10457 Best Sights in USA

More than 80 years ago, Leo Lambert and a small crew spent 17 hours inside this cavern before discovering what is now the world's tallest and deepest underground waterfall (145 feet) open to the public. Guided tours begin every few minutes. After your visit underground, head up the 70-foot-high Lookout Mountain tower for a spectacular panorama of the Tennessee River Valley, either with your own peepers or by using one of the coin-operated telescopes. Younger children can romp on the Fun Forest Playground or pan for gems. For an adult adrenaline rush, the ZIPstream experience is a suspended obstacle course, culminating in 700 feet of round-trip zip-lining with fabulous views of Chattanooga.

The temperature inside the cave is 60°F, so bring a light sweater or jacket.

Local youth Rufus Porter became a leading folk artist, painting murals of rural landscapes and harbors inside New England homes in the first half of the 1800s. Several museum rooms bear examples of this then-on-trend decor, but as visitors learn, Porter was also an “ahead of his time” inventor and writer and founded Scientific American magazine. An eye-catching 1830s former residence on Main Street has exhibits about Porter, including early issues of the magazine, his miniature portraits, and models of inventions such as a corn shucker and a revolving rifle whose design and production rights he sold to gunmaker Samuel Colt. In the excellent gift shop, you'll find books by and about this ingenious man. The late-1700s, barn red, Cape Cod–style Nathan Church House, moved here in 2016, has two rooms with unsigned Porter murals. Among his apprentices was his nephew Jonathan D. Poor, whose art adorns two rooms and a hall in a barn like 2024 building: the muraled walls were moved here from a home elsewhere in Maine. Clustered together, the buildings have permanent and changing exhibits, many interactive and kid-friendly.

Judge Thomas Ruggles, a wealthy lumber dealer, store owner, postmaster, and justice of the Court of Sessions, built this Federal-style home in 1818. The house’s remarkable flying staircase, Palladian window, and intricate woodwork were crafted over three years by Massachusetts wood-carver Alvah Peterson. On guided tours you’ll also learn about the outstanding collection of period furnishings, much of it original to the home. The museum includes displays in the excavated basement where the original kitchen was located.

Rune's picturesque setting, on a grassy hillside with views of the Mustang Mountains, adds beauty and serenity to the wine-tasting experience. The solar-powered winery uses only well water (and grapes, of course) to make their award-winning wines "off the grid." Tastings are offered daily, and sandwiches and charcuterie are also served under the artfully placed sail shades.

A country music shrine, the Ryman Auditorium and Museum was home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The auditorium seats 2,000 for live performances of classical, jazz, pop, gospel, and, of course, country. Self-guided tours include photo ops on the legendary stage and a stroll through the museum, with its photographs and memorabilia of past Ryman Auditorium performances. Visitors can also take a backstage tour of the dressing rooms and even record their own version of a legendary song at the in-house recording studio.

Ryan and Megan Glaab, the husband and wife owner-winemakers behind Ryme, make a Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Franc, and a Cabernet Sauvignon, but the real story here is their quest to craft food-friendly wines from unsung white (Fiano, Greco, Ribolla Gialla) and red (Aglianico, Frappato) Italian grapes. The Glaabs also make "His" and "Hers" Vermentinos in wildly different styles. That they source fruit from respected vineyards and keep prices low is a credit to their talent and ingenuity. A weathered board-and-batten structure attached to their cinder block winery serves as a tasting room, though good weather finds most guests sipping in the shade of the front patio’s arbor.

Year-round, locals flock to Coronado National Forest to hike, picnic, and enjoy the waterfalls, streams, swimming holes, saguaros, and shade trees. No cars or bicycles are allowed on the roads and trails, but you can walk or take a narrated open-air tram ride (about 45 minutes round-trip) up the wide WPA-built road to the top of the canyon; hop off and on at any of the nine stops or hike any of the numerous trails.

