205 Best Sights in USA

This stop is a great place to spend time taking in the panoramic view looking north.

Literally the high point of a visit to Fairmount Park, the plateau has a stunning view from 243 feet above river level that takes in sweeping park vistas, recreation areas, and, 4 miles away, the Philadelphia skyline. This area is busy on weekends but may be empty during the week, depending on the weather. The large Palladian house on the plateau, Belmont Mansion, dates to 1745 and is an event space. It's also home to the small, rather dated but moving Underground Railroad Museum at Belmont Mansion ( belmontmansion.org  215/878–8844 or 267/736–0007  $15  closed Fri.–Wed. ), which has an introductory room with panels of historical information to read and some artifacts, a film with information about the Underground Railroad and the mansion's role as a stop on it, and additional displays seen on a tour in some of the mansion's rooms. 

From this spot just south of the park's northeast entrance, the vast majority of the park's 1 million annual visitors get their first views of the White River Badlands.

See where Sioux Chief Big Foot and his band traveled en route to the battle at Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890.

This overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway offers fine views of the eastern side of the Smokies, and in May and June the roadsides bloom with rosebay rhododendron.

The Blowing Rock itself is a jagged boulder atop a cliff that overlooks the Johns River Gorge about 3,000 feet below. If you throw your hat over the sheer precipice, it may blow back to you, should the wind gods be playful. The story goes that a Cherokee man and a Chickasaw maiden fell in love. Torn between his tribe and his love, he jumped from the cliff, but she prayed to the Great Spirit, and he was blown safely back to her. The compact grounds at this worthwhile attraction include an observation tower, several overlooks, and the fascinating Blowing Rock Museum, which tells the century-old history of this area as a tourist destination and includes a display of locally mined gemstones.

On top of Bowman's Hill, this 125-foot fieldstone tower provides a spectacular view that extends up to 14 miles, weather permitting, taking in the Delaware River and countryside. It was built in 1929–31 to mark what might have been a lookout point for Washington's army, but historians have found no evidence of this. You can walk up to the observation deck; an elevator (out of service at this writing; call ahead) will take you far enough that you have just 23 steps via a narrow circular staircase.

Britton Hill is the high point in Florida, located just south of the Florida--Alabama state line off County Road 285 in the town of Lakewood. At just 334 feet above sea level, it is the lowest high point in the United States, so it's an easy one to check off the list for high-pointers.

Reached via a narrow 2-mile spur road off the main park road, Bryce Point is where the park's fairly easy Rim Trail (which you can hike from here to Inspiration Point or even all the way to Sunrise Point) meets with the more challenging and remote Under-the-Rim Trail, and it's also the southernmost vista point into the Bryce Amphitheater—and a favorite place to watch the sunrise. After absorbing views of the Black Mountains and Navajo Mountain, you can follow the Under-the-Rim Trail to explore beyond the Bryce Amphitheater to the cluster of top-heavy hoodoos known collectively as The Hat Shop. Or, take a left off the Under-the-Rim Trail and hike the challenging Peekaboo Loop down into the amphitheater.

Named for Carlos Campbell, a conservationist who was instrumental in helping to establish the park, this overlook provides a beautiful view up a valley to Bull Head Peak and, farther up, to Balsam Point. An exhibit at the overlook explains the different types of forests within the park.

From the crest of Capulin Volcano National Monument, elevation 8,182 feet, you can see four states: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. To the southeast is the vast section of the Santa Fe Trail that includes the Cimarron Cutoff; to the west are the snowcapped Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Unlike much of the dry surrounding territory, Capulin has enough water to support an oasis of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. A narrow 2-mi paved road leads to the rim of the volcano; from there you can walk the final 0.2 mi into the extinct, and not especially dramatic, crater vent. (An easy-to-hike 1-mi trail circles the rim, so you can see it from different angles.) The cone of Capulin (the word is Spanish for "chokecherry"; these bushes are scattered across the area) rises more than 1,300 feet from its base. The visitor center has books, a brief video about the site, and interpretive exhibits.

You needn't be religious to be inspired by the setting and the architecture here. Built in 1956 by Marguerite Brunswig Staude, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, this modern landmark, with a huge cross on the facade, rises between two red rock peaks. Vistas of the surrounding area with Bell Rock in the distance are spectacular. A beautiful Taizé service of prayer and song takes place on Monday at 5 pm—all are welcome for quiet meditation. On Friday, Adoration is held from noon until 3 pm, when mass begins. Confession is also held on Friday from 1 pm until 3 pm.

A small gift shop sells religious artifacts and books. A trail east of the chapel leads you—after a 20-minute walk over occasional loose-rock surfaces—to a seat surrounded by voluptuous red-limestone walls, worlds away from the bustle and commerce around the chapel.

At the heart-in-your-throat Chasm viewpoint, the canyon walls plummet 1,820 feet to the river, but are only 1,100 feet apart at the top. As you peer down into the depths, keep in mind that this section is where the Gunnison River descends at its steepest rate, dropping 240 feet within the span of a mile. A few hundred yards farther is the best place from which to see Painted Wall, Colorado's tallest cliff. Pinkish swaths of pegmatite (a crystalline, granitelike rock) give the wall its colorful, marbled appearance.

From any of the three overlooks grouped together on Newfound Gap Road, you'll have a good view of the Chimney Tops—twin peaks that cap 2,000-foot-high cliffs. Sadly, you'll also see dozens of dead fir and spruce trees, victims of the invasive woolly adelgids.

