263 Best Sights in USA

Some trees still stand at this site at the edge of a sequoia grove logged in the 1800s. Near the park's entrance, the area is paved and next to the road, and overhead structures protect tables from sun and inclement  weather. It's the only picnic area in either park that is plowed in the wintertime. Toilets, grills, and drinking water are available, and the area is entirely accessible.

There is only a handful of tables here and no water or restrooms, but the incredible view makes it a lovely spot to have lunch.

A Tombstone institution, known as the wildest, wickedest night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast, the Bird Cage Theater is a former music hall where Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, and Lillian Russell, among others, performed. It was also the site of the longest continuous poker game recorded: the game started when the Bird Cage opened in 1881 and lasted eight years, five months, and three days. Some of the better-known players included Diamond Jim Brady, Adolphus Busch (of brewery fame), and William Randolph Hearst's father. The cards were dealt round the clock; players had to give a 20-minute notice when they were planning to vacate their seats, because there was always a waiting list of at least 10 people ready to shell out $1,000 (the equivalent of about $30,000 today) to get in. In all, some $10 million changed hands.

When the mines closed in 1889, the Bird Cage was abandoned, but the building has remained in the hands of the same family, who threw nothing out. You can walk on the stage visited by some of the top traveling performers of the time, see the faro table once touched by the legendary gambler Doc Holliday, and the 24-karat gold-trimmed hearse that carried Tombstone's deceased to Boot Hill. The basement, which served as an upscale bordello and gambling hall, still has all the original furnishings and fixtures intact, and you can see the personal belongings left behind by the ladies of the night when the mines closed and they, and their clients, headed for California. Nightly 90-minute ghost tours ($35) are also popular.

After then-President Trump held up a Bible on June 1, 2020, for a photo op in front of historic St. John's Church, calling out the National Guard to waylay peaceful protestors for his safe passage, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser had the words "Black Lives Matter" painted in yellow, 35-foot-long capital letters along a two-block-long section of 16th Street NW, in front of the church and within plain view of the White House several days after the incident. Since then, Black Lives Matter Plaza has become a community gathering spot featuring performances, yoga, and even weddings. In October 2021, it became a permanent installation.

Set among Joshua trees, pinyon pines, and junipers, this popular picnic area has barbecue grills and drinking water. It's one of the few with flush toilets.

For one-stop truck-stop entertainment, pull off the highway in Traver, where at Bravo Farms you can try your luck at an arcade shooting gallery, watch cheese being made, munch on barbecue and ice cream, play a round of minigolf, peruse funky antiques, buy produce, visit a petting zoo, and climb a multistory tree house. Taste a few "squeekers" (fresh cheese curds, so named because chewing them makes your teeth squeak), and then be on your way.

Baltimore was the headquarters of the Bromo Seltzer antacid company, which modeled this tower after Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio in 1911. A five-story, rotating blue bottle once sat at its top

and could be seen at night as far as 20 miles away (it was removed in 1936). Today the tower has been converted into artist studios, which you can visit for free on Fridays and Saturdays. As a special treat, you can even tour the clock tower and learn about its century-old mechanics.

The largest butterfly pavilion in the United States gives kids (and their parents) a close-up view of thousands of butterflies in a temperature-controlled rain forest environment. You should also make time to check out the honeybee exhibit and the 3-D theater.

This picnic area, near the beginning of the Cades Cove Loop, has 81 picnic tables open all year. Its big advantage is that it's near the beautiful Cades Cove valley; the disadvantage is that as many as 2 million people come through this area each year. Also, at only 1,800 feet high, it can be hot and humid in summer. Potable water and flush toilets are available. Bears are fairly common, so closely observe food storage precautions. Several trailheads are at the picnic area. There is a campground store here that sells hot dogs, burgers, ice cream, basic grocery supplies, and firewood; it also rents bikes.

If you've ever had the urge to spray paint graffiti, but don't want to end up in court, this is the place for you. You can simply view this quirky roadside exhibit of 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in the middle of a pasture a half-century ago by an eccentric Amarillo businessman. Or, if you want to add to the graffiti already adorning the exhibit, bring some rubber gloves and a few cans of spray paint. If the wind is blowing—and it usually is in Texas—you might also want to pick up a dust filter for your nose and mouth. Go 4 miles west of Amarillo on Interstate 40 to the Arnot Road exit. Make a U-turn to cross the freeway, then continue on the access road for 1 mile. Because there is no lighting at the display, this is a daytime activity.

