10450 Best Sights in USA

A ride to the top of the 630-foot arch, designed by architect Eero Saarinen, is a must. The centerpiece of the 91-acre Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park, the arch was built in 1965 to commemorate the city where thousands of 19th-century pioneers stopped for provisions before traveling west. A tram takes visitors up one of the Arch's legs to a top-of-the-arch observation room with a terrific view of the city and the Mississippi. On windy days visitors can feel the Arch sway while at the top. Beneath the Arch is the underground visitor center and the Museum of Westward Expansion.

The 274.9-foot-tall General Sherman is one of the world's tallest and oldest sequoias, and it ranks No. 1 in volume, adding the equivalent of a 60-foot-tall tree every year to its approximately 52,500 cubic feet of mass. The tree doesn't grow taller, though—it's dead at the top. A short, wheelchair-accessible trail leads to the tree from Generals Highway, but the main trail (½ mile) winds down from a parking lot off Wolverton Road. The walk back up the main trail is steep, but benches along the way provide rest for the short of breath.

One of California's most scenic drives, this 46-mile road (also signed as Route 198) is the main asphalt artery between Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. Named after the landmark Grant and Sherman trees that leave so many visitors awestruck, Generals Highway runs from Sequoia's Foothills Visitor Center north to Kings Canyon's Grant Grove Village. Along the way, it passes the turnoff to Crystal Cave, the Giant Forest Museum, Lodgepole Village, and other popular attractions. The lower portion, from Hospital Rock to the Giant Forest, is especially steep and winding. If your vehicle is 22 feet or longer, avoid that stretch by entering the parks via Route 180 (from Fresno) rather than Route 198 (from Visalia or Three Rivers). Take your time on this road—there's a lot to see, and wildlife can scamper across at any time.

Business and life partners Joey Wołosz and Jeff Durham welcome guests to their refurbished 1926 Craftsman bungalow for intimate tastings of small-lot rosé, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Bordeaux-style reds. Dishes cooked in the moment in an au courant demonstration kitchen accompany the wines. An eloquently told story lies behind everything from the furnishings, dinnerware, and articles like the rescued tabernacle converted into a Julia Child shrine to family recipes, among them Yountville native Durham's version of malfatti, a century-old Napa variation on ravioli. This rarefied experience is intentionally akin to dropping by a relative's home for a lovingly prepared meal that elevates the conversation and vice versa. Reservations are essential for breakfast, lunch, and dinner experiences, but "when the door is open," walk-ins can sip by the glass or bottle.

The Georgian-style mansion has some of the finest hand-carved ornamented interiors in the country and is the handiwork of the 18th-century's foremost architect, William Buckland, originally an indentured servant from England. Construction of Gunston Hall took place between 1755 and 1758. Buckland went on to design several notable buildings in Virginia and Maryland, including the Hammond-Harwood and Chase-Lloyd houses in Annapolis. It is believed he worked closely with another indentured servant, William Bernard Sears, to complete the house. Unlike other Virginia colonial homes, which tended to be very simple, Gunston Hall was, possibly, the only or one of a few houses known to have had chinoiserie decoration. The interior and the outbuildings have been meticulously restored.

While it is alleged that one of the reasons Mason didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence is that it didn’t stop the importation of enslaved people, Mason was himself a slaveholder of at least 300 people in his lifetime, many of whom lived at Gunston Hall. While touring the property, you have the opportunity to learn about the lives of some of these individuals, although there is currently not a permanent exhibit focusing on them.

The Riverside Garden currently is being restored; you can view the Potomac from the garden terraces. There are three hiking trails on the 500-plus-acre property. Guided tours are offered daily at 10 am and 11 am, as well as at 1, 2, 3, and 4 pm.

This 5-acre park near the mouth of Ogden Canyon is the stomping ground for about 100 life-size dinosaur models and the delighted children who come to see them. A playground with dinosaurs to crawl on appeals to younger kids, and adults can brush up on their geology and paleontology inside two natural history museums. You can watch technicians working with excavated dinosaur bones in the paleontology lab. A particularly good gift shop brims with dinosaur toys and souvenirs.

The former plantation of George Washington and his wife, Martha, Mount Vernon sits on the banks of the Potomac River about 10 miles south of Alexandria. Washington’s great-grandfather, John Washington, was awarded the land grant in 1674 for what would become Mount Vernon. It grew into 5,000 acres with four operating farms by the time the future president inherited it all in 1761. Washington used his wife’s financial wealth and hundreds of enslaved people to transform the main house from an ordinary farm dwelling into what was, for the time, a grand mansion. The red-roof main house is elegant though understated, with quite ornate first-floor rooms, especially the formal large dining room, with a molded ceiling decorated with agricultural motifs.

