-trip; moderate) rewards hikers with views of mountains and the notch from a ledge. More challenging is the 7.6-mile round-trip trek (advanced) via the AT to the viewing platform atop 4,180-foot Old Speck Mountain, one of Maine's highest peaks. Some of the AT's toughest sections run through Grafton Notch and 31,764-acre Mahoosuc Public Land, whose two tracts sandwich the park, offering stunning, if strenuous, backcountry hiking (also backcountry campsites). In winter, the park's snowmobile trail along Bear River is popular; ungroomed trails draw snowshoers and cross-country skiers.

One of the country’s largest municipal parks, the 4,210-acre Griffith Park is a must for nature lovers, the perfect spot for respite from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city. Plants and animals native to Southern California can be found within the park’s borders, including deer and coyotes. Bronson Canyon (where the Batcave from the 1960s Batman TV series is located) and Crystal Springs are favorite picnic spots.

The park is named after Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, a mining tycoon who donated 3,000 acres to the city in 1896. As you might expect, the park has been used as a film and television location for at least a century. Here you’ll find the Griffith Observatory, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Greek Theater, two golf courses, hiking and bridle trails, a swimming pool, a merry-go-round, and an outdoor train museum.

This peaceful and picturesque 4½-mile section of the old Historic Columbia River Highway begins just east of downtown Hood River at the Mark O. Hatfield West Trailhead and Visitor Center. Known as the Twin Tunnels segment, this paved trail that's closed to vehicular traffic is great for biking, jogging, or strolling. It first twists and turns upwardly through a dense ponderosa pine forest before passing through the tunnels and descending beside jagged volcanic-rock formations and semi-arid terrain into the small town of Mosier. This portion of the trail is one of a few segments of the old highway that's been converted to paved trail—there are nearly 13 miles in all, with additional sections west of Hood River with access at Starvation Creek and Viento state parks, and well west of here in Cascade Locks, with access from the parking lot at the Bridge of the Gods.

The bustling center of downtown Taos, the Plaza is also filled with some of the town's most important history. The first European explorers of the Taos Valley came here with Captain Hernando de Alvarado, a member of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition of 1540. Basque explorer Don Juan de Oñate later arrived in Taos in July 1598 and Spanish settlements began to be established in the 1600s. In 1796, the King of Spain gave the Don Fernando de Taos land grant to 63 Hispanic families—the most significant settlement in the area second only to Taos Pueblo. It was then developed into two plazas: one was a thriving business district for the early colony, while the second, a walled residential plaza, was constructed a few hundred yards behind it. The plaza was guarded by sentries and the only way in or out was through a large gate. At night, livestock were brought into the enclosed space for security. Some ditches from the original hand-dug acequia system that brought water from nearby rivers through town for agricultural irrigation can still be seen in the downtown area. A gruesome, but important, historic chapter took place at Taos Plaza in 1847, during the Mexican-American War. The Taos Rebellion, or Taos Revolt, was an effort by the Indo-Hispano and Taos Pueblo communities to resist the American invasion of Northern New Mexico. This resulted in the murder of newly-appointed Governor Charles Bent and other Americans and a massacre at Taos Pueblo by the U.S. Army who killed women and children as well as men. Following a jury trial at the Taos County Courthouse weighted to favor the American view, a number of local men were declared guilty and publicly executed by hanging on Taos Plaza. The scars of that event still mark the people who live here, many of them descendants of those killed. Be sure to visit the recently renovated historic old Taos County Courthouse on the north side of the Plaza, the site of these convictions. A series of dramatic murals depicting the use and misuse of the law were painted on its walls in the 1930s by Taos artists. The initiative, a project of the Works Progress Administration, was led by Emil Bisttram who studied fresco techniques under Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Luckily for modern-day visitors, today’s plaza is the home to summer fiestas, family-friendly concerts, and other community events, and houses gift shops, galleries, and restaurants.