There's also a shorter tram ride (or you can walk) to adjacent Bear Canyon, where a rigorous but rewarding hike leads to the popular Seven Falls (it'll take about 1½ to 2 hours each way from the drop-off point, so carry plenty of water). If you're in Tucson on a summer weekend, take the special Saturday evening tram, running from June to October, and watch the desert come alive with nocturnal critters.

An unexpected bit of wilderness in the Wine Country, this preserve with African wildlife covers 400 acres. Begin your visit with a stroll around enclosures housing lemurs, cheetahs, giraffes, and rare birds like the brightly colored scarlet ibis. Next, climb with your guide onto open-air vehicles that spend about two hours combing the expansive property, where more than 80 species—including gazelles, cape buffalo, antelope, wildebeests, and zebras—inhabit the hillsides. If you'd like to extend your stay, "glamping” in Botswana-made tent cabins is available.

On a bluff in rural Cornish with views of Vermont's stately Mt. Ascutney, this pastoral property celebrates the life and artistry of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a leading 19th-century sculptor with renowned works on Boston Common, Manhattan's Central Park, and Chicago's Lincoln Park. In summer you can tour his house (with original furnishings), studio, and galleries, and year-round it's a pleasure to explore the 150 gorgeous acres of lawns, gardens, and woodlands dotted with casts of his works and laced with 2½ miles of hiking trails. Concerts are held Sunday in July and August.

After the founders realized that the country's best water supply for sake was in the Pacific Northwest, they built their brewery in Forest Grove in 1997. It's one of only six sake brewing facilities in America and produces award-winning sake under three labels, in addition to importing from partners in Japan. The tasting room offers three different flights, including one with a food pairing. Be sure to catch one of the tours, offered on weekend afternoons, where your guide will walk you through every phase of the sake-making process, from milling the rice to final filtration and bottling.

Ask a hundred San Franciscans about Salesforce Park and the city's tallest building, the 1,070-foot Salesforce Tower, and you'll get a hundred different opinions. The tower opened in 2018 and is the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi. This splashy, impossible-to-miss, rocket-shape glass high-rise dominates the city's skyline and has become the symbol of the city's tech-money elite. It is photogenic, but some feel it dominates photos of the city too often. Building visits are limited to employees and people coming for business purposes.

The true highlight of the Salesforce mini-neighborhood is Salesforce Park, a sprawling urban park with 13 ecosystems atop the four-block-long Salesforce Transit Center. It's a downtown green gem, a true civic accomplishment. This is a favorite destination for families, walkers, and workers trying to get fresh air on their lunch break. A beer garden from Barebottle Brewing Co. in Bernal Heights has swiftly become the happy hour destination of choice for downtown office workers. For a weekday coffee break, there's a branch of local favorite Andytown Coffee Roasters on the seventh floor of the spectacular 181 Fremont skyscraper; it's attached to the park via skybridge. The park can be reached via elevators or escalators (a thrilling glass-enclosed gondola from ground level to the park has been closed in recent years but might reopen at some point in 2025).

A spectacular unpaved road from Hyder into Canada winds 17 miles to remote Salmon Glacier, one of the few glaciers accessible by road in Southeast Alaska and the fifth biggest glacier in North America. In summer, take Granduc Mine Road (also referred to as Salmon Glacier Road), which climbs several thousand feet to a viewing area. Be prepared for potholes, steep drop-offs, and incredible vistas along the way. The District of Stewart BC website provides a helpful downloadable Auto Tour Brochure of the route.

Since this winery founded in 1961 changed hands a few years back, its valley-floor tasting room has morphed from a humble site to sip collector-worthy wines like the legendary Martha's Vineyard Oakville Cabernet into the tony white-tablecloth Salon at Heitz Cellar. Two sessions unfold inside the salon or on the stone structure's terrace, which juts into a Cabernet vineyard. One surveys current releases, the other single-vineyard wines. Crafted from certified organic grapes, the wines are magnificent, and the reasonably priced optional food pairing reveals additional complexity. A third experience involves touring a Rutherford vineyard followed by a tasting at the salon. It's wise to make a reservation here.