You can stroll around the estate’s 500 acres and four gardens, visiting workshops, a kitchen, a carriage house, a greenhouse, quarters for enslaved African Americans, and, down the hill, the tomb of George and Martha Washington. There’s also a four-acre, 18th-century farm site with costumed interpreters and a reconstructed 16-sided treading barn as its centerpiece.

Throughout Mount Vernon, you can learn about the more than 300 enslaved people who lived here, and whose labor you see all around you. Relevant tours include “The Enslaved People of Mount Vernon” tour and the "Through My Eyes" tour, both of which explore the lives and experiences of the people who lived here and the role slavery had in the life of Washington and how he built and ran this estate.

Visitors, especially children, tend to enjoy the Museum and Education Center’s 23 galleries and theaters, including hundreds of artifacts, interactive displays, and a 4D theater that brings Washington's story to life. Actors in period dress, General Washington and his wife, welcome visitors at special occasions throughout the year, including President’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and July 4.

This 1920s narrow-gauge train connects Georgetown with the equally historic community of Silver Plume. The 6-mile round-trip excursion takes about 70 minutes, and winds through vast stands of pine and fir before crossing the 95-foot-high Devil's Gate Bridge, where the track actually loops back over itself as it gains elevation. You can add on a tour of the Lebanon Silver Mill and Mine, which is a separate stop between the two towns, as well as meals in the dining car. In fall and around the holidays, special trains run, including popular rides with Santa.

With more than 10 million gallons of water, this wildly popular attraction is the nation's largest aquarium. The 604,000-square-foot building, an architectural marvel resembling the bow of a ship, has tanks of various sizes filled with more than 100,000 animals, representing 500 species. The aquarium's 6.3-million-gallon Ocean Voyager Gallery is the world's largest indoor marine exhibit, with 4,574 square feet of viewing windows. But not everything has gills: there are also penguins, sea lions, sea otters, river otters, sea turtles, and giant octopuses. The 84,000-square-foot Dolphins in Depth exhibit includes a 25-minute show (reservations required). Hordes of kids—and many adults—can always be found around the touch tanks. Admission includes entry to all public exhibits, shows, and galleries. Forty-five-minute behind-the-scenes tours start at $15. There are often huge crowds, so arrive early or late for the best chance of getting a close-up view of the exhibits.

Try to buy your tickets at least a week ahead. Online ticketing is best, with discounted rates and digital tickets you can print out at home.

In 1945 Georgia O'Keeffe bought a large, dilapidated late-18th-century Spanish-colonial adobe compound just off the plaza in Abiquiú. Upon the 1946 death of her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, she left New York City and began dividing her time permanently between this home, which figured prominently in many of her works, and one in nearby Ghost Ranch. The patio is featured in Black Patio Door (1955) and Patio with Cloud (1956). O'Keeffe died in 1986 at the age of 98 and left provisions in her will to ensure that the property's houses would never be public monuments.

Highly engaging 75- to 90-minute tours are available by advance reservation through Santa Fe's Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, which owns the house and operates the tours from early March through late November. Costs range from $60 for a standard tour to $200 for "Pita's Tour," which is led by Pita Lopez, who served as O'Keeffe's former secretary and companion and shares fascinating first-hand anecdotes about the artist. All of the tours focus on O’Keeffe’s distinctly modern decorating style, which drew on Indigenous and Spanish influences. Tours depart by shuttle bus from the welcome center beside the Abiquiu Inn. Book well ahead in summer, as these tours fill up quickly.

One of many East Coast artists who visited New Mexico in the first half of the 20th century, Georgia O'Keeffe, today known as the "Mother of American Modernism," returned to live and paint in northern New Mexico for the last half of her life, eventually emerging as the demigoddess of Southwestern art. At this intimate museum dedicated to her work, you'll find how O'Keeffe's innovative view of the landscape is captured in From the Plains, inspired by her memory of the Texas plains, and in Jimson Weed, a study of one of her favorite plants; additional highlights include selections from O'Keeffe's early days as an illustrator, abstract pieces from her time in New York City, and iconic works featuring floating skulls, flowers, and bones. Special exhibitions with O'Keeffe's modernist peers, as well as contemporary artists, are on view throughout the year—many of these are exceptional, and just as interesting as the museum's permanent collection, which numbers some 3,000 works (although not all are on display as the museum is surprisingly small). The museum also manages a visitor center and tours of O'Keeffe's famous home and studio in Abiquiú, about an hour north of Santa Fe.

