239 Best Sights in USA

Visitors who want to explore the areas around New Orleans should stop here first. The office supervises and provides information on the Jean Lafitte National Park Barataria Preserve, a beautiful wetland area across the river from New Orleans, and the Chalmette Battlefield, where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in the War of 1812. Each year in January, near the anniversary of the battle, a reenactment is staged at the Chalmette site. This visitor center has free visual and audio exhibits on the customs of various communities throughout the state. Knowledgeable on-site rangers offer history talks at 10 am, Tuesday through Saturday. You'll need a car to visit the preserve or the battlefield.

Adjacent to the state park's main campground, this seasonal center has information about ranger-led walks and evening campfire programs. Also here are nature and history exhibits, a gift shop, and a picnic area.

This self-guided program for kids of all ages is taught through a free booklet of nature-based activities (available at visitor centers). Upon completion of the course, kids are given a Junior Ranger badge or patch.

Youngsters answer questions and complete activities related to the park and then are sworn in as Junior Rangers, complete with a Great Basin badge.

The only visitor center on the park's far west side, Kawuneeche has exhibits on the plant and animal life of the area, as well as a large three-dimensional map of the park and an orientation film.

Located in Seward's small-boat harbor, the park's main visitor center is open daily June to mid-September. It contains a small shop, issues marine tour tickets, and offers free viewings of a short two-minute film narrated from the perspective of a wilderness kayaker, a marine ecologist, and a Sugpiaq family whose ancestors hailed from the region.

Most visitors to Misty Fjords arrive on day trips via floatplane from Ketchikan or onboard catamarans. Taquan Air ( www.taquanair.com), Island Wings ( www.islandwings.com), and Allen Marine ( www.allenmarinetours.com) are among the top local providers in each category; the bureau can provide a full list.

Rangers and volunteers greet people and answer all questions at this visitor center, located just beyond the park entrance. There are lots of educational murals and displays, maps, and guidebooks. Also check out the daily itinerary of ranger-led activities. The gift shop operated by the Hawaii Pacific Park Association stocks excellent art, books, apparel, and more. A small theater plays documentaries about the park.

The center's 15-minute film and various exhibits provide an overview of the park's canyon, sequoias, and human history. Books, maps, and weather advice are dispensed here, as are (if available) $15 wilderness permits.

Indispensable for those exploring the wildlife refuge, this center a block from the downtown ferry dock is an interesting stop on its own. Wander through exhibits about the refuge's flora and fauna, attend an interpretive talk, and marvel at the complete 36-foot hanging skeleton of a male gray whale on the second floor.

Stop at this small visitor center just off Interstate 15 to pay your entrance fee and pick up books, maps, and information on exploring the Kolob Canyons section of the park.

This center is the starting point for free, student-guided tours of the Cal-Berkeley campus, which last 1½ hours and require an online reservation. A free audio guide and a children's scavenger hunt are also available for self-guided tours of the campus.

While not a full-fledged visitor information center, Kuwohi has a staffed information kiosk, along with a small park store and bookshop. There are restrooms in the Kuwohi parking lot.

Regularly scheduled cave tours lasting 60 or 90 minutes depart from here (make sure to get your tickets early). The Mountain View Nature Trail encircles the center and includes a historic cabin and the original cave entrance. Buy gifts at the bookstore or take a snack break at the seasonal café. There’s also a replica of the park’s famed caves you can walk through.

Make your first stop in Lexington this excellent visitor center, which offers interactive exhibits, displays, a large shop, and incredibly helpful staff. You can get a great overview of the town's history and see what there is to see and do today. There is also an intricate diorama of the Battle of Lexington, which was displayed at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, inside, and outside you'll find displays about the five Navy ships named USS Lexington.

Along with exhibits on the area's history, geology, and wildlife, the center screens an outstanding 22-minute film about bears. You can buy books, maps, wilderness permits, and tickets to cave tours here.

Built of stone, this center stands sturdy against the severe weather that forces it to close in winter. When it's open, rangers give 10-minute talks on the alpine environment and offer a variety of activities including guided hikes. You can get advice from them and buy books and maps.

