1. South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Grand Canyon National Park, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park
- The Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, is often considered one of the Wonders of the World
- The park received the second highest count of visitors of all American national parks after Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Featured in The Best of Arizona
#3 in Best National Parks in the USA
#5 in Best Attractions in the World
2. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Cost: $
- Largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica
- Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration
- Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
#2 in Best National Parks in the USA
#8 in Best National Parks in the World
#11 in Best Attractions in the World
#15 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#46 in Best Landmarks in the World
3. Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Park internationally recognized for its cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity
- Almost 95 percent of the park is designated wilderness
- Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada
Featured in The Best of California
#1 in Best National Parks in the USA
#5 in Best National Parks in the World
#11 in Best Landmarks in the USA
4. Statue of Liberty, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City
- The copper statue, a gift from the people of France, its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel
- The statue was dedicated in 1886
5. Niagara Falls, New York
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States
- The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, which straddles the international border of the two countries
- Bridal Veil Falls is separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Falls by Luna Island, with both islands situated in New York
Featured in The Best of New York
#6 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#17 in Best Attractions in the World
#52 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#59 in Best Landmarks in the World
6. Navajo Loop and Queens Garden Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Park whose major feature is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters
- Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks
Featured in The Best of Utah
#3 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#13 in Best National Parks in the USA
#19 in Most Surreal Attractions in the World
7. The Zion Narrows Riverside Walk, Zion National Park, Utah
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-Nov
Cost: $
- Park located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions
- The park features a variety of life zones that allow for unusual plant and animal diversity
- There are four life zones in the park: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest
- Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches
Featured in The Best of Utah
#7 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#8 in Best National Parks in the USA
8. Trail of the Cedars, Glacier National Park, Montana
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: July-Aug
Cost: $
- Hiking trail accessible from Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park
- The .60-mile (0.97 km) path is paved and has a raised boardwalk in some sections
- Some of the cedars visible are over 80 feet (24 m) tall
- In the middle of the half loop is a waterfall that has carved through colorful rock to make a channeled stream
Featured in The Best of Montana
9. Laurel Falls Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Nov
Cost: $
- Historic trail that ascends Cove Mountain, leading past Laurel Falls, one of the most popular waterfalls in the national park, en route to the summit of Cove Mountain
- Landmarks include the falls, old-growth forest, and the Cove Mountain lookout tower
- The tower used to be a fire tower, and is only one of four remaining former fire towers in the park
Featured in The Best of Tennessee
#7 in Best National Parks in the USA
#21 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#30 in Best Attractions in the World
#32 in Best Landmarks in the USA
10. Magic Kingdom, Florida
Best time to visit: Jan, Sept
Cost: $$
- The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake,
- The park originally opened on October 1, 1971, as "Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom", the first of four theme parks at the resort
- Its layout and attractions are based on Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters
Featured in The Best of Florida
#3 in Best Theme Parks in the World
11. Central Park, New York
Best time to visit: April-June
Cost: $
- Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan
- It is the most visited urban park in the United States, and is the most filmed location in the world
Featured in The Best of New York
12. Golden Gate Bridge, California
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean
- Recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Wonders of the Modern World, the bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco and California
Featured in The Best of California
#2 in Best Landmarks in the USA
13. Disneyland, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $$
- Theme park opened in 1955, and the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney
- Since its opening, Disneyland has undergone expansions and major renovations, including the addition of New Orleans Square in 1966, Bear Country in 1972, Mickey's Toontown in 1993, and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019
Featured in The Best of California
#1 in Best Theme Parks in the World
14. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Largest art museum in the Americas
- It is ranked eighth in the list of most-visited art museums in the world, and is the second-most visited art museum in the United States
- Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments
15. Cascade Canyon Trail, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: mid May-late Sept
Cost: $
- National park that includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the valley known as Jackson Hole
- Along with surrounding national forests, the park constitutes part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the world's largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
#5 in Best National Parks in the USA
#22 in Best National Parks in the World
16. Gorham Mountain Loop, Acadia National Park, Maine
