Looking for someplace fun to visit? Here is a bucket list of over 200 of the best places to visit in the USA.
The list is sorted by state so you’ll be able to find cool and unique places to visit all across America.
Many of the locations on this list are considered some of the most beautiful places in the U.S. and are also some of the most visited places in the U.S.
These sites include historical sites, interesting attractions, scenic state parks, memorials, monuments and etc.
The following is a list of the best places to visit in the U.S:
Alaska:
Explore Denali National Park, a massive 6 million acre park that features a 20,310-ft mountain known as Denali (aka Mount McKinley), which is North America’s tallest mountain.
Visit the University of Alaska Museum of the North, a museum in Fairbanks that features more than one million historical artifacts and natural history pieces.
Explore Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, a park that commemorates the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. It features trails and historic buildings. The park is located in Alaska and Washington.
Visit the Anchorage Museum, a museum dedicated to studying the history, people and art of Alaska.
Alabama:
Visit the Civil Rights Memorial, a memorial dedicated to the 41 people killed during the 1954-1968 Civil Rights movement.
Explore the Moundville Archaeological Site, a collection of 29 mounds constructed by a Native American society known as the Mississippian culture between approximately 1000 CE and 1450 CE.
Visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, a museum that features a collection of artifacts from the U.S. Space Program.
Visit the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, a naval historical park which features numerous WWII battleships.
Arizona:
Tour Montezuma Castle, a cliff-side dwelling in Camp Verde that was built by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture, between approximately 1100 and 1425 AD.
Visit Tombstone, a town settled in 1879 that is known for its Wild West history, particularly the shootout at the OK Corral. The town features museums, exhibits and live reenactments.
Explore the Grand Canyon National Park, a large 1,217,262 acre park that features the Grand Canyon, which is a gorge of the Colorado River.
Hike the Wave, a sandstone rock formation in the Coyote Buttes ravine that is made from calcified sand dunes. It is a popular photography spot and only 20 visitors are allowed to walk through the ravine each day in order to protect it from damage.
Visit Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Indian Reservation that features a valley with towering sandstone rock formations.
Tour Antelope Canyon, a beautiful sandstone slot canyon only accessible by guided tours.
Explore White Pocket, a group of sandstone domes and ridges about one square mile in size. Unlike the Wave, visitation to White Pocket is unlimited.
Arkansas:
Dig for diamonds at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, a 911-acre park that features a 37.5-acre plowed field that is the world’s only diamond-bearing site accessible to the public. The site is the location of a volcanic pipe that is part of a 95-million-year-old eroded volcano that brought magma and diamonds to the surface.
Visit the Arkansas Air Museum, a museum that has a collection of military and racing aircraft from the 1920s and 1930s.
Relax in the historic bathhouses in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
California:
Explore Redwood National Parks, a series of several state and national parks that measure 139,000 acres in size and feature an old growth Redwood forest, prairies and a 37 mile long coastline.
Visit Alcatraz Island, an island in San Francisco Bay that is home to a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a federal prison that ran from 1934 until 1963.
Walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a 1.3 mile sidewalk embedded with terrazzo and brass stars depicting the names of famous celebrities.
View the Hollywood sign, a famous landmark on Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills area Los Angeles.
Visit Disneyland, a famous theme park in Anaheim.
Explore Death Valley National Park, a national park that features ghost towns, badlands, salt flats and mountains.
Colorado:
Explore Rocky Mountain National Park, a 265,461 acre park within the front range of the Rocky Mountains. The park features mountains, alpine lakes, forests and a mountain tundra.
Explore Mesa Verde National Park, a 52,485 acre park known for its Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings, notably the huge Cliff Palace, built sometime between 600 and 1300 CE.
Go sandboarding at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, a 107,342 acre park that features Star Dune, the highest sand dune in North America.
Hike through the Garden of Gods, which is made up of 1,300 acres of sandstone rock formations.
Go skiing in Aspen, a popular ski resort town in the Rocky Mountains.
Watch a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a massive rock structure where open air concerts have been held for more than 100 years.
Connecticut:
Visit Mystic Seaport, a re-created seafaring village where you can learn about American maritime history.
Explore Dinosaur State Park, a 80 acre natural history preserve that features the largest dinosaur track sites in North America.
Visit the Mystic Aquarium, a local aquarium with both indoor and outdoor exhibits where you can see beluga whales, African penguins, rescued seals and more.
Eat some Mystic Pizza at the pizza shop made famous by the 1988 movie of the same name.
Tour the Mark Twain House and Museum, the turn of the century home in Hartford where the famous writer lived for a number of years.
Ride the Essex Steam Train, a historic steam train, through the Connecticut River Valley.
Delaware:
Visit the Brandywine Zoo, a 12-acre zoo that features condors, river otters and other animals native to the Americas.