Designed by Moshe Safdie and built in 2003, this spectacular contemporary structure has become the city's cultural center and one of the country's most architecturally noteworthy libraries. Inspired by the Roman Coliseum, it features a six-story walkable wall that serves as both sculpture and function, allowing for great views and a path up the building. From the rooftop garden you get a 360-degree view of the valley and mountains. Hemingway Café (the on-site branch of the Salt Lake Roasting Co. coffeehouse), the outstanding Art at the Main gallery, a handful of shops, a writing center, and a public radio station provide ways to spend the entire day here. Kids can fall in love with reading in the Crystal Cave and Treehouse Room in the huge children's section. Other noteworthy features include a Teen Lounge, an extensive Alternative Press/Zine Collection, and a collection of beehives on the rooftop where visitors can learn about beekeeping and honey harvesting. There are several other libraries in the system, including the Tudor-style Sprague Library that opened in 1928 in the city's popular Sugar House neighborhood.

This 12-mile corridor through beach forests and alongside rocky promontories and windswept beaches contains some of Oregon's most spectacular stretches of coastline, though seeing some of them up close sometimes requires a little effort. About 27 miles of the Oregon Coast Trail weaves through this area, a reach dominated by Sitka spruce trees that stretch up to 300 feet and by rocky coast interspersed with sandy beaches. Starting from the north, walk a short path from the highway turnoff to view Arch Rock. The path travels a meadow that blooms in springtime. Down the road, find Secret Beach—hardly a secret—where trails run from two parking lots into three separate beaches below. Visit at low tide to make your way through all three, including through a cave that connects to the third beach close to Thunder Rock. You'll find arguably the most photogenic vista in the park on the short trail to the Natural Bridge overlook, where several dramatic rock formations form arches over the surf. At Thunder Rock, just north of milepost 345 on U.S. 101, walk west for a 1-mile loop that traces inlets and headlands, edging right up to steep drops. Find the highest bridge in Oregon just south—the Thomas Creek Bridge—from which a moderately difficult trail extends to wide, sandy China Beach. Find some sun on China Beach, or continue south to walk the unusual sculpted sandstone at Indian Sands. Easy beach access is at Whaleshead Beach, where shaded picnic tables shelter the view. From farther south at Lone Ranch, climb the grassy hillside to the top of Cape Ferrelo for a sweeping view of the rugged coastline, also a great spot for whale-watching in fall and summer.

An important museum with an important mission, the goal of SAACAM (pronounced say-cam) is to preserve and share the history and culture of African Americans in San Antonio. It's a small place with a huge story, one that's told beautifully with well-organized exhibits and thoughtful events, like the Black History Film Series, book discussions, workshops, and activities. One permanent exhibit presents a timeline that illustrates black history in San Antonio through archival photographs and documents.

Overall the museum uses timeline displays and digital archives to tell the story of African Americans in San Antonio dating from the 1500s to present day. There's even a kiosk for visitors to share their own stories. The small but striking gift shop features items only from San Antonio authors and artisans. The museum is also where you can book river tours on African American history in conjunction with GO RIO Cruises. 

A National Park Service site and the only UNESCO World Heritage site in Texas, the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park is located on the Southside about 10 minutes south of downtown. Except for the Alamo, San Antonio's missions constitute the park and all four are active Catholic parishes to this day. Established along the San Antonio River in the 18th century by Franciscan friars, the missions stand as reminders of Spain's most successful attempt to extend its New World dominion northward from Mexico. The missions had the responsibility of converting the natives (primarily American Indians) to Catholicism. The missions were also centers of work, education, and trade. They represented the greatest concentration of Catholic missions in North America, and were the basis of the founding of San Antonio. The four missions from north to south are Mission Concepción, Mission San José, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada. They are roughly 2½ miles apart from one another, but driving between them is easy—they are connected by Mission Road and Mission Parkway—and there is free parking at each mission. Admission to all missions is free. The visitor center and store for the park district is at Mission San José. Pick up a map of the grounds there and ask about upcoming special programming; the park is regularly alive with community gatherings, artists working plein air, festivals, and more.