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Trail offering rocky coastline, Cadillac Mountain, and a panoramic view of ocean drive
Featured in The Best of Maine
17. Universal Studios Hollywood, California
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $$
- Film studio and theme park in Los Angeles County
- It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use
- It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios sets and is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks located across the world
Featured in The Best of California
#6 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
18. Universal's Islands of Adventure, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $$
- Theme park located in Orlando, opened in 1999
- Islands of Adventure is modeled after a journey of exploration, where guests embark on an adventure to visit a variety of themed islands
- A seventh island, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, was added in 2010
- The eighth island, Skull Island, opened in 2016, and is themed to the King Kong franchise
Featured in The Best of Florida
#7 in Best Theme Parks in the World
#10 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
19. Mount Rushmore and Presidential Trail Loop, South Dakota
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- National memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills
- Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son
- The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
- The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation
Featured in The Best of South Dakota
#4 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#12 in Best Landmarks in the World
20. Ryan Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Oct-Nov
Cost: $
- Ryan Mountain is a 5,456-foot-high (1,663 m) mountain in Joshua Tree National Park
- It is one of the locations in Joshua Tree that features abundant lichen populations
- It is named after J.D. Ryan, a wealthy rancher and early mining operator in the park
Featured in The Best of California
21. Emerald Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Sept
Cost: $
- Park located within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains
- The eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide run directly through the center of the park
- The main features of the park include mountains, alpine lakes and a wide variety of wildlife within various climates and environments, from wooded forests to mountain tundra
Featured in The Best of Colorado
22. Taos Art Museum, New Mexico
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Art museum located in Taos, in the Nicolai Fechin House
- It was the home of Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, and the museum's primary aims are to improve awareness of the works and patronage of Taos artists and to nurture local artistic development
- Fechin combined Russian, Native American, Spanish, and Art Deco styles
Featured in The Best of New Mexico
23. Delicate Arch Trail, Arches National Park, Utah
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Delicate Arch is a 52-foot-tall (16 m) freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park
- The arch is the most widely recognized landmark in Arches National Park
- Delicate Arch is formed of Entrada Sandstone
- The original sandstone fin was gradually worn away by weathering and erosion, leaving the arch
Featured in The Best of Utah
24. Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late March-early Aug
Cost: $
- Navajo Upper Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon in the American Southwest, on Navajo land east of Lechee
- The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means 'the place where water runs through the (Slot Canyon) rocks'
- Lower Antelope Canyon is Hazdistazí, or 'spiral rock arches'
- They are accessible by Navajo guided tour only
Featured in The Best of Arizona
25. Badwater Basin Salt Flats Trail, Death Valley National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: mid Oct-mid May
Cost: $
- Noted as the lowest point in North America and the United States, with a depth of 282 ft (86 m) below sea level
- Consists of a small spring-fed pool of "bad water" next to the road in a sink; the accumulated salts of the surrounding basin make it undrinkable, thus giving it the name. The pool does have animal and plant life, including pickleweed, aquatic insects, and the Badwater snail.
- Adjacent to the pool, where water is not always present at the surface, repeated freeze–thaw and evaporation cycles gradually push the thin salt crust into hexagonal honeycomb shapes
Featured in The Best of California
26. Disney's Hollywood Studios, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $$
- Theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company
- The park opened in 1989, as the Disney-MGM Studios (Theme) Park, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World
- The park is dedicated to the imagined worlds from film, television, music, and theatre, drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood
Featured in The Best of Florida
#12 in Best Theme Parks in the World
#13 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
27. Walt Disney World, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $$$
- Entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, opened in 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Parks
- The property covers nearly 25,000 acres (39 sq mi; 101 km2), of which half has been used
- The resort comprises four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom), two water parks (Disney's Blizzard Beach and Disney's Typhoon Lagoon), 31 themed resort hotels, nine non-Disney hotels, several golf courses, a camping resort, and other entertainment venues, including the outdoor shopping center Disney Springs
Featured in The Best of Florida
#23 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
28. Las Vegas Strip, Nevada
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos
- The Strip, as it is known, is about 4.2 mi (6.8 km) long, but is often referred to simply as "Las Vegas"
Featured in The Best of Nevada
29. Clatsop Loop Trail from Indian Beach, Cannon Beach, Oregon
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Beach famous for Haystack Rock, a 235 ft (72 m) sea stack that juts out along the coast, and is often accessible at low tide, especially in the summertime
- There is a small cave system that penetrates its igneous rock that can be seen from the coastline
Featured in The Best of Oregon