Picnicking and fishing are popular at this 9-acre rest area commanding scenic views on the Deschutes River.

The highest road-access overlook on the Crater Lake rim, Cloudcap has a westward view (best enjoyed in the morning) across the lake to Wizard Island and an eastward view of Mt. Scott, the volcanic cone that is the park's highest point.

Among San Francisco's most distinctive skyline sights, this 210-foot tower is often considered a tribute to firefighters because of the donor's special attachment to the local fire company. As the story goes, a young Gold Rush–era girl, Lillie Hitchcock Coit (known as Miss Lil), was a fervent admirer of her local fire company—so much so that she once deserted a wedding party and chased down the street after her favorite engine, Knickerbocker No. 5, while clad in her bridesmaid finery. When Lillie died in 1929, she left the city $125,000 to "expend in an appropriate manner . . . to the beauty of San Francisco."

You can ride the elevator to the top of the tower to enjoy the 360-degree view of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge; due north is Alcatraz Island. Most visitors saunter past the 27 fabulous Depression-era murals inside the tower that depict California's economic and political life, but take the time to appreciate the first New Deal art project, supported by taxpayer money. It's also possible to walk up and down to the tower (if you're in shape): a highlight is the descent toward the Embarcadero via the Filbert Steps, a series of stairways that are a shaded green oasis in the middle of the city.

Directly adjacent to the visitor center and parking lot, a covered pavilion includes picnic tables, trash cans, and access to restrooms. Groups can rent it for $25 for the morning or afternoon. Reservations can be made at  recreation.gov.

Along the Boardwalk Trail, benches built into the handrails offer idyllic spots to stop for a picnic along your walk.

An elevator whisks you up 589 feet to the 42nd-floor observation deck of this building, the tallest structure in the state outside New York City. The views on a clear day include the Berkshire, Catskill, and Adirondack mountains. To get to the deck, you first must present a photo ID at the plaza-level security desk.

The scenery here includes views of the ocean and, in the distance, Crescent City and its working harbor. In balmy weather this is a fine spot for a picnic. You may spot migrating gray whales between November and April.

From the top of the 70-foot stone-and-mortar watchtower with its 360-degree views, even the muted hues of the distant Painted Desert to the east and the Vermilion Cliffs rising from a high plateau near the Utah border are visible. In the chasm below, angling to the north toward Marble Canyon, an imposing stretch of the Colorado River reveals itself. Up several flights of stairs, the watchtower houses a glass-enclosed observatory with telescopes.

This overlook marks the spot at which prospectors first spied the lake in 1853. Wizard Island is just northeast, close to shore.

At Doyel Valley, the only park overlook accessible by vehicle, you can peer back in time across one of the hollows between the ridges here at the western edge of Appalachia. Outdoor exhibits discuss the valley's past human communities and present natural communities, and help put the view in the context of what was, what is, and what will someday be.

The only plantation house on the Ashley River to have survived the Civil War intact, Drayton Hall is considered the nation's finest example of Palladian-inspired architecture. A National Trust Historic Site built between 1738 and 1742, it's an invaluable lesson in history as well as in architecture. Visitors can pay their respects at the African American cemetery—one of the oldest in the nation still in use—and experience the 30-minute "Port to Plantation" program that uses maps and historic documents to examine the lives of the enslaved Africans who built Charleston and were behind the city's prosperity. Inside the main home, rooms are unfurnished to highlight the original plaster moldings, opulent hand-carved woodwork, and other ornamental details. Tours, with guides known for their in-depth knowledge, run an hour.

A short walk or drive away is the Both 19th-century funiculars edge up ever-so-steep hillsides. The view at the top is well worth the $3.50 round-trip. Several restaurants at the top have great views.

West of Cimarron Canyon State Park, U.S. 64 passes over a high bald ridge, from which you'll be awarded a magnificent view over Eagle Nest Lake, the Moreno Valley, and the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the distance. Continue down through Eagle Nest Lake village toward Angel Fire. Then make a left turn (south) onto NM 434, which passes little Black Lake and offers one final view of the valley before narrowing sharply and plummeting into dark, deep, ponderosa pine–shrouded Guadalupita Canyon. Drive slowly: the road twists and turns and crosses several one-lane bridges over Coyote Creek.

The heart of Grand Canyon West, this scenic overlook is where you'll find the Skywalk, the Sky View Restaurant, a café, replicas of Native American structures, and a shop where you can purchase authentic Native American crafts. Hualapai musicians and dancers perform Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm at the outdoor amphitheater here.

Opened in 2020, Edge is the gleaming observation deck at the Hudson Yards development, and at 1,131 feet, it is the highest outdoor sky deck in the western hemisphere. Its angular floor juts out 80 feet from the tower's summit, wrapped in a clear wall, with a section of clear floor to watch the street traffic 100 stories below. The views here are a 360-degree panorama overlooking Central Park, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and beyond. A staircase connects Floors 100 and 101, home to a gift shop and champagne bar (you can take your beverage outside and sit on the observatory's steps). Floor 101's posh Peak restaurant and cocktail bar is spectacular for a magical dining experience, with an outstanding menu; plus deck access is included for dining guests. Weekends bring special lounge DJs nights and live performances. Besides regular adult timed tickets, there are packages with extras, such as the Flex Pass ($60), which includes flexible-arrival-time tickets and a digital souvenir photo. For $185, courageous visitors can harness in and join City Climb, an outdoor aerial-walk experience that leans out over the 1,200-foot-high edge.