263 Best Sights in USA

Trees shade these creekside picnic tables near a popular trailhead.

Klawock is also home to the Klawock River Hatchery, one of the state's most effective hatcheries. Though the facility isn't open to the public, visitors can watch the coho and sockeye salmon in the river (but keep an eye out for bears).

Here, you can beachcomb, explore the freshwater lagoon, or hike along a trail.

This site with picnic tables and vault toilets has views of several summits, including Lassen Peak.

Built from more than 1.5 million LEGO bricks (50,000 for the Alamodome alone), just the sight of Miniland San Antonio is worth the price of admission. It's a stunning replica that includes some of the city's most popular landmarks, including the Alamo, River Walk, Tower of the Americas, and much more. The cars even obey traffic signals, and the river boats glide down the river. Designed for families with children ages 3–10, LEGOLAND features themed play areas and creative workshops with LEGO Master Model Builders. An expansive shop features LEGO kits to make your own, well, just about anything. Ticket prices vary based on type of ticket and time of day.

Imagine thousands of square feet full of LEGO bricks, and not having to clean up any of them. No, it's not a dream---it's LEGOLAND. Kids can see giant LEGO creations as well as play, build, and watch. Buy a dual ticket with the adjoining Sea Life Arizona Aquarium and save on admission.

This picnic site, with tables, water, and restrooms (the latter two available during the summer), is a short walk from the visitor center. Summer hours are often extended beyond the standard 8 am–4:30 pm.

Bay Area filmmaker George Lucas's 23-acre Letterman Digital Arts Center, a digital studio campus along the eastern edge of the land, is exquisitely landscaped and largely open to the public. If you have kids in tow or are a Star Wars fan yourself, make the pilgrimage to the Yoda Fountain between two of the arts-center buildings, then take your picture with the life-size Darth Vader statue in the lobby, open to the public on weekdays.

This cedar-and-redwood chapel on the South Strip is one of the city's most famous. The kitsch is kept under control, and the setting borders on picturesque (it's even listed on the National Register of Historic Places—ah, Vegas). Since it opened in 1942, the church has been the site of more celebrity marriages than any other chapel in the world.

The list of ALWWC alums is impressive: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Michael Jordan, Britney Spears, and Frank Sinatra. Patty Duke liked it so much, she got married here twice. Try the Hawaiian theme, where the minister plays a ukulele and blows into a conch shell to close out the ceremony. Or, get hitched in a pink Cadillac while an Elvis impersonator croons. One of the five chapels is a drive-through, for the ultimate in shotgun weddings.

This picnic area tucked in the middle of interesting rock formations is near a stand of Joshua trees.

Part of an entertainment complex across from the Alamo, these two spots are filled with Instagram-friendly selfie opportunities. More than 200 wax figures at Waxworks depict the famous and infamous along with superheroes, television and movie stars, sports figures, musicians, and more. Many wax figures are displayed against elaborate sets and backdrops. Ripley's Believe it or Not! has 18,000 square feet in its "Odditorium" that features unusual worldwide collections in 18 themed galleries, some including hands-on interactive exhibits. There is also a Ripley's Believe it or Not! 4D Motion Theatre attraction that features 3D short adventure films with moving seats.

You wouldn't expect such a pinball extravaganza in tiny Lyons, but there it is, behind the Oskar Blues brewpub, with more than 50 classic pinball games. The change machines (and fellow gamers) make it a simple and fun evening stop.

Swanky nightclub meets gun range in this only-in-Vegas addition to the scene. In an industrial neighborhood just west of the Interstate, "MGV" (as it's known) offers 10 indoor shooting lanes, including two in a VIP area (It's Vegas), as well as a number of outdoor lanes. Visitors have dozens of firearms to choose from, and you can be part of "Seal Team 6" or a "Femme Fatale" with pink weaponry. Package deals all include multiple guns and supervised instruction. 

Expand your palate and perhaps your mind at this engaging complex. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley grapes are the focus at the Long Meadow Ranch tasting room. The decorous, 1920s-inspired Bohemian Chemist bills itself as a "curated cannabis apothecary" for quality sun-grown marijuana products. Sun & Cricket Curiosity Shoppe next door carries clever and whimsical gifts. The chef at Wickson incorporates local ingredients into his Iberian-inspired cuisine.

Stroll around South Street and it won’t be long before you come across the work of mosaic muralist Isaiah Zagar, recognizable by its intricate, irreverent mix of found materials and folk motifs. The Magic Gardens is home base for Zagar’s eye-catching art, which he’s been creating around here since he and wife, Julia, a fellow artist, moved there in the 1960s. Consisting of two indoor galleries and an outdoor sculpture garden, it’s an impressive and immersive visual feat. It’s a popular spot with tourists and groups, so it’s best to purchase tickets in advance; tickets go on sale online for visits one month in advance.