30. Dollywood, Tennessee
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $$
- Theme park jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company
- It is located in Pigeon Forge, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains
- Dollywood is the biggest ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee, and has won many international awards
Featured in The Best of Tennessee
31. Marymere Falls Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: July-Aug
Cost: $
- Marymere Falls is located in Olympic National Park
- The falls are accessed by a one-mile, old-growth lowland forest consisting of fir, cedar, hemlock, and alder trees
Featured in The Best of Washington
32. The Wave, Arizona
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: Jan-May, Sept-Dec
Cost: $
- Sandstone rock formation located in Arizona, near its northern border with Utah
- The formation is well-known among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms
- Due to the fragile nature of the formation and the large number of people wishing to visit it, a daily lottery system is used to dispense permits
Featured in The Best of Arizona
33. Disney California Adventure, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $$
- Theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, the park is themed after Disney's interpretation of California, which is manifested through the use of various Disney, Pixar and Marvel Studios properties
- The park opened in 2001, as Disney's California Adventure Park and is the second of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort complex, after Disneyland Park
Featured in The Best of California
#11 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
34. Times Square, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
- It is brightly lit at all hours by numerous digital billboards and advertisements as well as businesses offering 24/7 service
Featured in The Best of New York
#23 in Best Landmarks in the World
#36 in Best Landmarks in the USA
35. Horseshoe Lake Trail, Denali National Park, Alaska
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Denali National Park and Preserve is located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America
- The park encompasses an area larger than the state of New Hampshire
- Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations
Featured in The Best of Alaska
36. Silver Dollar City, Missouri
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Amusement park near the cities of Branson and Branson West, opened in 1960
- The park themed as an 1880s Ozarks village, and is situated on the site of one of the Ozarks' oldest attractions, Marvel Cave
Featured in The Best of Missouri
37. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- National park that protects the landscape of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States
- The area around Stronghold Table was originally Sioux territory, and is revered as a ceremonial sacred site rather than a place to live
Featured in The Best of South Dakota
38. Lands End Trail, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- One of the largest urban parks in the world, with a size two-and-a-half times that of the consolidated city and county of San Francisco
- Home to over 3,000 plant and animal species, the park encompasses 59 miles (95 km) of bay and ocean shoreline and has military fortifications that span centuries of California history, from the Spanish conquistadors to Cold War-era Nike missile sites
Featured in The Best of California
39. Six Flags Magic Mountain, California
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- With 20 roller coasters, Six Flags Magic Mountain holds the world record for most roller coasters in an amusement park
- It became the first amusement park to offer 20 roller coasters with the opening of Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage in 2022
Featured in The Best of California
40. Epcot, Florida
Best time to visit: Jan-Feb
Cost: $$
- Theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company
- The park is inspired by an unrealized concept of the same name developed by Walt Disney
- The park opened in 1982
- Epcot is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely technological innovation and international culture, and is often referred to as a "permanent world's fair"
Featured in The Best of Florida
#14 in Best Theme Parks in the World
#16 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
41. Universal Studios Florida, Florida
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $$
- Theme park located in Orlando, primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry
- The park opened to the public in 1990, and features numerous rides, attractions and live shows
- Universal Studios Florida was the first component of the larger Universal Orlando Resort to open
Featured in The Best of Florida
#12 in Best Theme Parks in the USA
42. Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Museum founded in 1879, and one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world
- Its collection includes iconic works such as Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist, and Grant Wood's American Gothic
- Its permanent collection of nearly 300,000 works of art is augmented by more than 30 special exhibitions mounted yearly
43. Cape May Lighthouse, New Jersey
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- Lighthouse located at the tip of Cape May, in Cape May Point State Park, built in 1859
- Cape May Lighthouse is the third fully documented lighthouse to be built at Cape May Point
- The first lighthouse was built in 1823 and the second in 1847
- The exact locations of the first two lighthouses are now underwater due to erosion
- Within immediate view are Cape May Cove and Battery 223, a harbor defense battery originally built during World War II
Featured in The Best of New Jersey
44. Alkali Flat Trail, White Sands National Park, New Mexico
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National park completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range
- The park covers the southern 41% of a field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals
- This gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth, with dunes as tall as 60 feet (18 m)
Featured in The Best of New Mexico
45. Museum of Modern Art, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world
- MoMA's collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated and artist's books, film, and electronic media
46. Cedar Point, Ohio