Don't miss this magnificent global art museum right on the River Walk, near the Museum Reach section. Housed in the former historic Lone Star Brewery, the 69,500-square-foot museum is best known for its spectacular Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art, with thousands of works of Spanish colonial art, folk art, pre-Columbian art, and Latin American modern and contemporary art. There are also impressive collections of American Indian, African, Islamic, European, and Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian art. An extensive collection of Asian art is housed in its own Lenora and Walter F. Brown Asian Art wing, including pieces from the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties. Past exhibitions have included works by impressionists, Matisse, sculptor and designer Harry Bertoia, Carlos Mérida, Rodin, and many more. The museum offers a variety of tours, along with classes, workshops, and special events. The SAMA museum gift shop is one of the best, brimming with accessories, home decor, gifts, art prints, jewelry, seasonal items, and books, including guides to selected collections.

Built a full story below street level, the Paseo del Rio is a leading state tourist attraction, with the Downtown Reach section comprising about 3 miles of scenic stone pathways that line both San Antonio River banks as it flows through downtown, connecting many of the city's sights, hotels, and restaurants. In some places, the walk is peaceful and quiet; in others, it is a mad conglomeration of restaurants, bars, hotels, shops, and strolling mariachi bands, all of which can also be seen from GO RIO Cruises tour boats and river shuttles.

To the north, the Museum Reach section of the River Walk extends roughly 4 miles from Lexington Street to Grayson Street. Boat tours do not travel to this section, but the river shuttles do, making their last stop at the Pearl District after a lock-and-dam experience at Brooklyn Street.

The final section, the Mission Reach, extends south of downtown, uniquely encompassing 8 miles of riparian woodlands with native plants and an active aquatic habitat. No restaurants, hotels, shops, or river boats are on this stretch, but visitors can access the four missions at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park via the walking path alongside the river. The fifth mission, the Alamo, is steps away from the Downtown Reach. The San Antonio River Walk and its three distinctive sections extend about 15 miles total.

One of the city's most popular attractions, the San Antonio Zoo is open year-round. The zoo's stunning, immersive, and interactive entrance welcomes more than one million visitors each year to observe and learn from more than 3,500 animals representing about 700 species with a renewed focus on education and conservation. More than 50 acres is divided into habitats and its native animals: Asian Forest, Wild Australia, the Savanna, and more. Also on display are the Reptile House, Amphibian House, and the Friedrich Aquarium. Africa Live boasts Boom the Nile crocodile and famed hippos Timothy and Uma. It is also the home of The Last Three, the 17-foot tall bronze sculpture of the then-three (now only two) remaining Northern white rhinos on earth. An enhanced Fun Pass in addition to admission fee offers extras such as Zootennial Carousel, Flamingo Mingle, Giraffe Feeding, Zoo Train Ride, and more.

By day, the streamlined edifice looks like any other structure in the park; at night, outlined in blue neon, the round building appears—appropriately enough—to be a landed UFO. Every available inch of space in the rotunda is filled with exhibits about aviation and aerospace pioneers, including examples of enemy planes from World War I and II. There are dozens of full-size aircraft on the floor and hanging from the rafters. In addition to exhibits from the dawn of flight to the jet age, the museum displays a growing number of space-age exhibits, including the actual Apollo 9 command module. To test your own skills, you can ride in a two-seat Max Flight simulator or try out one of the four aerial combat simulators. Movies in the 3D/4D theater are included with admission.

Known for its Spanish baroque and Renaissance paintings, including works by El Greco, Goya, and Rubens, the city's most comprehensive art museum also has strong holdings of South and East Asian art, ancient miniatures from India, and German expressionist paintings. The museum's exhibits tend to have broad appeal, and if traveling shows from other cities come to town, you can expect to see them here. Free 45-minute docent tours are offered throughout the day. An outdoor Sculpture Court and Garden exhibits both traditional and modern pieces. Enjoy the view over a craft beer and some locally sourced food in the adjacent Panama 66 courtyard restaurant.