At this facility with a picturesque setting on the Tsoo-Yess River, near Shi Shi Beach, visitors can view chinook salmon as they make their way over fish ladders to the hatchery's spawning area. Spawning months are October through November, and the salmon are released in late April. Smaller numbers of coho and chum salmon as well as steelhead trout also populate the hatchery.

This is the most isolated picnic area in Saguaro West. It's on King Canyon Trail, a good area for birding and wildflower viewing. It's about a mile walk to reach the site, and the undeveloped trail isn't wheelchair accessible.

A sprawling complex with sweeping views of the Sherwin Mountains, Mammoth Rock 'n' Bowl supplies one-stop recreation, entertainment, and dining. Downstairs are 12 bowling lanes; lounge areas; Ping-Pong and foosball tables; dartboards; and a casual bar-restaurant serving burgers, pizzas, and small plates. The upstairs floor has three golf simulators, a pro shop, and Mammoth Rock Brasserie, an upscale dining room and lounge. If the weather's nice, sit out on the patio or the upstairs deck and enjoy the unobstructed vistas.

The town of Manitou grew around its springs, and there are eight mineral springs around town that you can drink from. Competitions to design the fountains that bring the mineral water to the public ensured that each fountain design is unique, so you may want to visit all of them on an easy self-guided walking tour of the town. It's a bring-your-own-cup affair; the water (frequently tested) is potable and free. The chamber of commerce publishes a free guide to the springs and the Mineral Springs Foundation offers tours.

Spring through fall, one of the state's few remaining drive-in theaters (family-run since 1954) shows movies (including first-run and double features) on its three big screens. There's a huge flea market held on the grounds every Sunday, rain or shine, from 8 am to 2 pm. You can bring leashed dogs to the movies—but no barking!

Every town has its legends, and Marfa is no exception: if you come here, you must go see the Marfa Lights—visible most often 9 miles east of town from a roadside park built especially for this purpose by the Texas Department of Transportation. Called by a variety of names—including "night mirages" and "chemical plasma lights"—the phenomenon, although rare, has been seen often enough that the Marfa chamber of commerce gives directions to the site near Mitchell Flat. Even if you don't see the Marfa Lights, you'll be in a prime spot for spectacular stargazing.

Disguised as a teetering-tottering ship that's moored on the edge of Toon Lagoon, this fantastic, three-story playground has, from bow to stern, dozens of climbing and other activities to keep kids busy. Toddlers enjoy crawling in Swee' Pea's Playpen, and with high-powered squirt guns, older children and their parents can take aim at unsuspecting riders twisting through the rapids over at Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges ride. The most excited participants are small kids, who can't get enough of the whistles, bells, tunnels, and ladders. Check out the view of the park from the top of the ship. For people with disabilities: The playground area is wheelchair accessible. Come in the morning or around dinnertime.

Midway between the Sugarlands Visitor Center and Cades Cove, Metcalf Bottoms makes an excellent waypoint. The Little River is nearby, where you can fish or take a cooling dip. There are 122 picnic tables with grills, restrooms with flush toilets, potable water, and a 70-seat pavilion (open early April to late October) that can be reserved in advance. Two easy hiking trails, Metcalf Bottoms and Little Brier, begin at the picnic area.

Talk about truth in advertising: this picnic area gives you an eyeful of Mica Mountain, the park's highest peak. None of the tables are in the shade.

In one of the most architecturally striking Amoskeag Mills buildings, state-of-the-art exhibits depict the region's history from when Native Americans lived here and fished the Merrimack River to when the machines of Amoskeag Mills wove cloth. The museum also offers lectures and walking tours, and has a child-oriented Discovery Gallery. There's a very good book and gift shop, too.

When facing the river with the French Quarter at your back, you will see, to your right, the Crescent City Connection, a twin-span bridge between downtown New Orleans and the West Bank, and a ferry that crosses the river every 30 minutes. The river flows to the left downstream for another 100 miles until it merges with the Gulf of Mexico. Woldenberg Riverfront Park and Spanish Plaza are prime territory for watching everyday life along the Mississippi: steamboats carrying tour groups, tugboats pushing enormous barges, and oceangoing ships. Directly across the river from the Quarter are the ferry landing and a dry dock for ship repair.

You've found the power center of Montana at the House of Mystery–Montana Vortex, a wacky roadside attraction where the laws of physics don't seem to apply and other mystifying phenomena prevail.

There is only one picnic table (and no services) here, but the view is excellent.