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, opened in 1870, and considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US
- The park features 16 roller coasters, and several of its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
- The oldest structure on the peninsula is the Cedar Point Light, a restored lighthouse that was built in 1862
47. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-early Oct
Cost: $
- Largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world, after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica
- Grand Prismatic Spring was noted by geologists working in 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration
- Its colors match most of those seen in the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue
Featured in The Best of Wyoming
#2 in Best National Parks in the USA
#8 in Best National Parks in the World
#11 in Best Attractions in the World
#15 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#46 in Best Landmarks in the World
48. Alcatraz Island, California
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Small island 1.25 miles (2.01 km) offshore from San Francisco
- The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison
- In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison
- The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history
- The prison closed in 1963, and the island is now a tourist attraction
Featured in The Best of California
#10 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#21 in Best Landmarks in the World
49. Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center and Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National park in the Guadalupe Mountains, whose primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern
- Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 255 ft (78 m) high at its highest point
- The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world
Featured in The Best of New Mexico
50. Empire State Building, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, built from 1930 to 1931
- Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the state of New York.
- The Empire State Building was the world's tallest building until the first tower of the World Trade Center was topped out in 1970; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was New York City's tallest building until it was surpassed in 2012
- As of 2022, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, and the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas
51. Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake, Oregon
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Garfield Peak is a mountain peak on the south end of Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
- The top of the peak reaches 7,976 feet (2,431 m) above sea level
- The peak has a 1,000 feet (305 m) elevation trail to the summit from the Crater Lake lodge, one of the most popular hiking sites surrounding the lake
Featured in The Best of Oregon
#9 in Most Surreal Attractions in the USA
#16 in Best Landmarks in the USA
52. Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National memorial that honors the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln
- Built in the form of a neoclassical temple, the interior statue of Abraham Lincoln was carved in marble
- Dedicated in 1922, it has been a major tourist attraction since its opening, and over the years, has occasionally been used as a symbolic center focused on race relations and civil rights
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
53. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National art museum, established in 1937, that features a collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture, medals, and decorative arts, and traces the development of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present
- The collection includes the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#3 in Best Museums in the USA
#19 in Best Museums in the World
54. Kings Island, Ohio
Best time to visit: May, Sept
Cost: $
- Amusement park located in Mason, and opened in 1972 - It was part of a larger effort to move and expand Coney Island, a popular resort destination along the banks of the Ohio River that was prone to frequent flooding
- Today, the park has grown to feature over a hundred attractions including fourteen roller coasters and a water park
Featured in The Best of Ohio
55. Coronado Beach, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Swimming, sunbathing, surfing, and other outdoor recreation draws crowds to this scenic, urban beach
Featured in The Best of California
#1 in Best Beaches in the USA
56. Knott's Berry Farm, California
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- 57-acre (2,500,000 sq ft) theme park located in Buena Park
- In March 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America
- It features 40 rides including roller coasters, family rides, dark rides, and water rides
Featured in The Best of California
57. Cascade Falls Trail, Lake Tahoe, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada, it straddles the state line between California and Nevada
- Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America
- It is the second deepest lake in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon (1,949 ft or 594 m)
Featured in The Best of California
58. Myrtle Falls Viewpoint via Skyline Trail, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: July-Aug
Cost: $
- Park established in 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preserving 236,381 acres (369.3 sq mi; 956.6 km2), including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,410-foot (4,390 m) stratovolcano
- The highest point in the Cascade Range, Mount Rainier is surrounded by valleys, waterfalls, subalpine meadows, and old-growth forest
- More than 25 glaciers descend the flanks of the volcano, which is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow
Featured in The Best of Washington
59. White House, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Official residence and workplace of the president of the United States
- It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#24 in Best Landmarks in the World
#26 in Best Landmarks in the USA
60. Horseshoe Bend Trail, Arizona
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: Jan-Feb, Oct-Dec
Cost: $
- Horseshoe-shaped incised meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page
- The land south of the Bend's parking area, trail, and overlook are on the Navajo Nation territory.