Balboa Park's—and perhaps the city's—most famous attraction is its 100-acre zoo. More than 12,000 animals of some 680 diverse species roam in hospitable, expertly crafted habitats that replicate natural environments as closely as possible. Pandas just made their grand return to the zoo after a five-year hiatus and are a popular attraction. The flora in the zoo, including many rare species, is even more dear than the fauna. Walkways wind over bridges and past waterfalls ringed with tropical ferns; elephants in a sandy plateau roam so close you're tempted to pet them.

Exploring the zoo fully requires the stamina of a healthy hiker, but open-air, double-decker buses that run throughout the day let you zip through three-quarters of the exhibits on a guided 35-minute, 3-mile tour. The Skyfari Aerial Tram, which soars 170 feet above the ground, gives a good overview of the zoo's layout and, on clear days, a panorama of the park, Downtown San Diego, the bay, and the ocean, far beyond the San Diego–Coronado Bridge.

Unless you come early, expect to wait for the tour bus, and especially for the top tier—the line can take more than 45 minutes; if you come at midday on a weekend or school holiday, you'll be doing the in-line shuffle for a while. Don't forget the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the zoo's 1,800-acre extension to the north at Escondido.

A branch of the San Diego Zoo, 35 miles to the north, the 1,800-acre preserve in the San Pasqual Valley is designed to protect endangered species from around the world. Exhibit areas have been carved out of the dry, dusty canyons and mesas to represent the animals' natural habitats in various parts of Africa and Asia. The best way to see these preserves is to take the 25-minute, 2½-mile Africa tram safari, included with admission. More than 3,500 animals of more than 400 species roam or fly above the expansive grounds. Predators are separated from prey by deep moats, but only the elephants, tigers, lions, and cheetahs are kept in enclosures. Good viewpoints are at the Elephant Viewing Patio, African Plains Outlook, and Kilmia Point. The park's newest project is the Tull Family Tiger Trail, a Sumatran tiger habitat where you can get face-to-face (with a glass between) with the gorgeous cats. The 5-acre exhibit features a waterfall and swimming hole, and addresses poaching and other environmental threats to the species. For a more focused view of the park, you can take one of several other safaris that are well worth the additional charge. You can choose from several behind-the-scenes safaris, fly above it all via the zipline safari, or get up close to giraffes and rhinos on a caravan safari.

The park is also a botanical garden featuring cacti and succulents from Baja California, a bonsai collection, a fuchsia display, native plants, and protea. The gift shops are well worth a visit for their limited-edition items, and there are lots of restaurants, snack bars, and some picnic areas. Rental lockers, strollers, and wheelchairs are available.

In summer, when the park stays open late, the trip is especially enjoyable in the early evening, when the heat has subsided and the animals are active and feeding. When the tram travels through the park after dark, sodium-vapor lamps illuminate the active animals. Photographers with zoom lenses can get spectacular shots of zebras, gazelles, and rhinos.

Well over two centuries after it first welcomed worshippers, this lovely adobe structure is still active (mass is offered daily). A National Register of Historic Places site erected in 1793 (to replace Albuquerque's first Catholic church, which was founded here in 1706), its Spanish Colonial base was charmingly modified with a touch of Gothic Revival (note the spires) in the mid-19th century. Its tan stucco and fresh white trim stand out at the north end of Old Town's plaza, and while it has been expanded several times, a surprising amount of its original adobe walls (some 5 feet thick) and other features remain. Small gardens front and flank the church; the inside is a respite from the tourism bustle beyond its doorstep—the painting and iconography are simple and authentic, the atmosphere hushed. Next to it is a shop and small museum that displays relics (vestments, paintings, carvings) dating from the 17th century. Call ahead to arrange a tour. There's a hidden treasure behind the church: inside the gnarled tree is a statue that some speculate depicts the Virgin Mary.