Watch a race at the Dover International Speedway, a local race track nicknamed ?the Monster Mile? that holds at least two NASCAR races a year.
Visit the Nemours Mansion and Gardens, a 300 acre country estate that features a 100-room mansion, a maze garden and beautiful sculptures and fountains.
Visit the Hagley Museum and Library, where you can take a guided tour through the Eleutherian Mills, which was the original du Pont family home, and view a collection of antique cars, the original gunpowder mills, the estate itself, and its extensive gardens.
Florida:
Explore the Everglades National Park, a 1,508,976 acre park in the wetlands of Southern Florida.
Visit the Walt Disney Resort, a Disney theme park in Orlando.
Take a scenic drive on the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys.
Visit the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Orlando, one of ten National Aeronautics and Space Administration field centers.
Visit Busch Gardens in Tampa, a safari park where you can see live animals and also enjoy amusement park rides.
Watch a race at the Daytona International Speedway, a race track that holds the Daytona 500 every year.
Georgia:
Visit the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park, a park that consists of several buildings in Atlanta, including Martin Luther King Jr’s boyhood home and the original Ebenezer Baptist Church where King was baptized and where he and his father were pastors.
Visit the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, an aquarium with more than a 100,000 animals and several thousand species, which all live in a 10 million gallon tank of marine and salt water, making it the largest aquarium in America.
Explore the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon, a prehistoric American Indian site that features earthworks built before 1000 CE (Current Era) by the South Appalachian Mississippian culture. The earthworks include the Great Temple and other ceremonial mounds, a burial mound, and defensive trenches.
Explore Rocky City Gardens, a park that features 200-million-year-old rock formations, a waterfall, the famous Swing-A-Long bridge, and a lookout called Lover’s Leap on Lookout Mountain where you can see seven neighboring states.
Tour the World of Coca-Cola, a museum dedicated to the history of the Coca-Cola Company, which was founded in Atlanta.
Hawaii:
Explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a 323,431 acre park on Hawaii island that features two active volcanoes.
Visit the Pearl Harbor National Memorial on the island of Honolulu.
Explore Kauai’s Napali Coast, where Jurassic Park was filmed, by hiking the Kalalau Trail, sailing along coast or taking a helicopter ride.
Attend an Old Lahaina Luau on Maui, which are considered to be the most traditional luaus in Hawaii.
Tour a Kona Coffee Farm on Hawaii Island, where you can learn about the coffee-making process and sample the many different coffee flavors.
Visit Ahu’ena Heiau, a religious temple used by King Kamehameha the Great, the founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai.
Idaho:
Visit Craters of the Moon National Monument, a national preserve in Arco that features three major lava fields, Native American trails and alternate route of the Oregon Trail, known as Goodale’s Cutoff.
Go skiing in Sun Valley, a resort town on Bald Mountain.
Explore Yellowstone National Park, a 2,219,791 acre park that features lakes, canyons, a supervolcano, known as the Yellowstone Caldera, and the Yellowstone River.
Visit the Museum of Idaho, a history and science museum in Idaho Falls dedicated to the history of Idaho and the Intermountain West.
Explore Hells Canyon, the deepest river gorge in the country, with a world-class whitewater boating adventure, or by horseback riding or hiking through the canyon.
Explore Bruneau Dunes State Park, a geologic preservation area featuring large sand dunes and small lakes
Illinois:
View Chicago from the Skydeck at Willis Tower, a 110-story skyscraper that was once the tallest building in the world before the World Trade Center in New York was built.
Walk Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, an upscale section of Michigan Ave that features countless stores, restaurants, museums and hotels.
Explore Starved Rock State Park, a park that features sandstone canyons, waterfalls, 13 miles of trails and great fishing spots.
Visit Ulysses S Grant Home State Historic Site, the home that was presented to Ulysses S. Grant after he returned home from the Civil War in 1865.
Visit Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, the largest pre-columbian city in the U.S. which was built by Mississippian Indians between 600 and 1300 AD.
Visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, a museum dedicated to President Lincoln, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, where Lincoln and his family lived before he became president, and the Lincoln Tomb and War Memorials State Historic Site, where Lincoln and his family are buried, in Springfield.
Indiana:
Visit the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest children’s museum, which features over 120,000 artifacts and exhibit items in its three collections: the American Collection, the Cultural World Collection, and the Natural World Collection.
Watch the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a world famous auto race held at the track every year.
Ride the Spirit of Jasper Train, a scenic train ride on a vintage passenger train.
Turkey Run State Park, a historic state park that features hiking trails, the Rocky Hollow Falls Canyon Nature Preserve, a historic log cabin known as the Richard Leiber Log Cabin and another historic site known as the Lusk Home and Mill site.
Explore Indiana Dunes State Park, a 1,530-acre park that features sand dunes, beaches, hiking trails, birdwatching and swimming areas.
