263 Best Sights in USA

Great Sand Dunes National Park's only picnic area is shaded by cottonwood trees with easy access to the sand and seasonal creek. It has a dozen places where visitors can park a car or small RV near a picnic table and a grill.

Between the park entrance and the Avenue of Flags, the Mount Rushmore Information Center has a small exhibit of photographs detailing the carving of the presidents' faces. The information desk is staffed by rangers who can answer questions about the area. Here you can rent an audio device for a self-guided tour, and a nearly identical building across from the information center houses restrooms and vending machines.

You can reach this picnic area at mile 13 by private vehicle, but parking can be hard to find during busy times, so consider taking the park shuttle. In addition to multiple picnic tables, there are bathroom facilities, and on clear days, you can glimpse the mountain. The Savage River Alpine Trail is next to the picnic area. This spot can get windy, so be prepared. From fall through spring, access is dependent on road conditions.

A delightful place for a family picnic, the hatchery was one of California's first trout farms. The Tudor Revival–style structure, constructed in 1916, is an architectural stunner, its walls nearly 3 feet thick with locally quarried granite. Fish production ceased in 2007 after a fire and subsequent mudslide, but dedicated volunteers staff the facility and raise trout for display purposes in a large pond out front. Bring change for the fish-food machines.

Hokey tourist trap or genuine scientific enigma? Since 1940, curious throngs baffled by the Mystery Spot have made it one of the most visited attractions in Santa Cruz. The laws of gravity and physics don't appear to apply in this tiny patch of redwood forest, where balls roll uphill and people stand on a slant.  On weekends and holidays, it's wise to purchase tickets online in advance.

Just south of Kona International Airport, a big building with a large photovoltaic (solar) panel installation resembles a top-secret military station, but it's actually the site of the Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii Authority's (NELHA) Hawaii Ocean Science Technology (HOST) Park. Here, scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs make use of a cold, deep-sea pipeline to develop and market everything from desalinated, mineral-rich drinking water and super-nutritious algae products to energy-efficient air-conditioning systems to environmentally friendly aquaculture techniques. Seahorses, abalone, kampachi (a type of yellowtail), Dungeness crab, and Maine lobsters are raised here, too. Farm tours are available directly through tenants Big Island Abalone, Ocean Rider Sea Horse Farm, and Sea Salts of Hawaii.

One of the top spirits makers in Southeast Portland's Distillery Row, New Deal has become nationally regarded for its eponymous vodka, which also comes in several flavored varieties, including Hot Monkey Pepper and Mud Puddle Bitter Chocolate. Visitors to the tasting room can sample limited releases and seasonal products as well as other New Deal standards, like aromatic gin and coffee liqueur made with beans from nearby Water Avenue Coffee.

Maple syrup is Vermont's signature product, and this museum north of Rutland explains the history and process of turning sap into syrup. It's now owned by the sugar makers from Solar Sweet Maple Farm in Lincoln, Vermont; if you don't get a chance to visit a sugarhouse, this is a fine place to sample the different grades and pick up some souvenirs.

This is a great place to get in touch with the spiritual side of New Orleans. It's the product of an innovative collaboration of more than a dozen of New Orleans's most progressive (and intriguing) organizations. Visitors can check out everything from the Wild Lotus Yoga Studio to the New Orleans Food Co-Op, from the Café Istanbul Performance Hall to the Island of Salvation Botanica, the famous voodoo shop run by the renowned priestess Sallie Ann Glassman.

One need not be a jazz fanatic to love the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. "Jazz Fest," as it's more commonly known, is a sprawling, rollicking celebration of Louisiana music, food, and culture held the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May. It takes place at the city's historic Fair Grounds Race Course, which reverberates with the sounds of rock, Cajun, zydeco, gospel, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, folk, world music, country, Latin, and, yes, traditional and modern jazz. Throw in world-class arts and crafts, exhibitions and lectures, and an astounding range of Louisiana-made food—which, for many, is the star of the show—and you've got a festival worthy of America's premier party town. Over the years, Jazz Fest lineups have come to include internationally known performers, but at its heart the festival is about the hundreds of Louisiana musicians who live, work, and cut their chops in the Crescent City. The festival is an important showcase for local musicians, introducing them to fans around the world.

In the town of Boring along the main route from Portland to Mt. Hood (about 20 miles before you reach Welches), this museum devoted to all things Bigfoot is operated by one of the world's foremost researchers on the topic and has quickly become a favorite stop, especially with kids. Inside you'll find a 7½-foot-tall replica of a rather stern-looking Sasquatch (his name is Murphy), along with framed and cast footprints, indigenous masks, photos, books, and other artifacts that help visitors to decide for themselves about the likelihood that this creature actually exists.

