10405 Best Sights in USA

Bordering the Rio Chama, U.S. 84 works its way north through monumental red rocks and golden sandstone spires that inspired Georgia O'Keeffe's vivid paintings of creased mountains, stark crosses, bleached animal skulls, and adobe architecture. Just beyond the rugged town of Tierra Amarilla sits Los Ojos, a tiny village that's become a model of successful rural economic development by having tapped into its ancient roots—the raising of Churro sheep (the original breed brought over by the Spanish, prized for its wool) and weaving. Tierra Wools cooperative produces some of the finest original weavings in the Southwest. Designs are based on the old Rio Grande styles, and weavers make rugs and capes of superb craftsmanship entirely by hand, using old-style looms (they're happy to provide visitors with demonstrations). Weaving workshops are offered. You'll also find a smattering of artists' studios nearby, most of them in rustic buildings with corrugated metal roofs.

Disney never leaves the little ones out of the fun, and this junior-size version of Blizzard Beach, set slightly apart from the rest of the park, has scaled-down elements of Mt. Gushmore, with sand, slides (including one with tubes), faux snow drifts, and igloolike tunnels. Recently added is Elsa's castle from Frozen, along with a few other nods to the icy franchise. Parents can find sun or shade beneath lean-tos. Lifeguards are on hand. For people with disabilities: Guests using water-appropriate wheelchairs can enjoy the wading areas. Stake out lounge chairs early, especially for a shady spot. If your tykes don't swim well, get them fitted with a free life vest, and pull your chair up to the water's edge.

Cheese and ice cream lovers of all ages have long made a stop by the largest cheese-making plant on the West Coast, as much to enjoy free samples and snack on delicious ice cream (try the marionberry pie flavor). At the striking, contemporary visitor center, learn about cheese making through informative signs and by watching the process from a glassed-in mezzanine. The impressive gourmet market stocks Tillamook's many varieties of cheddar, produced in part with milk from thousands of local Holstein and brown Swiss cows, as well as chocolates, charcuterie, and other mostly Oregon-made snacks and beverages, including wine and craft beer. Additionally, a huge food hall with soaring windows and ample seating dispenses Tillamook cheeseburgers, pizzas, mac and cheese, and sweets.

Fittingly, green and red are the team colors as checked-shirted lumberjacks—and lumberjills—logroll, axe throw, chop, climb, and saw: the 1¼-hour show’s whimsical forest-ringed setting and cheery, larger-than-life master of ceremonies Timber Tina are as magical and fun as Christmas morning. From the covered bleachers you'll laugh and learn as the former Survivor TV show contestant engages the crowd, invites kids up to the stage to saw, and prompts and cajoles competitors—most compete on college lumberjack sports teams. Growing up in Hayward, Wisconsin, home of the Lumberjack World Championships, Tina performed in her family's lumberjack show as a kid and has competed and performed worldwide. Like her home state, as she shares during the 12-event “Olympics of the Forest,” Maine is a lumbering center that in centuries past relied on lumberjacks' brawn to cut down trees and move logs downriver. Many died on the job, but that didn't stop the survivors from plying their skills for some competitive fun after the work was done. Shows are at 7 pm nightly in summer.

This industrial park on the southern border of Paso Robles houses a collection of wineries, a craft brewery, a cider producer, and the Tin City Distillery. The latter produces gin, a few vodkas, and whiskey (including a single-malt whiskey), plus a Wine Shine label featuring brandy made from Paso Robles grapes. For your nonspirits explorations, start at Giornata Winery, Levo Winery, and Tin City Cider Co. The upscale Michelin-starred Six Test Kitchen is also located in this food-and-drink-centric neighborhood.