Visit Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, a living history museum in Fishers, Indiana, United States, which features the historic William Conner house. The park also features Prairietown, a recreated 1836 pioneer settlement, a barn with live animals, balloon rides and a recreated Lenape Indian camp.
Iowa:
Visit the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, a museum dedicated to the culture and history of America’s rivers.
Swim in the Iowa Great Lakes, a series of three large lakes, Big Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okobji Lake.
Visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, a museum dedicated to Lewis and Clark’s expedition and the Sioux-City part of the trail.
Visit the Buffalo Bill Museum in Le Claire, a museum dedicated to local history including exhibits about famous people from LeClaire, such as Buffalo Bill.
Have fun at Adventureland Park in Altoon, a family-owned amusement park that features over 100 rides, shows and attractions.
Fenelon Place Elevator Co in Dubuque, a historic railroad that ascends a steep hill to two observation decks where you can view the city.
Kansas:
Visit the OZ Museum in Wamego, a museum with one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of Oz memorabilia from the classic 1939 movie the Wizard of Oz.
Explore the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, a 10,894-acre national park that features a number of historic houses, buildings and a schoolhouse.
Visit the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, a space museum and STEM education center that features a large collection of space program and cosmonaut artifacts from both Russia and the U.S.
Visit the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita, one of the oldest open-air history museums in central U.S. which features re-created buildings on 23 acres of land.
Visit Boot Hill Museum in Dodge City, a Wild West history museum about Dodge City that features over 20,000 artifacts and live entertainment like simulated gunfights and saloon shows.
Kentucky:
Visit the The Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Larue County, which is the site of the farm Abraham Lincoln was born on and another farm he lived on as a child.
Visit the Mary Todd Lincoln House in Lexington, where Mary Todd and her family lived before she married Abraham Lincoln.
Attend the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, a famous horse race held annually on the first Saturday in May.
Explore the Natural Bridge State Resort Park, a 2,300 acre park that features a natural sandstone arch bridge measuring 65 feet high.
Visit Fort Knox, a 109,000 acre army base that features a museum about the U.S. military.
Explore the Louisville Mega Caverns, a large cave that features 17 miles of manmade caverns that you can explore via zip line or tram.
Louisiana:
Visit Preservation Hall in New Orleans, a famous jazz venue in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans, a two-week long celebration held each spring.
Explore the Laura Plantation in Vacherie, a sugarcane plantation that features 12 historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including a 19th century Creole-style main house, six slave cabins that were built in 1840, and a 200-year-old sugar plantation homestead that has three gardens.
Visit the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, a military history museum about WWII.
Visit the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, an aquarium that specializes in aquatic life of the Americas with over 10,000 animals representing 530 species.
Maine:
Explore Acadia National Park at Bar Harbor, a 49,075 acre park that features a rocky coastline, many islands, coniferous and deciduous woodlands, lakes, ponds, and wetlands.
Take photos of Nubble Lighthouse on Cape Neddick, arguably New England’s most photographed lighthouse.
Visit Old Orchard Beach, a historic beach town that features a seaside amusement park and a pier that houses shops, food stands and a night club.
Explore the Desert of Maine in Freeport, a 40-acre plot of glacial silt surrounded by a pine forest that has been a local tourist attraction since 1925.
Maryland:
Explore Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, a 43 acre historic fort in Baltimore where an important War of 1812 battle took place that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.
Visit the Antietam National Battlefield, a 3,230 acre battlefield where the Battle of Antietam took place during the American Civil War.
Visit the National Aquarium, an aquarium in Baltimore that features more than 17,000 specimens representing over 750 species.
Walk the Ocean City Boardwalk, a 3-mile boardwalk in Ocean City that features amusement park rides, restaurants, concession stands, hotels and shops.
Visit the Dr Mudd House Museum, a historic farmhouse in Waldorf where Dr. Samuel Mudd lived when he set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg while Booth was on the run after assassinating President Lincoln in 1865.
Visit the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, a 480 acre park in Dorchester County the features sites that were significant in Tubman’s life.
Massachusetts:
Walk the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile-long path in Boston that features 16 historic sites, including Faneuil Hall, the Paul Revere House, the site of the Boston Massacre and the USS Constitution.
Walk the Salem Heritage Trail, a path in Salem that features historic sites like the Salem Witch House, the House of Seven Gables and the Salem Witch Trials Memorial.
Visit Plymouth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth that features a replica of the Plymouth colony village, a replica of a Wampanoag village and the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower ship.
Visit the New England Aquarium, an aquarium in Boston the features thousands of species of aquatic animals and fish.
Minute Man National Historical Park, a 967 acre park in Concord and Lexington that commemorates the opening battles of the Revolutionary War, the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Michigan:
Explore Mackinac Island, a historic 3.8 square mile island on Lake Huron that features shops, Victorian buildings,horse-drawn carriage rides and a historic fort.
