Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
We've compiled the best of the best in USA - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Within the Madison Buffalo Jump historic site is a cliff where Plains Indians stampeded bison to their deaths for more than 2,000 years, until European guns and horses arrived in the West. An interpretive center explains how the technique enabled Native Americans to gather food and hides. Picnic areas provide a restful break from touring. Be on the lookout for rattlesnakes here, and avoid wandering off the paths.
Some Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings that date back nearly 1,000 years have been moved from other sites in southern Colorado and faithfully reassembled beneath a red rock cliff at this museum. While the reconstructions resemble the original dwellings, the workers used cement instead of the original adobe mud method. For that reason, the museum is much less precious and visitors can roam and climb and touch, which makes it much more kid friendly than most archaeological sites. Two rooms of artifacts in the museum offer information on the history of the dwellings. Smartphone codes provide a free audio tour through the space.
The bordering Ruidoso to the west, is inhabited by more than 3,000 Mescalero Apache, most of whom work for the tribal government or for the tribally owned
Displaying artifacts from numerous tribes, including the Crow and the Sioux, this is among the country's best museums devoted to Native American culture. Artwork and other exhibited items trace back to early tribes but also cover contemporary lifestyles. A program of special exhibitions have included toys made by Native American through the 1960s and the history of moccasins. In Ceremonial Hall, hundreds of flags represent many of the country's 549 recognized tribes. An aboriginal encampment features walking paths and the sounds of water and wind.
The five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle National Monument was named by explorers who believed it had been erected by the Aztecs. Southern Sinagua Native Americans actually built the roughly 600-year-old structure, which is one of the best-preserved prehistoric dwellings in North America—and one of the most accessible. An easy, paved trail (0.3 mile round-trip) leads to the dwelling and to the adjacent Castle A, a badly deteriorated six-story living space with about 45 rooms. No one is permitted to enter the site, but a viewing area is close by. From I--17, take Exit 289 and follow signs to Montezuma Castle Road.
Learn about not only the Native tribes of New England but also indigenous culture throughout the rest of the United States at this terrific museum set on a 12½-acre tract of meadows and forest on the road to Rollins State Park and Mt. Kearsarge. Exhibits are organized by region and feature ancient dugout birch canoes, headdresses and jewelry, basketry, textiles, pottery, musical instruments, and wood carvings, and docents are happy to provide free guided tours. Outside, you can stroll through Medicine Woods to discover the many kinds of plants used by Native communities for food, healing, and tools, and around a small arboretum with local flora.
Founded in 1941, this museum houses an impressive collection of Northern Plains Tribal peoples including Blackfeet, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux, Assiniboine, Arapaho, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Flathead, Chippewa, and Cree. Exhibits include historic clothing, horse gear, weapons, household implements, baby carriers, and traditional toys. Arts and crafts exhibitions provide an opportunity to purchase art that supports contemporary Native American artists and craftspeople.
These two huge, oblong stones in front of the Hilo Public Library are legendary: the Pinao stone is purportedly an entrance pillar of an ancient temple built near the Wailuku River. King Kamehameha I is said to have moved the 5,000-pound Naha stone when he was still in his teens. Legend decreed that he who did so would become king of all the islands.
Take a self-guided walking tour through the Navajo Cultural Center of Kayenta, which includes the small Shadehouse Museum and a 2-acre outdoor cultural park. The museum is designed to resemble an authentic shadehouse (these wood-frame, rather crude structures are used to shelter sheepherders in the region's often unforgiving high-desert sun). Inside, visitors will find an extensive collection of Navajo code talkers memorabilia and local artwork, as well as exhibits on the beliefs and traditions that have shaped North America's largest Native American tribe. As you walk through the grounds of the cultural park, note the different types of traditional hogans and sweat lodges.
The murals on the walls of this handsome structure, built to resemble a large ceremonial hogan, depict scenes from the history of the tribe, and the bell beside the entrance was a gift to the tribe by the Santa Fe Railroad to commemorate the thousands of Navajos who built the railroad. Visitors can observe sessions of the council, where 24 delegates representing 110 reservation chapters meet on the third Monday of January, April, July, and October.