A must-see on Jekyll Island, this is one of the few sea turtle centers in the country. This center aims to increase awareness of habitat and wildlife conservation challenges for endangered coastal turtles—loggerheads, green, Kemp's ridley, and diamondback terrapin—through turtle rehabilitation, research, and education programs. The center includes educational exhibits and a "hospital," where visitors can view rescued turtles and read their stories. Sea turtles lay their eggs along Jekyll Island beaches from May through August. Several hundred rehabilitated turtles have been released into the wild since the center opened.

German Village, the 233-acre enclave of preserved cottages and town homes six blocks south of the Ohio Statehouse, has its roots in an 1814 addition to Columbus's south side. It developed in the 1840s as Germans fled from wars, famine, and poor living conditions in their home country to this ethnic pocket in Ohio. After barely surviving the wrecking ball in the years after World War II, German Village has been protected as a historic area since the 1960s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. Its narrow brick streets are lined with charming old homes, gardens, and shops. There's a lively Oktoberfest in September and Shakespeare in Schiller Park in summer.

The museum and visitor center is the place to start your exploration of the events and impact of the Battle of Gettysburg. A dozen galleries display a compelling mix of the museum's more than 40,000 artifacts, such as scores of weapons, uniforms, and a wooden desk believed to have been used by General Robert E. Lee. Interactive video and audio displays further illuminate the events, the centerpiece being the 377-foot-long \"Battle of Gettysburg\" cyclorama, a painting in-the-round depicting Pickett's Charge. Made in 1884, the painting is the largest in North America and one of the last cycloramas in existence, now completely restored. Stand in the center with the lights down while stirring narration and special effects immerse you in the story. It's paired with a documentary film, A New Birth of Freedom, in a 45-minute experience. In the main entry hall the National Park Service has an information desk offering help with everything from battlefield walking tours to free ranger-conducted programs. Private, licensed guides may also be hired at the center. There is a restaurant and a bookstore on-site.

Open to the public year-round, this sprawling, stunningly situated ranch is busiest in summer, when the majority of workshops take place, and when visitors drive up after having toured the O'Keeffe home in nearby Abiquiú. Now a retreat center, the ranch also offers a wealth of interesting activities for day visitors, including a few different guided Georgia O'Keeffe tours across the landscape she painted during the five decades she summered here (the house she lived in is not part of the tour and is closed to the public). Other guided (and self-guided) hikes amid the property's dramatic rock formations touch on archaeology and paleontology, history, and the several movies that have been filmed here (Cowboys and Aliens, City Slickers, Wyatt Earp, and a few others). Visitors can also tour the Florence Hawley Ellis Museum of Anthropology, which contains Native American tools, pottery, and other artifacts excavated from the Ghost Ranch Gallina digs, and the adjacent Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology. Workshops, which touch on everything from photography and poetry to yoga and wellness, are offered throughout the year—guests can camp or stay in semi-rustic cottages or casitas. If you're not attending a workshop or retreat, Ghost Ranch opens its accommodations to the general public from November through April (there's a two-night minimum stay, but rates are quite reasonable). Other experiences on the property include art exhibits, trail rides, massage treatments, and kayaking and canoeing in nearby Abiquiú. When you arrive, drop by the welcome center, which also houses a trading post stocked with books, art, O'Keeffe ephemera, and a basic coffee station (there's also a dining hall serving cafeteria-style meals throughout the day).

Housed in a beautiful beaux arts building with a soaring stained-glass cupola, this museum boasts a collection of 10,000 works, principally American with a local connection. An $11.5 million renovation expanded on-site studios, rotating exhibition spaces, and visiting artist programs. Permanent displays include a massive stick sculpture by Patrick Dougherty that visitors can step inside and life-size oil paintings from the 18th century. Different objects from the museum's permanent collection are on view in The Charleston Story, offering a nice summary of the region's history. Leave time to sit for a spell in the tranquil Lenhardt Garden behind the building.