Explore Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore, a 71,187-acre park in Empire that features beaches, forests, dune formations, a historic lighthouse and ancient glacial formations.
Visit the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, a museum in Dearborn that features historic innovations such as JfK’s president limo, Abraham Lincoln’s chair from Ford’s Theater, Thomas Edison’s laboratory, the Rosa Parks bus and the Wright Brother’s bicycle shop.
Explore the Isle Royale National Park, a 571,790 acre park on a series of remote islands in Houghton which features a historic lighthouse with a small museum and great camping, fishing and outdoor activities.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, a 73,236 acre park in Munising that features colorful sandstone cliffs, an island, waterfalls and sand dunes.
Minnesota:
Shop at the Mall of America, a 4,870,00 square ft mall in Bloomington that is the largest mall in America and features over 555 stores.
Explore Brainerd Lake, a lake in Brainerd that features state parks, shops, restaurants and trails.
Visit Paisley Park, a 65,000-square-foot museum in Chanhassen that was once the home and studio complex of famed musician Prince.
Explore the North Shore State Parks, a series of eight parks along the North Shore of Lake Superior.
Mississippi:
Explore the Vicksburg National Military Park, a historic park on the battlefield where the the Battle of Vicksburg took place which also features a ironclad warship, the USS Cairo from the American Civil War and the Vicksburg National Cemetery.
Visit the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, a museum in Northeast Jackson that is the largest museum in Mississippi and features aquariums, habitat exhibits, and nature trails specializing in the flora and fauna of Mississippi.
Visit the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum, a historic house museum in Tupelo where Elvis Presley was born.
Visit the Rock and Roll Blues Museum, a museum in Clarksdale dedicated to blues music in Mississippi.
Explore the Mississippi Blues Trail, a statewide trail that features over 200 historic sites related to the Blues movement in Mississippi.
Missouri:
Visit the iconic Gateway Arch, a 630-ft monument in St. Louis dedicated to the westward expansion of the United States and is commonly referred to as “The Gateway to the West.?
Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park, a 8,781 acre state park on the East Fork Black River in Middle Brook that features many ?shut-ins? which is a rock formation in Ozark streams where a river is shut-in by the rock formations forming natural pools where visitors can swim.
Explore the Fantastic Caverns, a show cave in Springfield that was carved by an ancient underground river and is the only cave in North America to offer a completely ride-through tour, conducted in a Jeep-drawn tram.
Visit the Jesse James Birthplace Museum in Kearney, a historic house museum where outlaw Jesse James was born and later buried, and/or the Jesse James Bank Museum, a historic bank that Jesse James and his gang robbed in 1866, which was the first successful daylight peacetime bank robbery in America.
Visit Silver Dollar City, an 1880s themed park in Branson that features rides and attractions.
Montana:
Visit the Museum of the Rockies, a museum in Bozeman that houses the largest collection of dinosaur remains in the United States.
Visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, a historic 765.34 acres site near Crow Agency dedicated to the Battle of Little Bighorn during the Great Sioux War of 1876.
Explore Glacier National Park, a 1,013,322 acre park in West Glacier the features the Rocky Mountains, over 700 miles of hiking trails and diverse wildlife such as mountain goats and grizzly bears.
Visit the Lake of Death, a former copper mine in Butte that is now a deadly lake of arsenic, cobalt, and cadmium. The site features a tunnel cut through the pit’s side, an overlook and an interpretive pavilion, with picnic tables, restrooms, and a snack bar.
Visit the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center, a center in Great Falls that features exhibits and programs dedicated to the Lewis and Clark expedition
Nebraska:
Visit the Scotts Bluff National Monument, a 3,005 acre park in Gering that protects historic overland trail remnants, mixed-grass prairie, badlands, bluffs and riparian area along the North Platte River.
Visit the Henry Doorly Zoo, a large zoo in Omaha that is one of the world’s largest zoos and features more than 1,225 animal species, a massive aquarium, a skylift that takes you over the animal enclosures and some of largest exhibits in the world.
Visit the Homestead National Monument of America, a 211 acre park in Beatrice on a site that includes some of the first acres claimed under the Homestead Act of 1862, which granted more than 270 million acres to pioneers. The site features an educational center, a historic cabin and a tallgrass prairie.
Explore the Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park, a historic state park that protects the Buffalo Bill Ranch where showman and Civil War veteran William F. ?Buffalo Bill? Cody lived from 1886-1913.
Explore Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park, a 360-acre state park in Antelope county that features rare fossils in 10-20 million-year-old fossilized bone beds.
Strategic Air and Space Museum, a museum in Ashland focusing on aircraft and nuclear missiles of the U.S. and is regarded as having one of the top collections of strategic aircraft
Nevada:
Gamble at the Bellagio Casino, a popular casino on the Las Vegas strip that features a slot floor with 2,300 machines, a poker room with 40 tables and two high-limit sections, a high stakes poker lounge with two tables, table games like craps and baccarat and live entertainment.