If you miss the driveway to Tom and Kerry Eddy's hillside slice of paradise, you'll soon find yourself in Sonoma County—their tree-studded 22-acre property is that far north. Tom, the winemaker, and Kerry, a sommelier and talented sculptor who hosts most tastings, pour their wines by appointment. Except for the estate Kerry's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, the grapes come from sources as near as Calistoga and as far as New Zealand. A 1974 UC Davis graduate, Tom crafts mountain Cabernets with structure and elegance. They're the winery's stars, but he also produces several whites and Malbec, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and other reds. A visit here is enchanting.

For an introduction to the town's—and the area's—past, visit the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park. This redbrick 1882 county courthouse offers exhibits on the area's mining and ranching history and a collection of Wyatt Earp's letters; you can also see the restored 1904 courtroom and district attorney's office. The two-story building housed the Cochise County jail, a courtroom, and public offices until the county seat was moved to Bisbee in 1929. The stately building became the cornerstone of Tombstone's historic-preservation efforts in the 1950s, and was Arizona's first operational state park.

This leafy park is a favorite spot, year-round, for the neighborhood locals who lunch on the benches, picnic in the central green spaces, and put on impromptu jazz concerts. There's a year-round farmers' market by the southwest corner on Sunday, and an annual Halloween dog-costume event. It wasn't always so rosy in the park, though: in 1988, police followed then-mayor Ed Koch's orders to evict the many homeless people who had set up makeshift shelters here, and homeless rights and anti-gentrification activists fought back with sticks and bottles. The park was reclaimed and reopened in 1992 with a midnight curfew, still in effect today.

Down a country lane less than 2 miles south of Healdsburg Plaza, James MacPhail's modest production facility seems well away from the upscale fray. MacPhail makes wines for Sangiacomo and other labels, but Tongue Dancer's Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are handcrafted labors of love. From choice vineyard sites, the small-lot wines impress—sometimes stun—with their grace, complexity, and balance. The flagship Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is poured at most tastings. Either the winemaker or his co-owner and wife, Kerry Forbes-MacPhail will host you, their aim to "create an approachable experience for guests we hope will leave as friends." It's best to book a day or more ahead.

From Logan, U.S. 89 continues for 30 miles up Logan Canyon before topping out at the crest of the Bear River Range (from which it continues another 10 miles to Bear Lake). For a particularly satisfying excursion that leads to awesome hiking and mountain biking, drive the well-signed 7-mile side road to Tony Grove Lake. At more than 8,000 feet, this subalpine jewel is surrounded by cliffs and meadows filled in summer with a stunning profusion of wildflowers. A short trail circles the lake. Mountain bikers and hikers alike can access a prime wilderness area via the 3.3-mile one-way route from the lake to the 9,984-foot summit of Naomi Peak, which offers 80-mile views on clear days. With a gain almost 2,000 feet in elevation, the hike passes through conifer forests and open meadows and along subalpine basins and rocky ledges. A shorter hike to White Pine Lake, which begins on the same trail and splits after a quarter of a mile, is also lovely.

Strollers, runners, bikers, dog walkers, and in-line skaters cram this recreation trail on sunny summer evenings, particularly around Westchester Lagoon. In winter, cross-country skiers take to the trail by storm, and the lagoon becomes a buzzing ice rink with city-supplied burn barrels. The trail begins off 2nd Avenue, west of Christensen Drive, and curls along Cook Inlet for approximately 11 miles to Kincaid Park, beyond the airport. In summer you might spot beluga whales offshore in Cook Inlet. Access points are on the waterfront at the ends of 2nd and 5th Avenues and at Westchester Lagoon near the end of 15th Avenue. When you get to the high points in the trail, look north; Denali is visible on clear days.

Torpedoes were manufactured here by the U.S. Navy during World War II, but now the building houses eight galleries, as well as the studios and workshops of about 165 artists and artisans. You can observe printmakers, jewelers, sculptors, painters, potters, textile artists, and glass makers as they create original work in their studios (and buy their artworks). The Torpedo Factory also houses the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, which displays artifacts such as plates, cups, pipes, and coins from an early tavern, as well as Civil War soldiers' equipment.