All are welcome at the oldest standing church building in Texas and the first church in San Antonio. Still an active parish (mass is held daily), San Fernando Cathedral was built in 1731 by the city's Canary Island colonists. Mexican general Santa Anna raised a crimson "flag of no quarter" here before launching his assault on the Alamo in 1836, signaling to the Texans he would take no prisoners. In 1873, following a fire after the Civil War, the chapel was replaced with the present-day construction. A small sarcophagus on display holds the ashes of unknown soldiers, presented as the remains of the defenders of the Alamo. However, some modern historians are skeptical because evidence of military uniforms was discovered, which the Texan army never wore. Special events are held here, including musical performances and televised specials. The gift shop has an ample assortment of religious items including books, cards, rosaries, and candles for purchase and placement inside the church.

A National Historic Landmark, this is a beloved destination among the faithful, as well as for artists, photographers, and architectural buffs. The active Catholic church regularly celebrates Mass, contains numerous Hispanic religious artifacts, and is open to the public for visiting. Be sure to show respect for house of worship norms. The building's shape is a surprise with rounded, sculpted buttresses. Construction began in 1772 and today its mud-and-straw adobe walls are replastered by hand every year in an annual event. The "Ranchos Church" with its massive earthen walls and undulating lines is an awe-inspiring sight that Georgia O’Keeffe painted and Ansel Adams photographed many times. Group tours provided by the church historian can be scheduled in advance. The famous Shadow of the Cross painting is preserved in a nearby building and is also worth seeing.

Opened in 1935, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was the first museum on the West Coast dedicated to modern and contemporary art, and after a three-year expansion designed by Snøhetta, it emerged in 2016 as one of the largest modern art museums in the country and the revitalized anchor of the Yerba Buena arts district. With gallery space over seven floors, the museum displays only a portion of its more than 33,000-work collection and has numerous temporary exhibits. Allow at least two hours here; ambitious art fans could spend a full day. The museum’s holdings include art from the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection, one of the world's greatest private collections of modern and contemporary art. Highlights include deep collections of works by German abstract expressionist Gerhard Richter and American painter Ellsworth Kelly and an Agnes Martin gallery. The third floor is dedicated to photography. Also look for seminal works by Diego Rivera, Alexander Calder, Matisse, and Picasso. Don’t miss the third-floor sculpture terrace or the fifth floor's eye-catching "One-way colour tunnel" by Olafur Eliasson under the museum's signature oculus. Around 45,000 square feet of the museum is free to the public and contains a handful of works. Save time by reserving timed tickets online.

This large, well-kept museum houses an assortment of mining memorabilia, minerals, and local artifacts, including walk-in mining-tunnel replicas. The museum also includes the old San Juan County Jail, built in 1902. Here you can get a glimpse of turn-of-the-20th-century life in the region.

Fortifications and other 19th-century military installments commemorate the Pig War, in which the United States and Great Britain nearly went into battle over their respective claims on the San Juan Islands. The dispute began in 1859 when an American settler killed a British settler's pig and escalated until roughly 500 American soldiers and 2,200 British soldiers with five warships were poised for battle. Fortunately, no blood (other than the pig's) was spilled, and the disagreement was finally settled in 1872 in the Americans' favor, with Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany as arbitrator.

The park comprises two separate areas on opposite sides of the island. English Camp, in a sheltered cove of Garrison Bay on the northern end, includes a blockhouse, a commissary, and barracks. A popular (though steep) hike is to the top of Young Hill, from which you can get a great view of the northwest side of the island. American Camp, on the southern end, has a visitor center and the remains of fortifications; it stretches along driftwood-strewn beaches. Many of the American Camp's walking trails are through prairie; in the evening, dozens of rabbits emerge from their warrens to nibble in the fields. Great views greet you from the top of the Mt. Finlayson Trail—if you're lucky, you might be able to see Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier along with the Olympics. From June to August you can take guided hikes and see reenactments of 1860s-era military life.