Remember when you were content with just a swing set and monkey bars? Well, such playground standards have been replaced by theme play areas like this. Though the prehistoric camp is primarily for kids, some adults join in, racing along footpaths through the forests, slithering down slides, clambering over swinging bridges and across streams, scrambling up net climbs and rock formations, and exploring mysterious caves full of faux lava. Watch for the dinosaur footprints: when you jump on them, a dinosaur roars somewhere (and different footprints have different roars). Also look out for the watery crossfire nearby—or join in the shooting yourself. For people with disabilities: Much of this attraction is wheelchair accessible (its upper levels probably aren't). Great anytime.

It's impossible to miss this delightfully weird roadside collection of massive scrap-metal sculptures, from huge dinosaurs to tiny, buglike creatures. The longer you stay, the more details you see, and somehow the small sign reading "Welcome to the Center of the Universe" feels right on. The "garden" promotes love and is free, though it does take donations in a little box. 

Enjoy a brief facsimile of a traditional ceremony at this venue, designed to be a turnkey wedding operation, with two chapels and an outdoor garden, as well as on-site flower shop, photography studio, and wedding coordinators. It's still Las Vegas, so an Elvis impersonator is available for all ceremonies.

This is the nicest and largest picnic area in the park. It has about 40 tables under shade trees and a great view into Spruce Canyon, as well as flush toilets.

Near the north entrance, this small spot has tables and restrooms.

This 1,700-square-foot display of Lancaster County in miniature has 22 model trains, mainly O-gauge, with 150 animated figures in scenes such as an Amish barn raising, a three-ring circus, and a blazing house fire with fire engines. Periodically, the overhead lights dim and the scene turns to night, with streetlights and locomotive headlights glowing in the darkness.

College walking tours, architecture tours, and art tours are conducted quarterly by Claremont Heritage. The organization gives 2½-hour guided walking tours ($10) by reservation. Self-guided tour maps can be found on the group's website.

A no-wait marriage certificate can be yours if you bring $77 cash (there's an additional fee for credit cards), identification, and your beloved to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. Unless the office is unusually busy, the process normally takes less than an hour.

Paleontologists and geologists have excavated more than 12,000 dinosaur bones from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, making this the densest concentration of Jurassic fossils ever found. Since the quarry's discovery by herders in the 1920s, scores of dinosaur remains have been uncovered here, and much of what the world knows about the Allosaurus was discovered on these grounds. Although many of the bones found in the quarry now reside in museums around the world, a trip to the remote landscape surrounding the quarry pit is worth the journey. Paleontologists still come here for digs every year. The visitor center, which generates its own electricity from rooftop solar panels, has a reconstructed dinosaur skeleton and exhibits about the quarry, and the area has some short hiking trails. The center is 15 miles on a gravel road from the nearest services, so bring food and water and dress for desert conditions. It's 33 miles south of Price: take Highway 10 south to the Cleveland/Elmo turnoff and follow the signs.

There's free admission for ages 15 and younger.

At this picnic area, there are several wooden tables under shade trees, plus restrooms, but no running water. The area is wheelchair accessible, although the nearby Cliff Palace dwellings are not.

The largest developed picnic area in the park, Collins Creek has 182 picnic tables. Collins Creek, which runs near the picnic area, is a small stream with above-average trout fishing (license required). The site has restrooms with flush toilets, potable water, and a 70-seat pavilion for groups that can be reserved in advance for $32.

This shaded picnic area near the sequoias is relatively level. Tables, restrooms, drinking water, and grills are available.

A half-dozen or so covered picnic tables are scattered over this area, which rests against a badlands wall ½ mile south of Badlands Loop Road. There's no potable water, but there are bathroom facilities and you can enjoy your lunch in peaceful isolation at the threshold of the Badlands Wilderness Area. The Conata Basin area is to the east, and Sage Creek area is to the west.

This picnic area is in a lovely valley near the river. There are grills, drinking water, restrooms, eight open tables, eight covered tables, and two shelters.

Shady trees make this a pleasant place to picnic. It has drinking water and restrooms with flush toilets.