See the Fly Geyser, a small geothermal geyser located on a private island, during a guided nature walk at the Fly Ranch in Gerlach.
Visit the Hoover Dam, a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Nevada and Arizona.
Visit the Atomic Testing Museum, a museum in Las Vegas dedicated to the history of nuclear testing at the Nevada test site in the desert north of Las Vegas.
Visit the Mob Museum, a museum in Las Vegas that features exhibits and artifacts about the history of organized crime in the United States.
Ride the High Roller, a 550-ft observational wheel in Las Vegas that is the highest in the world.
Play some pinball at the Pinball Hall of Fame, a 10,000 square-ft museum that houses the largest collection of pinball machines in the world open to the public.
New Hampshire:
Explore Franconia Notch State Park, a state park that features the Flume Gorge, a natural gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty, the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, as well as outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling and fishing.
Ride to the top of Mount Washington on the Mount Washington Cog Railway, the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway and the second steepest rack railway in the world.
Visit America’s Stonehenge, an archaeological site in Salem that features of a number of mysterious large rocks and stone structures.
Visit Canterbury Shaker Village, a historic site in Canterbury that is home to a number of Shaker communities founded in the 19th century and features 25 original Shaker buildings, four reconstructed Shaker buildings and 694 acres of forests, gardens and fields.
Ride the Conway Scenic Railroad, a historic railway in Conway that features vintage passenger cars, a historic train station and scenic views.
Visit Santa’s Village, a Christmas-themed amusement park in Jefferson that features Christmas and winter-themed rides, such as Santa’s Express Train, the Reindeer Carousel and The Chimney Drop.
New Jersey:
Visit Atlantic City and walk the boardwalk or try your luck gambling at the casinos.
Visit Asbury Park, a seaside amusement park made famous by Bruce Springsteen that features a boardwalk, amusement rides, hotels, concession stands, and a beach bar.
View the Statue of Liberty from Liberty State Park, a 1,212 acre park in Jersey City that features views of Jersey City and New York harbor including a view of the Statue of Liberty.
Explore Thomas Edison National Historical Park, a 21.25 acre historic park in West Orange that features a number of historic buildings including Edison’s home and his laboratory.
Visit a historic Revolutionary War battlefield at Princeton Battlefield Park in Princeton or Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan Township.
New Mexico:
Visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History, a museum in Alamogordo dedicated to artifacts related to space flight and include the International Space Hall of Fame.
Visit the International UFO Museum, a museum in Roswell dedicated to the history of UFO encounters, particularly the the 1947 Roswell crash.
Visit the Four Corners Monument, a quadripoint in Shiprock where the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet.
Explore the White Sands National Monument, a 143,733 acre park in Tularosa that features a field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals, which are the largest gypsum dune fields on earth.
Explore Carlsbad Caverns, a 46,766 acre park in Carlsbad that features a show cave, Carlsbad Cavern, which has a large limestone cavern, called the Big Room, that is almost 4,000 feet long and 255 feet high.
Visit the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, a museum in Albuquerque that is dedicated to the history of the atomic age, nuclear science and the development of nuclear weapons.
Visit the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, a museum of Native-American art and culture in Santa Fe.
New York:
Visit Times Square, the famous neighborhood in midtown Manhattan also known as the Crossroads of the World, and take the Free Tours by Foot self-guided walking tour available online.
Visit the Statue of Liberty, on Liberty Island, in New York City harbor and climb the staircase to the crown of the statue for a view of the harbor and/or also visit the immigration museum on Ellis Island, which are both accessible on the same ferry ride.
Climb the Empire State Building in New York City to see the views of the city from the observatory deck.
Visit Niagra Falls at Niagra Falls State Park, which is the oldest state park in the U.S. and is the site of the three waterfalls that make up Niagra Falls, the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls.
Explore Saratago National Historical Park, a 3,392 acre park in Saratoga county dedicated to the Battles of Saratoga during the Revolutionary War.
North Carolina:
Visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a 60-foot granite monument in Kill Devils Hill that commemorates the Wrights Brothers successful flights there.
Explore The Biltmore Estate, a historic house museum in Asheville built for the Vanderbilt family in the 19th century.
Visit the Battleship North Carolina, a battleship and museum in Wilmington that earned 15 medals during WWII making it the most decorated warship from WWII.
Explore the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile-long park near Asheville that is America’s longest linear park and features trails, gorges, mill buildings and more.
Visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame, a museum in Charlotte dedicated to the history of NASCAR and stock car racing, which has deep roots in North Carolina.
North Dakota:
Visit the Enchanted Highway, a collection of the world’s largest scrap metal sculptures along a 32-mile stretch of two-lane highway in North Dakota.
Explore the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a 70,446 acre park near Medora that features three separate areas of badlands in western North Dakota.