Glass cases inside this museum preserve the park's plants and animals, including a stuffed cougar. Historical photographs and geographical displays provide an overview of the park's history. The adjacent visitor center has some perfunctory exhibits on the surrounding forest and its inhabitants, as well as helpful park rangers and information about park activities.

In this handsome 1930s stone-and-timber structure, knowledgeable rangers share space with a store that sells books, maps, and learning aids, and a museum with exhibits on the thermal features in the vicinity. Spotting scopes are sometimes set up for viewing eagles, bison, and elk out the rear window. You can pick up backcountry camping and fishing permits, too. Picnic tables, toilets, and an amphitheater for summer-evening ranger programs are shared with the nearby campground.

You can find out more about Maine lobster from the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative.

The visitor center, perched on the ridgetop just above the cave's renowned Historic Entrance, is the hub of all park activity. All cave tours begin and end here, as well as all other ranger-led activities. This is where you purchase and pick up tickets and backcountry camping permits, shop for books and souvenirs at the bookstore and gift areas, and find the restrooms. The visitor center is connected by a short footbridge to the food service areas at the Lodge at Mammoth Cave. The information desk is centrally located, with tour schedules prominently posted, and maps available. This is also the place where young people start and complete the Junior Ranger Program. The visitor center includes a large museum space with exhibits that enrich visitors with an understanding of the park's complex nature, culture, and communities—a visit here is recommended before you tour the cave. The visitor center is also the embarkation point for many of the 14 miles of trails in the area.

Just off Main Street, the welcome center is a recent addition, run and staffed by the Manayunk Development Corporation. It's a good spot to get oriented, ask questions, look at some historical photos, and buy MNYK (Manayunk) T-shirts.

In the heart of this community that's a must for anyone interested in the history of the atomic age, this small visitor center can help you learn what to see and do around town. Start with an orientation film on the people and events that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, then pick up a self-guided tour of the town's notable historic sites. It's beside the Los Alamos Visitor Center, which also has free and excellent brochures on local hiking trails as well as both the town's and the surrounding area's attractions.

The visitor center is the best place to go to sign up for tours, get the information you need to plan a successful trip, and buy tickets for the Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House ranger-led tours. The sleek, energy-efficient research center is filled with more than 3 million artifacts and archives. The center features indoor and outdoor exhibits, a gift shop, picnic tables, and a museum. Find books, maps, and videos on the history of the park.

The station's small visitor center has exhibits on area history. Wilderness permits and some books and maps are available.

The Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center puts the fabled Missouri Breaks in perspective, and offers a virtual glimpse of the river to those not floating down the Mighty Mo and maps for those who do. The front of the building, on Fort Benton's historic levee, looks like the stunning White Cliffs of the Missouri; the rear resembles the deck of a paddlewheel steamer. Inside, photos and films of the river and its wildlife, interactive exhibits, and history lessons await. Don't miss the rifle surrendered by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.

The interactive and multimedia exhibits at this fascinating interpretive center reveal and explain the treasures of the nation's largest marine sanctuary. The two-story building, across from the main beach and municipal wharf, has films and exhibits about migratory species, watersheds, underwater canyons, kelp forests, and intertidal zones. The second-floor deck has stellar ocean views and an interactive station that provides real-time weather, surf, and buoy reports.

The handsome center contains an extensive crafts shop and exhibits devoted to ancient and modern Native American history, including a display on the World War II Navajo code talkers. Most of the independent guided group tours, necessary to go deep into the valley, leave from the center. You can generally find Navajo guides—who will escort you to places that you are not allowed to visit on your own—in the center or at the booths in the parking lot. The center adjoins the stunning View Hotel (and restaurant), which sits on a gradual rise overlooking the valley and its magnificent red rock monoliths, with big-sky views in every direction.

Next to the Denali Visitor Center, Murie Science and Learning Center is the foundation of the park's science-based education programs, and also serves as the winter visitor center when the Denali Visitor Center is closed. Hours during the summer vary, and the center usually opens only for special presentations. During off-season camping at the Riley Campground, it's the go-to spot for ranger information and, yes, bathrooms with running water.