With sandstone cliffs and hiking trails adjacent to the beach rather than urban development, Torrey Pines State Beach feels far away from the SoCal sprawl. The beach and reserve encompass 1,500 acres of sandstone cliffs and deep ravines, and a network of meandering trails lead to the wide, pristine beach below. Along the way enjoy the rare Torrey pine trees, found only here and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore. Guides conduct free tours of the nature preserve Friday through Sunday and holidays. Torrey Pines tends to get crowded in summer, but you'll find more isolated spots heading south under the cliffs leading to Black's Beach. Smooth rocks often wash up on stretches of the beach making it a challenge, at times, to go barefoot. If you can find a patch that is clear of debris, you'll encounter the nice soft, golden sand San Diego is known for. There is a paid parking lot at the entrance to the park but also look for free angle parking along North Torrey Pines Road. Amenities: lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking.

About a quarter of the Ketchikan bus tours include this park that contains many totem poles and has a hand-hewn Native clan house. Totem Bight sits on a scenic spit of land facing the waters of Tongass Narrows. Master Native carvers crafted the first replica poles here as part of a U.S. Forest Service program that began in the late 1930s. The tools the carvers used were handmade in the Native style, and modern paints were employed to re-create colors originally made using natural substances from clamshells to lichen. The clan house, open daily in summer, was built to resemble a type that might have held several related families. Note the raven painting on the front: each eye contains a small face. Try to save time for a stop at nearby Potlatch Totem Park as well.

In 1658, more than a dozen Jewish families whose ancestors had fled Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition founded a congregation in Newport. A century later, Peter Harrison designed this two-story Palladian house of worship for them. George Washington wrote a famous letter to the group in which he pledged the new American nation would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." The oldest surviving synagogue in the country, Touro was dedicated in 1763 and its simple exterior and elegant interior remain virtually unchanged. A small trapdoor in the platform upon which the Torah is read symbolizes the days of persecution when Jews were forced to worship in secret---and sometimes flee the temple in haste. The John L. Loeb Visitors Center has two floors of state-of-the-art exhibits on early American Jewish life and Newport's history of religious freedom.

Tickets, available at the Loeb Visitors Center, are required for entry into the synagogue.

General admission to Discovery Cove includes meals, wet suit, and diving gear; this tour adds a gift bag, waterproof digital camera for the day, 30-minute dolphin swim, a private photo session with two dolphins, feeding fish in the Grand Reef, a meet-and-greet with tropical birds and small animals, and an almost exclusive (only eight guests in the entire lagoon) interaction that includes a "double-foot push" (two dolphins propel you across the lagoon by the soles of your feet). Ready for more? Shadow a trainer all day: head to the dolphin back area for a private tour and talk to trainers about how they teach and care for these amazing animals. Like other Discovery Cove admissions, this includes unlimited access to SeaWorld and Aquatica for 14 days. Call ahead to arrange a tour.

It's neither owned by Transamerica nor, to some building experts, is it even a pyramid, but this 48-floor, 853-foot-tall pyramid-obelisk is the most photographed of the city's high-rises. Excoriated in the design stages as "the world's largest architectural folly," the icon was quickly hailed as a masterpiece when it opened in 1972. Today it's probably the city's most recognized structure after the Golden Gate Bridge, and it's the second-tallest in the city after the Salesforce Tower. You can't go up the pyramid (apparently there is now a bar on the 48th floor), but the best views and photo-ops are of the building itself anyway. After the real estate developer SHVO purchased the building in 2020, the legendary skyscraper architect Norman Foster led a renovation of the pyramid that was completed in 2024 (and unveiled with a new official name, the Transamerica Pyramid Center). Most of the building is still for private offices, but the public can visit a lobby coffee shop, a ground floor art gallery, and Café Sebastian located just steps from the building but still within the one-block large complex.  A fragrant redwood grove along the east side of the building, with benches and a rotating outdoor art exhibit, is a placid downtown oasis in which to unwind.