Hike or bike the Maah Daah Hey Trail, a 98-mile trail that connects the southern and northern parts of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and offer scenic views of local wildlife like bison and bighorn sheep as it runs through the prairies and rocky badlands.
Visit the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum, a museum in Bismark, nicknamed ?the Smithsonian on the plains,? that serves as the state’s official history museum and federal repository and features exhibits on archeology and paleaontology, including a rare mummified Edmontosaurus with fossilized skin.
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, a historic site in Stanton that preserves the historic and archaeological sites of the Hidatsa tribe.
Visit the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, a museum in Medora dedicated to the history of cowboys and western culture and features a Hall of Honorees.
Visit the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, a historic partially reconstructed trading post in McKenzie county that is one of the earliest declared National Historic Landmarks in the U.S.
Ohio:
Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a museum in Cleveland dedicated to the history of the most influential musicians, artists, producers, engineers and other rock and roll icons.
Visit the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum in Cincinnati dedicated to the history of the Underground Railroad.
Explore the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a 32,572 acre park in Brecksville that is the only national park in Ohio and features over 100 waterfalls, include the Brandywine falls, wetlands, rivers, forests as well as man-made features like the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
Visit the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, a museum on an airbase in Dayoton that is the largest and oldest military aviation museum in the world and features more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display.
Visit Kings Island, an amusement and waterpark in Mason that is the largest in the Midwest.
Ride a rollercoaster at Cedar Point, a historic 364-acre amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky that is known as the rollercoaster capital of the world it is the second oldest amusement park in the U.S.
Visit Loveland Castle, a museum in Symmes Township dedicated to medieval history that is housed in a mock European castle which features medieval weaponry, gardens and pathways for visitors to explore.
Oklahoma:
Visit the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, one of a handful of Route 66 museums in the U.S., dedicated to the history of the famous Route 66 which ran through Oklahoma.
Explore the Myriad Botanical Gardens, a 17-acre botanical garden and interactive urban park in Oklahoma City which feature the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory – a 224-foot glass conservatory featuring tropical plants, palm trees, flowers, waterfalls and exotic animals.
Explore the Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve, a museum, which features the world’s most unique collections of Western art and artifacts, as well as a 3.700 acre wildlife preserve in Bartsville that is home to various native and exotic animals, including longhorn cattle, buffalo, and elk.
Explore Turner Falls Park, a park in Davis that features a rock castle, caves, and Oklahoma’s largest waterfall, the 77-ft Turner Falls.
Visit the Chickasaw Cultural Center, a109-acre campus in Sulphur that is home to historical museums with interactive exhibits on Chickasaw tribal history
Visit the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, a museum in Oklahoma City that features more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts.
Visit the Cave house, a unique house in Tulsa that was originally built as a cave restaurant in the 1920s and became popular with bootleggers during prohibition.
Oregon:
Visit the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, a 23,000-square-foot interpretive center about the Oregon Trail in Baker City which includes exhibits about the area’s natural history, pre-emigrant travelers and explorers, Native Americans, mining and pioneer life.
Explore Crater Lake National Park, a 183,224 acre park in Klamath County that features a 1,949 ft deep lake, which is the deepest lake in America, in the caldera of destroyed volcano, Mount Mazama.
Hike the Columbia River Gorge, an 80-mile-long canyon of the Columbia River in Astoria that features the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area as well as over 90 waterfalls.
Explore the Mount Hood National Forest, a 1,071,466 acre forest near the city of Government Camp which features a potentially active stratovolcano, Mount Hood, as well as the Timberline Lodge, a section of the historic Oregon Trail known as Barlow Road, and a number of lakes.
Visit the Oregon Vortex, a roadside attraction located in Gold Hill that is the earliest documented mystery spot or gravitational hill in the United States.
Visit the High Desert Museum, a local history museum in Bend that features exhibits about local culture, art, Native-American and pioneer history and natural history.
Pennsylvania:
Explore Independence National Historical Park, a 55 acre park in Philadelphia which features Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted, and also features the Liberty Bell, Franklin Court, the United State Postal Service Museum, the National Constitution Center, and the former site of the President’s House.
Tour the Eastern State Penitentiary, a historic prison in Philadelphia that once house notorious criminals Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton.
Take a picture the Rocky statue, a bronze statue of Rocky Balboa at the bottom of the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and then run up the stairs to recreate the famous scene from the Rocky movie.
Explore Valley Forge National Historical Park, a 3,466 acre park marking the site of the third winter encampment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
Visit the Betsy Ross House, a historic house in Philadelphia believed to the place where seamstress Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag.
Explore Gettysburg National Military Park, a 3,965 acre park in Gettysburg on the site of the famous Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.
Rhode Island:
Tour the Newport Mansions, a series of historic mansions that once served as the summer homes of America’s wealthiest families.