A must-see for a souvenir photo, the smallest post office in the United States is a former shed for irrigation pipes on the Tamiami Trail. Blink and you'll risk missing it. You can support this quaint and historical outpost by purchasing a postcard of the little shack and mailing it off to a history buff. You can also mail packages and buy money orders here.

If you don't want to be married by Elvis or a Klingon, head for the Office of Civil Marriages downtown, where a commissioner will do the deed for $77.75 on a credit card. The catch: you must call ahead to make an appointment. At least one witness is required.

Daily programs at both park districts introduce visitors to the desert. You might find presentations on bats, birds, or desert blooms, and naturalist-led hikes (including moonlight hikes). Check online or call for the current week's activities.

Established in 1960, this refuge consists of 11,987 acres of land along the Green River. Here you can see more than 200 species of migratory birds in spring and fall, mule deer and golden eagles year-round, and bald eagles in early winter. An information kiosk at the refuge has a bird checklist and other leaflets. The best times to visit are in the early morning and early evening. The park is open from sunrise to sunset.

Nashville's luxe Paddywax candles have become a national household staple with unique scent collections based on classic authors, national parks, and gourmand treats. Visitors to this brick-and-mortar outpost will not only be able to shop their established favorites, but they can also experience the fun of candle making with self-guided workshops or even grab an at-home kit for a DIY fix.

Perfect for groups, this candle shop and creator space offers hour-long classes by appointment where guests can select the vessel and scent to make their own custom candles. Since these creations take three hours to cool, you can arrange to have them shipped, wait on them at the fully-stocked bar, or explore the neighborhood and come back later. There's another location in The Gulch that offers more of a "pop in and pour" experience.

This neck of land off Shore Road in the lower part of Ogunquit village has a jumble of sea-weathered fish houses and buildings that were part of an art school. These have largely been transformed by the tide of tourism into shops and restaurants, including the classic Barnacle Billy's seafood spot. When you've had your fill of browsing, stroll out along the mile-long Marginal Way.

There's much to like about this 5-acre island under the Old Seven Mile Bridge. You might even recognize it from a season finale of the TV show The Amazing Race. You can reach it via a restored train that departs from the gift shop, which is in a trailer at Mile Marker 47.5. Once there, tour the island on your own, or join a guided tour to explore the buildings that formed the early-20th-century work camp for the Overseas Railroad, which linked the mainland to Key West in 1912. Later, the island became a fish camp, a state park, and then government-administration headquarters. Exhibits in a small museum recall the history of the Keys, the railroad, and railroad baron Henry M. Flagler. The train ride with tour lasts two hours. Bring your own snorkel gear and dive flag and you can snorkel right from the shore; pack a picnic lunch, too.

It's hard to miss this place; the "Pinball" sign is so big, we swear it can be seen from space. This fun facility has more than 25,000 square feet filled with games created between the 1940s and the 1990s, including old wood-rail models, and all of them are available for play for 25 to 50 cents a game. There are more than 350 games, catalogued and mapped on the museum's website. Though this may sound more like an arcade than a museum, it's under the auspices of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club and is a nonprofit with the goal of preserving these pieces of Americana and sharing the joy of the silver ball. All excess revenues go to the Salvation Army.

Picnic in Giant Forest, in the vicinity of sequoias if not actually under them. Drinking water, restrooms, grills, and wheelchair-accessible spots are provided in this expansive setting near Sequoia National Park's most popular attractions.

Inaccessible when Baker Creek Road is closed in the winter, this picnic area at the mouth of a canyon has a handful of tables and fire grills but no water. It does have a restroom. Access is via a narrow, one-lane road.

At this small, rural post office you can mail a coconut anywhere in the world. You'll need to bring your own, and it needs to be dried, with no holes from bugs and no sprouts. You can then decorate (colored markers are provided) and address your coconut, and post office staff will affix eye-catching stamps to it from their extensive collection. Costs vary according to destination and weight; the only countries that won't receive the charming postcards are Australia and New Zealand.

This installation of roadside art designed to resemble an actual Prada store is one of the most Instagrammed sights in all of Texas for creativity. Built in 2005, the $80,000 sculpture "store" lies just outside of the small town of Valentine, about 37 miles northwest of Marfa, and it has and will never open for business (though it has been vandalized).

As you round a bend between Port Orford and Gold Beach, you'll see one of those sights that make grown-ups groan and kids squeal with delight: a huge, open-jawed Tyrannosaurus rex, with a green Brontosaurus peering out from the forest beside it. You can view 23 other life-size dinosaur replicas on the trail that runs through this property that's been delighting visitors since 1955.

The scent of fir and spruce trees mingle with the ocean’s salty tang at this secluded seasonal picnic spot on the quiet western side of Mount Desert Island. A handful of picnic tables, including the park's only covered ones, are set close to a stairway leading down to the shore alongside Pretty Marsh Harbor.

There are restrooms and tables at this small picnic area near the south entrance.