- Horseshoe Bend is popular just before sunset, as large groups of tourists make the 1/2 mile long hike down to the over look point
- The overlook is 4,200 feet (1,300 m) above sea level, and the Colorado River is at 3,200 feet (1,000 m) above sea level, making it a 1,000-foot (300 m) drop
Featured in The Best of Arizona
61. Getty Center, California
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust
- The center opened to the public in 1997
- It is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles
- The center sits atop a hill connected to a visitors' parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car, cable-pulled hovertrain people mover
62. Moro Rock, Sequoia National Park, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: June-Aug
Cost: $
- Granite dome rock formation in Sequoia National Park
- A stairway, designed by the National Park Service and built in 1931, is cut into and poured onto the rock, so that visitors can hike to the top
- The view from the rock encompasses much of the Park, including the Great Western Divide
Featured in The Best of California
63. Kīlauea Iki Trail and Crater Rim Trail, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
Best time to visit: Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Pit crater that is next to the main summit caldera of Kīlauea on the island of Hawaiʻi
- It is known for its eruption in 1959 that started on November 14th and ended on December 20th, producing lava fountaining up to 1900 feet and a lava lake in the crater
- Today, the surface of the lava lake has cooled and it is now a hiking destination to view the aftermath of an eruption
Featured in The Best of Hawaii
64. National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Museum dedicated to human flight and space exploration
- Established in 1946, it is the fifth-most-visited museum in the world, and the second-most-visited museum in the United States
- The museum is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and spaceflight, as well as planetary science and terrestrial geology and geophysics
- Its collection includes the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, the Bell X-1 which broke the sound barrier, and the Wright brothers' Wright Flyer airplane
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#7 in Best Museums in the USA
65. Hollywood Sign via Canyon Drive, Griffith Park, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood, Los Angeles
- It was originally created in 1923 as a temporary advertisement for a local real estate development, but due to increasing recognition the sign was left up, and replaced in 1978 with a more durable all-steel structure
Featured in The Best of California
66. Fortuna Mountain Trail, Mission Trails Regional Park, California
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Park that consists mostly of rugged canyons and hills, with both natural and developed recreation areas
- It is the seventh-largest open space urban park in the United States, consisting of nearly 7,000 acres (28 km2)
- The San Diego River flows through the park
Featured in The Best of California
67. Clearwater Beach, Florida
Best time to visit: Oct-Dec
Cost: $
- Clearwater Beach includes a resort area and a residential area on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico
- Clearwater Beach is characterized by white sand beaches stretching for 2.5 miles (4 km) along the Gulf and sits on a barrier island
Featured in The Best of Florida
#2 in Best Beaches in the USA
68. Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park, Florida
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: Feb
Cost: $
- The Anhinga Trail is a short trail (about 0.4 miles) in the Everglades National Park
- The trail is a paved walkway and a boardwalk over Taylor Slough, a freshwater sawgrass marsh
- Abundant wildlife is visible from the trail, including alligators, turtles, anhingas, herons, and egrets
Featured in The Best of Florida
69. Fort Jefferson Loop, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: March-May
Cost: $$$
- National park located about 68 miles (109 km) west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico
- The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most isolated of the Florida Keys
- The archipelago's coral reefs are the least disturbed of the Florida Keys reefs
Featured in The Best of Florida
70. Sandpiper, Avian, and Big Ferry Trails Loop, Skidaway Island State Park, Georgia
Best time to visit: March-July
Cost: $
- Skidaway Island State Park is a state park near Savannah
- Trails wind through maritime forest and past salt marsh, leading to a boardwalk and observation tower
- Visitors can watch for deer, fiddler crabs, raccoon, egrets and other wildlife
Featured in The Best of Georgia
71. Flagstaff Hill, Boston Common, Massachusetts
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: June-Oct
Cost: $
- Public park in downtown Boston, and the oldest city park in the United States
- Firework displays over Boston Common began as early as July 3, 1745 in celebration of the fall of Louisburg, and the first anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1777
Featured in The Best of Massachusetts
72. Fly Ranch Geyser, Nevada
Best time to visit: April-May, Oct-Nov
Cost: $
- Fly Geyser, also known as Fly Ranch Geyser, is a small geothermal geyser located on private land in Washoe County
- The geyser is located near the edge of Fly Reservoir in the Hualapai Geothermal Flats and is approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) high
Featured in The Best of Nevada
73. Calico Tanks Trail, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area showcases a set of large red rock formations: a set of sandstone peaks and walls that were formed by thrust faults including the Keystone Thrust