Superior estate Chardonnay, dry Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and the Malbec-heavy Dragon's Tooth blend are the trademarks of this family-run winery founded in 1968. To find out how well Trefethen wines age, book a reserve tasting, which includes pours of limited-release wines and one or two older vintages. The terra-cotta-color historic winery on-site, built in 1886, was designed with a gravity-flow system, with the third story for crushing, the second for fermenting the resulting juice, and the first for aging. The wooden building is now the main tasting room. The early-1900s Arts and Crafts–style Villa, situated amid gardens, hosts Taste the Estate, whose food pairings include ingredients from the on-site culinary garden. All visits require a reservation.

The sight of sheep, guinea hens, a garden, pomegranate and other trees, and a slew of birds and bees at Tres Sabores—not to mention the heaping purple compost pile—reinforces a simple point: despite the Napa Valley's penchant for glamour this is, first and foremost, farm country. Owner-winemaker Julie Johnson specializes in single-vineyard wines that include Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel from estate-grown certified-organic Rutherford bench vines. She also excels with Petite Sirahs from dry-farmed Calistoga fruit, two whites, and the zippy ¿Por Qué No? ("Why not?") red blend. Tres sabores is Spanish for "three flavors," which to Johnson represents the land, her vines, and, as she puts it, "the spirit of the company around the table.” Appointment-only tastings are usually held outside.

Enjoy Yakima Valley views from the tasting room and grounds of this esteemed winery that uses the long-standing traditional method (méthode champenoise) to produce Champagne-style sparkling wines that rank among the best in the country. Favorites from the reasonably priced portfolio include creamy Chardonnay-based Blanc de Blancs, a mid-priced minerally Müller-Thurgau, and an elegant Syrah Brut.

On this lush trek through a mix of old-growth redwoods, ferns, smaller deciduous trees, and some clusters of trillium flowers, you'll encounter the pretty cascades that give the hike its name after the first ½ mile. It's worth continuing along the full 2.8-mile loop, as the walk's southern end offers the best views of soaring redwoods. Roosevelt elk sometimes roam in the meadow by the trailhead. Easy–Moderate.

Trinity Church Boston is designated as “one of the ten most important buildings in America” by the American Institute of Architects. In his 1877 masterpiece, architect Henry Hobson Richardson brought his Romanesque Revival style to maturity; all the aesthetic elements for which he was famous come together magnificently—bold polychromatic masonry, careful arrangement of masses, sumptuously carved interior woodwork—in this crowning centerpiece of Copley Square. A full appreciation of its architecture requires an understanding of the logistical problems of building it here. The Back Bay is a reclaimed wetland with a high water table. Bedrock, or at least stable glacial till, lies far beneath wet clay. Like all older Back Bay buildings, Trinity Church sits on submerged wooden pilings. But its central tower weighs 9,500 tons, and most of the 4,500 pilings beneath the building are under that tremendous central mass. The pilings are checked regularly for sinkage by means of a hatch in the basement.

Richardson engaged some of the best artists of his day—John La Farge, William Morris, and Edward Burne-Jones among them—to execute the paintings and stained glass that make this a monument to everything that was right about the pre-Raphaelite spirit and the nascent aesthetic of Morris's Arts and Crafts movement. Along the north side of the church, note the Augustus Saint-Gaudens statue of Phillips Brooks—the most charismatic rector in New England, who almost single-handedly got Trinity built and furnished. The shining light of Harvard's religious community and lyricist of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," Brooks is shown here with Christ touching his shoulder in approval. For a nice respite, enjoy one of the Friday organ concerts at 12:15. Guided tours are held throughout the week.

Built in 1860, this is the town's oldest standing church and an architectural landmark that anchors the town. Complete with a 125-foot spire, the Gothic Revival structure has an original chancery window imported from England and a rare working 1860 John Baker tracker organ.