A mile south of the visitor center in a grassy meadow with the Fremont River flowing by, this is an idyllic shady spot in the Fruita Historic District to enjoy a sack lunch (if you have packed one), complete with tables, drinking water, grills, and a convenient restroom. The store sells reproductions of pioneer tools and items made by local craftspeople; there's also locally made fruit pies and ice cream to enjoy with your picnic.

At Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument the mystery of the Mogollon (muh-gee-yohn) people's short-lived occupation of the deeply recessed caves high above the canyon floor may never be resolved. But the finely detailed stone dwellings they left behind stand in silent testimony to the challenges as well as the beauty of the surrounding Gila Wilderness. Built and inhabited for a span of barely two generations, from 1280 to the early 1300s AD, its 42 rooms are tucked into six natural caves that are reached via a rugged one-mile loop trail that ascends 180 feet from the trail head. Constructed from the same pale volcanic stone as the cliffs themselves, the rooms are all but camouflaged until you are about a half-mile along the trail. You can contemplate, from a rare close-up vantage point, the keyhole doorways that punctuate the dwelling walls and gaze out upon a ponderosa pine- and cottonwood-forested terrain that looks much like the one the Mogollon people inhabited seven centuries ago. The wealth of pottery, yucca sandals, tools, and other artifacts buried here were picked clean by the late 1800s—dispersed to private collectors. But the visitor center has a small museum with books and other materials about the wilderness, its trails, and the Mogollon. It's a 2-mile drive from the visitor center to the Dwellings trail head (and other nearby trails); there are interesting pictographs to be seen on the wheelchair-accessible Trail to the Past.

Allow a good 2 hours from Silver City to the Cliff Dwellings via NM 15 or via NM 35; though longer in mileage, the NM 35 route is an easier ride.

If you can spare the time, spend the night at one of the mountain inns close to the dwellings to maximize your time in the park.

It's worth the 20-minute drive from downtown Yakima to experience a tasting at this beautiful family-run vineyard specializing in blends of Rhône and Bordeaux varietals and both lightly oaked and unoaked Chardonnays. During the warmer months, music concerts are held in the amphitheater, with breathtaking mountains forming the backdrop. 

The 122-acre park's main attraction is a rather outrageous, 24-room, oak-and-fieldstone hilltop castle—modeled after medieval fortresses of the Rhineland and built between 1914 and 1919 by the eccentric actor and playwright William Gillette. You can tour the castle (and its secret passages) and hike trails near the remains of a 3-mile private railroad, which chugged about the property until the owner's death in 1937. Gillette, who was born in Hartford, wrote two famous plays about the Civil War and was especially beloved for his play Sherlock Holmes (in which he performed the title role). In his will, he demanded that the castle not fall into the hands of "some blithering saphead who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded."

Dade City is known mostly for its strawberries, but word is spreading about another, more unusual attraction: the graceful giraffes at this nearly 50-acre ranch. You can view them on a tour—in a safari-style vehicle, on the back of a camel, or aboard a Segway—and hand-feed them cabbage leaves. Other animals that roam the grounds here include zebras and ostriches, a pair of pygmy hippos, and a giant porcupine. In enclosures near the ranch's welcome center and gift shop, you can watch guinea pigs chomp on sweet-potato chunks, hold a baby goat, (for a little extra cash), and feed lemurs or bongos (antelopes). You can also feed and help bathe a pair of rhinos.

The ranch's proprietors have encyclopedic knowledge on the natural world, and the overall experience is meant to impart a sense of connection with the animal kingdom and the environment. Tours, which start at 11 am and 2 pm, take about 1½ hours, and reservations are required. Credit cards are not accepted.

The 2.8-mile hike to Mills Lake can be crowded, but the reward is one of the park's prettiest lakes, set against the breathtaking backdrop of Longs Peak, Pagoda Mountain, and the Keyboard of the Winds. There's a modest elevation gain of 750 feet. On the way, about 1 mile in, you pass Alberta Falls, a popular destination in and of itself. The hike travels along Glacier Creek, under the shade of a subalpine forest. Give yourself at least four hours for hiking and lingering. Easy.

If you lack the time, desire, or stamina to hike more than 3,200 feet up to Glacier Point from the Yosemite Valley floor, you can drive here—or take a bus from the valley—for a bird's-eye view. You are likely to encounter a lot of day-trippers on the short, paved trail that leads from the parking lot to the main overlook. Take a moment to veer off a few yards to the Geology Hut, which succinctly explains and illustrates what the valley looked like 10 million, 3 million, and 20,000 years ago.