- The walls are up to 3,000 feet (910 m) high, making them a popular hiking and rock climbing destination
Featured in The Best of Nevada
74. American Museum of Natural History, New York
Best time to visit: April-June, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Museum complex that comprises 26 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library
- The museum collections contain over 34 million specimens of plants, animals, fungi, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time
75. Discovery Park and Lighthouse Loop Trail, Washington
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Park on the shores of Puget Sound
- As the city of Seattle's largest public park, it contains 11.81 miles (19.01 km) of walking trails, and features a lighthouse
- The Discovery Park Loop Trail runs 2.8 miles (4.5 km) through the park, connecting to other trails
Featured in The Best of Washington
76. Space Needle, Washington
Best time to visit: Sept-Oct
Cost: $
- Observation tower in Seattle, considered to be an icon of the city
- It was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors
Featured in The Best of Washington
#9 in Best Landmarks in the USA
#44 in Best Landmarks in the World
77. National Mall, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Landscaped park that contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues
- The core area of the National Mall extends between the United States Capitol grounds to the east and the Washington Monument to the west
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#39 in Best Landmarks in the USA
78. Rock Creek Park, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Large urban park, created in 1890, and only the third national park established by the U.S., following Yellowstone in 1872 and Mackinac National Park in 1875
- Recreation facilities include a golf course; equestrian trails; sport venues, including a tennis stadium which hosts major professional events; a nature center and planetarium; and cultural exhibits, including the Peirce Mill
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
79. The Henry Ford, Michigan
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $
- History museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn
- The museum collection contains the presidential limousine of John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln's chair from Ford's Theatre, Thomas Edison's laboratory, the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop, the Rosa Parks bus, and many other historical exhibits
- It is the largest indoor–outdoor museum complex in the United States
80. Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls Via Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail, Texas
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The Barton Creek Greenbelt is located in Austin, and is characterized by large limestone cliffs, dense foliage, and shallow bodies of water
Featured in The Best of Texas
81. Monument Valley, Utah
Best time to visit: May-Sept
Cost: $$$
- Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor
- The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line
- The valley is a sacred area that lies within the territory of the Navajo Nation Reservation, the Native American people of the area
- Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s and has signified the American West in American film
Featured in The Best of Utah
#13 in Best Landmarks in the USA
82. Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia
Best time to visit: May-July
Cost: $
- National Parkway and All-American Road, noted for its scenic beauty
- The parkway runs for 469 miles (755 km) through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains
Featured in The Best of Virginia
83. Dark Hollow Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Trail in Shenandoah National Park that leads to Dark Hollow Falls, a 70 ft (21 m) cascade
- Various fauna can be viewed along the trail, including occasional sightings of black bears and timber rattlesnakes
Featured in The Best of Virginia
84. Norfolk Botanical Garden, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: late May-early Sept
Cost: $
- Botanical garden with arboretum, constructed starting in 1939 and expanded into themed garden areas
- Some of the garden themes include: a healing garden containing medicinal plants, a stream, and pools; a wildflower meadow with more than 50 wildflower species; and a fragrance garden including plants such as lavender and peppermint
Featured in The Best of Virginia
85. National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.
Best time to visit: March-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The National Museum of Natural History is the second most visited natural history museum in the world after the Natural History Museum in London
- Opened in 1910, the museum was one of the first Smithsonian buildings constructed exclusively to hold the national collections and research facilities
- The museum's collections contain over 146 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, the largest natural history collection in the world
Featured in The Best of Washington D.C.
#15 in Best Museums in the World
#28 in Best Museums in the USA
86. Devils Tower Trail, Wyoming
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: May, Sept
Cost: $
- Devils Tower is a butte, possibly laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Black Hills
- It rises to 867 feet (264 m) from summit to base
- Devils Tower was the first United States national monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt
Featured in The Best of Wyoming