Only a monument remains at Trinity Site, where the world's first atomic bomb exploded, on July 16, 1945. The resulting crater has been filled in, but the test site and monument are open for public viewing and self-guided tours two days of the year (the first Satudays in April and October). The McDonald ranch house, where the first plutonium core for the bomb was assembled, can be toured on those days. Picnic tables are available. It's wheelchair-accessible.

There are no vehicle services or gas at the site, and visitors must bring their own food and water.

First debuted in Shanghai Disneyland, the very popular TRON Lightcycle / Run is one of the newest attractions at the Magic Kingdom. Based on the hit movie franchise, the coaster places riders on individual lightcycles (the motorcycles associated so strongly with TRON) that are situated two by two. Despite the lack of flips, this coaster gets high marks for being the fastest in Disney and for its accelerated launch. Your cycles will speed against an opposing team, shooting inside and out, as lights flash to make it feel as if you are in the TRON video game. Head here first or purchase a Lightning Lane pass if available. Note that this ride is not appropriate for pregnant women or guests wearing back, neck, or leg braces. For people with disabilities: You must be able to step into the ride vehicle and walk short distances. Non-motorcycle-ride vehicles are available. Guests in wheelchairs should see a cast member for boarding options. Service animals aren't permitted.

As Magic Kingdom's newest coaster, only purchases of individual Lightning Lane and a virtual queue are currently available. Use the My Disney Experience app exactly at 7 am to join the virtual queue—a one-hour window for your party to make its way to the attraction. Try again at 1 pm if you miss out on the first round, or purchase an individual Lightning Lane. No standby queue is available.

Few winemakers in southern Oregon have a more devoted following than Troon, whose swanky tasting room and winery in the northern Applegate Valley is patterned after a French country villa. Troon produces relatively small yields of exceptional biodynamic wines, including some less typical U.S. bottles, such as Amphora orange wines and a revered Tannat.

Halfway between Wellfleet and Provincetown, this vineyard owned and operated by the Roberts family, makes several notable blends, both red and white. It also makes a red table wine that's flavored with cranberries and known for its unusual bottle, shaped like a lighthouse. There is also an aged rum, whiskey, and gin distillery on the property, South Hollow Spirits, which produces small-batch spirits; tours and tastings are available. They also host several popular wine and food events scheduled throughout the summer. It's a great place to picnic, and there's a food truck on-site.

This elegant, reconstructed 1770 Georgian building was the colonial capitol and originally the home of Royal Governor William Tryon. Tours are led by witty, engaging docents dressed in period attire and sometimes include cooking demonstrations in the freestanding kitchen. The palace burned to the ground in 1798, and it wasn't until 1959 that a rebuilt, scale replica of the home was completed. Today, only the stable and one basement wall are original, and the foundation has been restored to its original footprint. Everything else has been reconstructed from architectural plans, maps, and letters; and the palace is furnished with English and American antiques corresponding to Governor Tryon's inventory. Additionally, 85% of the books in the library are the same titles as those that were there 200 years ago. The stately John Wright Stanly House (circa 1783), the George W. Dixon House (circa 1830), the Robert Hay House (circa 1805), and the New Bern Academy (circa 1809) are also part of the Tryon Palace complex. You can also stroll through the 18th-century-style formal gardens, which bloom year-round but are especially popular during spring tulip and fall mum seasons. The complex's 60,000-square-foot North Carolina History Center contains two museums providing interactive displays that trace the history of New Bern and the central North Carolina coast.

This sanctuary for indigenous and migrating birds, waterfowl, and mammals is in Sherwood (about 18 miles south of Hillsboro). It is one of only a handful of national urban refuges in the United States and has restored much of the natural landscape common to western Oregon prior to human settlement. The refuge is home to nearly 200 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a variety of insects, fish, and plants. It features an interpretive center, a gift shop, photography blinds, and restrooms. This restoration has attracted animals back to the area in great numbers, and with a keen eye, birders and animal watchers can catch a glimpse of these creatures year-round. In May the refuge hosts its Tualatin River Bird Festival.