Hike along the Newport Cliff Walk, a 3.5-mile public access walkway that features scenic views of the ocean and the Newport mansions.
Take a guided tour of Fort Adams State Park, a 200 acre state park that features the historic Fort Adams, which was last active during WWII, and features underground tunnels and a complex coastal fort.
Explore Mount Hope, the former site of a Wampanoag village ruled by Native-American sachem King Philip, and see King Philip’s throne where he met with his council and visit the swamp where he was killed during King Philip’s War or visit the Great Swamp Fight Memorial in South Kingstown, which is monument dedicated to one of the deadliest battles of King Philip’s War.
South Carolina:
Explore the Fort Sumter National Monument, a historic fort in Charleston Harbor where the first battle of the American Civil War, the Battle of Fort Sumter, took place.
Visit the South Carolina State Museum, a museum in Columbia dedicated to the history and culture of South Carolina.
Visit the Magnolia Plantation, a historic plantation in Charleston that is one of the oldest plantations in state and features a zoo, gardens, a rice field boat tour and a plantation train tour that takes you through the marsh, lakes, and forests on the property.
See the Angel Oak, a historic oak tree on Johns Island that is estimated to be between 400-500 years old and stands over 65 ft tall and is surrounded by legends of ghosts and slaves appearing as angels around the tree.
Visit Broadway at the beach, an outdoor entertainment complex and shopping center in Myrtle Beach that features amusement park rides, restaurants, stores and live fireworks displays.
South Dakota:
Visit Mount Rushmore National Monument, a monument featuring four American presidents carved into the Granite face of Mount Rushmore in Rapid City.
Explore the Badlands National Park, a 242,756 acre park near Rapid City that features prairies, buttes and historic Native American sites.
Visit the Crazy Horse Memorial, a memorial in Custer County that has been under construction since 1948 and features Lakota warrior chief Crazy Horse.
Visit the National Music Museum, a museum in Vermillion that features more than 10,000 musical instruments from virtually all cultures and historical periods.
Explore the Jewel Cave National Monument, a cave in Custer that features 200 miles of mapped passageways, making it the third longest cave in the world.
Explore Falls Park, a 121 acre park that features an observation tower, pavillions, history talks and sound and light shows.
Take a drive along the Native American Scenic Byway, a 357-mile-long route that features monuments, memorial markers and sacred Sioux sites.
Tennessee:
Explore the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a 522,419 acre park in Swain & Haywood counties that features mountains, hiking trails like the Appalachian Trail, and Cades Cove, a valley with a number of historic buildings including log cabins, churches and barns.
Visit Graceland Mansion, a historic house museum in Memphis that was the home of Elvis Presley. The mansion was the first site related to rock and roll to be entered in the National Register of Historic Places.
Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, a museum in Nashville dedicated to the history of country music which features the world’s largest collection of country music artifacts.
Visit Dollywood, a theme park in Pigeon Forge owned by country music star Dolly Parton that features various rides, such as the Dollywood Express and the Tennessee Tornado rollercoaster, and hosts a number of concerts and musical events.
Explore Shiloh National Military Park, a 3,996.64 acre park in Shiloh dedicated to the Battle of Shiloh which took place during the American Civil War.
Texas:
Visit the Space Center Houston, a learning center and Smithsonian affiliate museum in Houston with over 400 space artifacts, exhibits, attractions and live shows dedicated to the history of America’s space program.
See Cadillac Ranch, a public art installation in Amarillo that features a line of half-buried spray-painted Cadillac cars by an art group known as the Ant Farm.
Explore the Alamo Mission, a historic Spanish mission in San Antonio that was the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
Explore Dinosaur Valley State Park, a 1,524 acre park in Glen Rose that features dinosaur footprints and trackways in the local rock formations.
Visit the Sixth Floor Museum, a museum in Dallas, located on the sixth floor of the building where investigators believe Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy, which is dedicated to the legacy of John F. Kennedy.
Visit the Dallas World Aquarium, a zoo and aquarium that features a 20,000-gallon tunnel aquarium and indoor tropical rainforest with endangered birds and animals.
Utah:
Explore Bryce Canyon National Park, a 5,835 acre park in Garfield County that features a series of giant natural amphitheaters and geological structures known as hoodoos, tall, thin spires of rock.
Visit Temple Square, a historic square in Salt Lake City that features the Salt Lake Temple, Salt Lake Tabernacle, Salt Lake Assembly Hall and the Seagull Monument built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Visit Dinosaur National Monument, a 210,844 acre park in Jensen that contains over 800 paleontological sites and fossils of various dinosaurs.
Explore Zion National Park, a 146,597 acre park in Springdale that features Zion Canyon, a 15-mile-long canyon of Navajo sandstone, as well as deserts, mountains, monoliths and natural arches.
Explore Arches National Park, a 76,679 acre park in Moab that features more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the famous Delicate Arch, as well as other geological formations like buttes, plateaus and deserts.
