239 Best Sights in USA

The welcome center on the preserve's western side has abundant information and educational features, as well as restrooms, picnic facilities, and a 70-seat auditorium. An outdoor breezeway showcases an interactive Big Cypress watershed exhibit, illustrating Florida's water flow. It's a convenient place to stop when crossing from either coast.  Love manatees? The boardwalk overlooking the canal behind the welcome center can be a good spot for viewing the intriguing mammals. (Legend has it that they were once mistaken for mermaids by thirsty or love-starved sailors.)

This gorgeous building is 34 miles from U.S. 191 via Highway 211, near the park entrance. Needles is remote, so it's worth stopping to inquire about road, weather, and park conditions. You can also use the restroom, refill water bottles, and get books, trail maps, and other information. Note that it is closed in the winter but restrooms and water are still accessible.

The Niagara Gorge Discovery Center explains, through interactive exhibits and a multiple-screen movie, the natural history of the falls and the Niagara Gorge and their formation.

Niagara Falls generates power at one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world (the largest in New York State). The visitor center, 4½ mi north of the falls, has more than 50 hands-on exhibits, including an operating model-size generator, and educational displays on energy efficiency and hydroelectric power generation. Atop the Robert Moses Power Plant, the visitor center has sweeping views of the Niagara Gorge.

Stop by the Nome Convention & Visitors Bureau for a historic-walking-tour map, a city map, and information on local activities. The offerings do a good job capturing Nome's historic and current role as a gateway to the vast expanses of western Alaska.

This is the park's major administrative center and the place to pick up passes, permits, and information about current conditions.

The main visitor facility for the park has extensive displays on the surrounding landscape. Learn about the history and value of old-growth trees, the many creatures that depend on the rain-forest ecology, and the effects of human activity on the ecosystem. Check bulletin boards for special programs with park rangers.

This small facility on the park's North Rim is open sporadically and only in summer. Rangers can provide information and assistance and can issue permits for wilderness use and rock climbing. If rangers are out in the field, which they often are, guests can find directions for obtaining permits posted in the station.

While planning for a new visitor center facility is underway, this unit is being housed in temporary trailers. It still offers park information and a park film. Amenities include restrooms and a gift shop. It's open daily except for Christmas and New Year's Day.

The big attraction at the Oasis Visitor Center, on the east side of Big Cypress Preserve, is the observation deck for viewing fish, birds, and other wildlife, such as gators. The native plants in a small butterfly garden attract winged wonders. Inside the visitor center, you'll find an exhibition gallery, the Florida National Parks Association bookshop, and a theater showing an informative film on the swamp. (Leashed pets are allowed, but not on the boardwalk deck.) The off-road vehicle permit office is also located at the Oasis Visitor Center.

Learn about the region's dense old-growth forests through interpretive displays and videos at this visitor center, near the Grove of the Patriarchs.

This modern, well-organized facility, staffed by park rangers, provides everything: maps, trail brochures, campground advice, weather forecasts, listings of wildlife sightings, educational programs and exhibits, information on road and trail closures, and a gift shop.

At the intersection of Interstate 49 and U.S. 190, look for the Opelousas Tourist Information Center, where you can get plenty of information, arrange for tours of historic homes, and see memorabilia pertaining to Jim Bowie, the Alamo hero who spent his early years in Opelousas.

The small office in the Santa Barbara Harbor provides maps and other information about Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary; the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is housed in the same building. Call ahead to verify hours.

Easily reached off Interstate 94, this South Unit Visitor Center has an information desk, exhibits, a Theodore Roosevelt Nature and History Association bookstore, a picnic area, restrooms, vending machines, water fountains, and public phones.

This visitor center isn't as large as the other two, but here you can get information as well as view cultural history exhibits.

This is the place to go for general park information and an informative 20-minute film. Proceeds from books purchased here will fund continued research and interpretive activities for the park.

Just beyond the entrance to the Summit District, you’ll find the Park Headquarters Visitor Center. This center offers essential resources such as trail maps and informative displays on the park’s geology, Hawaiian culture, and the unique endangered species protected within Haleakala. Hikers and campers must stop here for updates before heading up the mountain. The gift shop is also a great stop, offering maps, posters, and other keepsakes to remember your visit.

The park's western visitor center is open daily (9 to 5 in summer and 9 to 4 in winter) and has educational exhibits and ranger-guided hikes, lectures, and other programs, including those geared to kids. You'll also find a Nature Play Zone and the trailhead for the center's namesake route through Miller Woods.

The center has natural-history exhibits and hosts lectures and classes on wildlife and other nature-related and outdoorsy subjects. Nature trails here double as cross-country-skiing and snowshoeing trails in winter. From June through Labor Day you may observe butterflies in the Butterfly House, a greenhouse-like structure. The center is in Paul Smiths, 12 mi north of Saranac Lake.

Complete with exhibits and a bookstore, this seasonal visitor center is the northern gateway into miles of flatlands that surround the more scenic heart of Big Bend.

At the park's small shop and information station, near the eastern entrance, you'll find a helpful selection of maps, books, and gifts. The adjacent campground store sells light snacks.

The Prospect Park Visitor Center is surrounded by gardens and has tourist information, exhibits, and a snack bar. The visitor center's Adventure Theater shows the "thrill film" Niagara: Legends of Adventure ($11), on a 45-foot-tall screen.

The ranger station near the Lake Quinault Lodge has maps, campground information, and program listings.

View displays of prehistoric animals, watch an orientation video, and—perhaps most important—use the restroom facilities at this visitor center at the southern end of the park.

The trust protects 14,000 acres of land in the Rangeley Lakes area. Both online and at its Rangeley office, the trust has maps and descriptions of its 35 miles of recreational trails and access roads, along with information about fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, picnicking, and other outdoor activities.

Take in gorgeous views of nearby mountains and the surrounding desert from the center's large windows and shaded outdoor terrace. A spacious gallery is filled with educational exhibits, and a lifelike display simulates the flora and fauna of the region. A 15-minute slide show, Voices of the Desert, provides a poetic, Native American perspective on the Saguaro. Park rangers and volunteers hand out maps and suggest hikes to suit your interests. The bookstore sells books, trinkets, a few local items like honey and prickly pear jellies, and reusable water bottles that you can fill at water stations outside.

The Reelfoot Area Chamber of Commerce can answer questions about dining and lodging.