Once you leave the Page business district heading northwest, the Glen Canyon Dam National Recreation Area and Lake Powell behind it immediately become visible. This concrete-arch dam—all 5 million cubic feet of it—was completed in September 1963, its power plant an engineering feat that rivaled the Hoover Dam. The dam's crest is 1,560 feet across and rises 710 feet from bedrock and 583 feet above the waters of the Colorado River. When Lake Powell is full, it's 560 feet deep at the dam. The plant generates some 1.3 million kilowatts of electricity when each generator's 40-ton shaft is producing nearly 200,000 horsepower. Power from the dam serves a five-state grid consisting of Colorado, Arizona, Utah, California, and New Mexico, and provides energy for more than 1.5 million users.

With only 8 inches of annual rainfall, the Lake Powell area enjoys blue skies nearly year-round. Summer temperatures range from the 60s to the 90s. Fall and spring are usually balmy, with daytime temperatures often in the 70s and 80s, but chilly weather can set in. Nights are cool even in summer, and in winter the risk of a cold spell increases, but all-weather houseboats and tour boats make for year-round cruising. Boaters and campers should note that regulations require the use of portable toilets on the lake and lakeshore to prevent water pollution.

This fortresslike residence is the only surviving building in Chicago by architect H.H. Richardson, who also designed Boston's Trinity Church. Completed in 1887, the L-shaped mansion's stone construction and short towers are characteristic of the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style. It's also one of the few great mansions left on Prairie Avenue, once home to such heavy hitters as retailer Marshall Field and meatpacking magnate Philip Armour. The area has lately seen the arrival of new, high-end construction, but nothing beats a tour of Glessner House, a remarkable relic of the days when merchant princes really lived like royalty. Enjoy the lavish interiors and the many artifacts, from silver pieces and art glass to antique ceramics and Isaac Scott carvings and furnishings. Guided tours run Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday year-round.

You can root root root for the Rangers (or a visiting team if you must) in this open-air, fan-friendly ballpark that opened in 1994. It's designed to look old-fashioned, with redbrick and granite facade and a home-run porch in right field, but the amenities are thankfully modern. If you're not in town when the Rangers are, consider a tour of the park through admission to the Legends of the Game Museum, which celebrates America's pastime with famous players' gear, photos, and artifacts.

On a clear day this Spanish hacienda–style winery's Vista Terrace lives up to its name as guests at seated tastings sip sparkling and still wines while taking in views of Los Carneros AVA and beyond it San Pablo Bay. The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from the vineyards in the foreground are the product of old-world wine-making knowledge—generations of the founding Ferrer family made Cava in Spain—but also contemporary soil-management techniques and clonal research. Hosts well-acquainted with the winery's history as its appellation's first sparkling-wine house serve wines by themselves, with tapas and other small bites guests can order à la carte, or as part of full culinary pairings best booked at least a day ahead.

One of Southeast's most popular tourist attractions whisks you from the cruise-ship docks 1,800 feet up the side of Mt. Roberts. After the six-minute ride, you can take in a film on the history and culture of the Tlingits, visit the nature center, go for an alpine walk on hiking trails (including the 5-mile round-trip hike to Mt. Roberts's 3,819-foot summit), purchase Native art and peruse the on-site gallery, or enjoy a meal while savoring mountain views. You can also get an up-close view of an "education" eagle in her mew. A local company leads guided wilderness hikes from the summit, and the bar serves locally brewed beers. Plan to spend one to two hours at the top. For a workout, hike up the mountain from town or hike to Father Brown's Cross from the top; each takes about an hour.

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads met here at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, to celebrate the completion of the first transcontinental rail route. Today, the National Park Service runs the site, which includes a visitor center and two beautifully maintained locomotives that are replicas of the originals that met here for the "wedding of the rails." Every May 10 (and on Saturday and holidays in summer), a reenactment of the driving of the golden spike is held, and throughout summer you can watch the trains in action on demonstration runs a few times a day. You can also walk a 1½-mile trail around the site and drive two scenic auto tour routes that reveal the terrain and engineering feats involved in creating this remote stretch of the rail line. In August, boiler stoking, rail walking, and buffalo-chip throwing test participants' skills at the Railroader's Festival. The Winter Steam Festival around Christmas gives steam buffs opportunities to photograph the locomotives in the cold, when the steam from the smokestacks forms billowing clouds. To get here, it's about a 40-minute drive west from Brigham City and a 90-minute drive north of Salt Lake City.