Be aware that when the council is not in session, the building is locked, but the exterior still makes for a nice stop.
Turn east off Indian Highway 12, about ½ mile north of AZ 264, to reach the Council Chambers. Nearby Window Rock Navajo Tribal Park & Veteran's Memorial is a memorial park honoring Navajo veterans, including the famous World War II code talkers.
Made up of a dozen original and reconstructed buildings, this significant historic site allows visitors to explore the capital of the Cherokee nation on the land where the city once stood. It was here that the Treaty of 1835 was signed by a small group of Cherokee leaders, setting into motion the Trail of Tears. The only original building remaining is the Worcester House, a home and Presbyterian mission station. The Cherokee Council House and Supreme Court are reconstructions, as is the print house, where thousands of books translated in Cherokee and the weekly Cherokee Phoenix were published. Other buildings, including the 1805 Vann Tavern, were relocated to the site. A museum and film provide more insight on the rich history of the Cherokee in Georgia.
One of the West's most famous rock-art sites, about 15 miles west of U.S. 191, this site contains Native American designs engraved on the rock over the course of 2,000 years. Early pioneers and explorers to the region named the site Newspaper Rock because they believed the rock, crowded with drawings, constituted a written language with which early people communicated. Archaeologists now agree that the petroglyphs do not represent language.
Located 3 miles east of downtown Macon, Ocmulgee is a significant archaeological site as it's been occupied for more than 17,000 years; at its peak, between AD 900 and 1100, it was populated by the Mississippian peoples, who were renowned mound builders. There's a reconstructed earth lodge as well as displays of pottery, effigies, and jewelry of copper and shells discovered in the burial mound. There are 8 miles of paved and unpaved trails around the key sites, so be sure to wear your walking shoes. Call or check the park's online schedule for special Lantern Light Tours and other educational opportunities.
At the historically accurate Oconaluftee Indian Village, guides in traditional dress lead you through a 1760-era Cherokee village, while others demonstrate traditional skills such as weaving, pottery, canoe construction, and hunting techniques.
The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to more than 20,000 Oglala Lakota, members of a major Sioux division known as the Western or Teton Sioux, who live in nine tribal districts on 2 million acres of land. They are led by a Tribal Council president who is advised by an executive committee and a tribal council.
Beneath the stumps of five extinct volcanoes, this park encompasses more than 25,000 ancient Native American rock drawings inscribed on the 17-mile-long West Mesa escarpment overlooking the Rio Grande Valley. For centuries, Native American hunting parties camped at the base, chipping and scribbling away. Archaeologists believe most of the petroglyphs were carved on the lava formations between 1100 and 1600, but some images at the park may date back as far as 1000 BC. Accessible in three separate (and mostly shade-free---bring water and a hat!) sections, each is a short drive from the helpful Visitor Center, where rangers will supply maps and help you determine which trail is best for the time you have. The somewhat sandy but packed flat 1½-mile (round-trip) Piedras Marcadas Canyon trail has readily visible petroglyphs all along its length; at 2.2 miles, the unpaved trail at Rinconada Canyon reveals its large concentration of petroglyphs about halfway in; and, closest to the Visitor Center is the Boca Negra Canyon loop trail, with three paved spurs that each take you up close to distinctive clusters of petroglyphs as well.
This temple, the largest heiau (stone temple) in Polynesia, was built for a great 16th-century Maui king named Piilani and his heirs. Hawaiian families continue to maintain and protect this sacred site as they have for centuries, and they have not been eager to turn it into a tourist attraction. However, there is a brochure that helps you to tour the property yourself. The heiau is within the 122-acre Kahanu Garden, a research center focusing on the ethnobotany of the Pacific.
Three dwellings, built on top of each other from 700 to 950, at first look like a mass of jumbled walls, but an informational panel helps identify the dwellings—and the stories behind them are fascinating. The 325-foot trail from the walking area is paved, wheelchair accessible, and near a restroom.