Swim in the Great Salt Lake, the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere.
Vermont:
Tour the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury and sample their milkshakes and numerous ice cream flavors.
Visit the Quechee Gorge, a 165-feet-deep gorge in Quechee that is the deepest gorge in Vermont.
Tour the Rock of Ages Granite Quarry, a 600-foot-deep quarry in Barre that is the largest operating deep-hole, dimension granite quarry in the world.
Visit the Bennington Battle Monument, a 300-foot tall stone obelisk monument dedicated to the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War.
Visit the Shelburne Museum, a museum in Shelburne that features over 150,000 works of art that include impressionist paintings, folk art, quilts, and 17th-20th century artifacts.
Virginia:
Visit the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area, a living history museum in Williamsburg that is the world’s largest living history museum and features over 300 acres of historical buildings.
Visit the Mount Vernon estate, a historic house museum in Mount Vernon that was the home of George Washington, and/or visit the Monticello estate, a historic house museum in Charlottesville that was the home of Thomas Jefferson.
Explore Historic Jamestowne, a cultural heritage site that was the site of the 1607 James Fort as well as the settlement of Jamestown.
Explore Shenandoah National Park, a 199,173 acre park that features the Blue Ridge Mountains, a scenic road known as the Skyline Drive, waterfalls and trails, such as the Appalachian Trail.
Explore Arlington National Cemetery, a military cemetery in Arlington that features the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as Arlington House, the former home of Robert E. Lee.
Washington:
Explore Mt. Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument, a 110,000 acre park in Tumwater that features an active stratovolcano, Mt. Saint Helens.
Explore Mt. Rainier National Park, a 236,381 acre park in Ashford that features an active stratovolcano, Mt. Rainier.
Visit the Space Needle in Seattle and view the city from the observation deck.
Visit the Museum of Flight, a museum in Tukwila that has one of the largest air and space collections in the U.S.
Explore Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, a 12,996 acre park that commemorates the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. It features trails and historic buildings. The park is located in Washington and Alaska.
Visit Leavenworth’s Bavarian Village, a Bavarian-theme village in Leavenworth that is a popular tourist destination.
West Virginia:
Tour the West Virginia Penitentiary, a historic prison in Moundsville built in the 19th century
Visit the West Virginia State Museum at the Culture Center, a museum in Charleston dedicated to the history and culture of West Virginia.
Tour the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, a historic psychiatric prison in Weston built in the 19th century.
Tour the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, a historic coal mine in Beckley that features a guided tour in a mine car led by a former miner.
Visit the Mothman Museum, a museum in Point Pleasant that is the only museum in the world where visitors can view local evidence of the Mothman’s existence.
Wisconsin:
Tour the Taliesin building, a mid-century building in Spring Green that was the home and drafting studio of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Visit the Harley-Davidson Museum, a museum in Milwaukee that celebrates the history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and features more than 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and hundreds of thousands of artifact.
Visit the National Railroad Museum, a railroad museum located in Ashwaubenon that is one of the oldest railroad museums in the U.S. and features a large collection of historic trains and railroad artifacts.
Wyoming:
Explore Yellowstone National Park, a 2,219,791 acre park that features lakes, canyons, a supervolcano, known as the Yellowstone Caldera, the Yellowstone River and a geyser known as Old Faithful.
Visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a complex of five museums and a research library in Cody that features art and artifacts of the American West. The five museums include the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indians Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum.
Visit Devil?s Tower National Monument, a laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock near Hulett.
See the Smith Mansion, a 75-foot-tall, five story log cabin in Cody built in the 1970s.
Visit the Hole-in-the-Wall Outlaw Hideout, a remote pass in the Big Horn Mountains in Kaycee where Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch gang used to hide out.
See the Big Horn Medicine Wheel, a large stone structure made of local white limestone located in the Bighorn National Forest in Lovell. The wheel is considered a sacred site to the local natives and is one of four or five astronomically complex wheels in the region.
If you want to see other interesting places in America, check out these articles on the most beautiful places in America and the most unique places in America.
For more American travel ideas, check out our homepage at: allamericanadventureguide.com
Sources:
“100 Places to Take Your Family in the U.S.” Frommer’s, frommers.com/slideshows/824431-100-places-to-take-your-family-in-the-u-s
“100 Best Places to Visit in the USA.” Tourist Maker, touristmaker.com/blog/100-sights-in-usa/
Law, Lana. “15 Best Places to Visit in the United States.” Planet Ware, planetware.com/usa/best-places-to-visit-in-the-united-states-us-ny-21.htm
“25 Bucket List Places to Visit in the USA.” Trekeffect, trekeffect.com/travel-blog/places-to-visit-in-the-usa
“Best Places to Visit in the USA.” U.S. News, travel.usnews.com/rankings/best-usa-vacations/