Situated just off U.S. 285/84 at Pojoaque Pueblo, this impressive complex of traditional adobe buildings, including the three-story Sun Tower, makes an engaging first stop as you begin a drive north of Santa Fe toward Taos. The facility comprises a museum, a cultural center, and artists' studios, all with the mission of preserving the arts and culture of Pueblo communities. The museum holds some 10,000 photographs, including many by esteemed early-20th-century photographer Edward S. Curtis, as well as more than 600 works of both traditional and contemporary pottery, jewelry, textiles, and sculpture. There's also a lovely gift shop of locally made Native American arts and crafts.
Walk along the waterfront and several forested paths to view striking examples of the monumental art form of totem pole carving, which is indigenous to Northwest Coast tribes. In addition to the totems, highlights include a carving shed where you can watch artists continue the work of their ancestors, a tribal house, and a large gift shop showcasing a wide range of authentic Native art. Also on the property are an antique car museum and antique firearm museum. Located adjacent to Totem Bight State Historical Park, Potlatch Park is 10 minutes north of town.
This is a 100-room pueblo, built before 1400 and said to have housed Ancestral Puebloan people. Many visitors come to see the petroglyphs, as well as a solar calendar.
The 3,000 Ancestral Pueblo petroglyphs on this working cattle ranch in Chevelon Canyon are startlingly vivid after more than 1,000 years. Ranch owner Brantly Baird and family will guide you down to the canyon, explaining Western and archaeological history. It's mostly an easy driving and walking tour, except for the climb in and out of Chevelon Canyon, where there are handrails. Baird houses his Native American artifacts and pioneer farming implements in his own private museum. It's out of the way and on a dirt road, but you'll see some of the best rock art in northern Arizona. Reservations are required.
Phoenix's only national landmark, this park was once the site of a 500-acre Hohokam village supporting about 1,000 people and containing homes, storage rooms, cemeteries, and ball courts. Three exhibition galleries hold displays on the Hohokam culture and archaeological methods. View the 10-minute orientation video before heading out on the ½-mile Ruin Trail past excavated sites that give a hint of Hohokam savvy: there's a building whose corner doorway was perfectly placed for watching the summer-solstice sunrise. Children especially like the hands-on interactive learning center. Guided tours by appointment only.
Three miles southwest of Bluff you'll find a large panel of Ancestral Puebloan rock art. The panel includes several large images of Kokopelli, the mischief-maker from Puebloan lore.
A 2½-mile paved walking path and bike trail parallels the road from Ketchikan to Saxman Native Village, named for a missionary who drowned while helping Native Alaskans establish a new settlement in the area in 1886. A totem park dominates the center of Saxman, with poles representing clan crest figures, including bears, ravens, whales, and eagles. Saxman's Beaver Clan tribal house, which features a painted house screen by master carvers Nathan Jackson and Lee Wallace, is said to be the largest in Alaska. Carvers still create totem poles and totemic art objects in the adjacent carver's shed. You can visit the totem park on your own (on foot or by taxi, bicycle, or city bus), but to visit the tribal house and theater you must take a tour; book through Cape Fox Lodge.
Sego is one of the most dramatic and mystifying rock-art sites in the entire state. Large, ghostlike rock-art figures painted and etched by Native Americans approximately 4,000 years ago cover these canyon walls. There's also art left by the Ute from the 19th century. Distinctive for their large anthropomorphic figures, and for horses, buffalo, and shields painted with red-and-white pigment, these rare drawings are a must-see. A well-preserved ghost town is also nearby.
The history and current culture of the Seneca Nation and of the Iroquois Confederacy is explored at this museum on the Allegany Indian Reservation. Displays include a partially reconstructed longhouse, silver and beadwork, baskets, corn-husk items, sculptures, and paintings.
The center, in a log building on the grounds of the Oneida Indian Nation, has exhibits highlighting baskets, beadwork, dolls, and wampum. You may also learn about the role of the Oneida Nation during the American Revolution, when it sided with the rebels rather than with the British.
A few miles east of Glendo State Park lies a vast stone quarry initially mistaken for the work of early Spanish explorers. Archaeologists later determined the site, known as the Spanish Diggings, to be the work of various indigenous tribes on and off for the past several thousand years. Tools and arrowheads carved from the stone quarried here, including quartzite, jasper, and agate, have been found as far away as the Ohio River valley. To see the diggings you'll have to drive through Glendo State Park.
