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The 50 Most Beautiful Places in 🇺🇸

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Teona

Whether you’re looking for somewhere new and exciting to visit in the US or simply want to fill your camera roll with incredible shots, here are the 50 most beautiful places in America.

Acadia National Park is an essential stop on any Maine road trip, but you can—and should—visit the park even if you’re not already in the area. Those photogenic lighthouses and sunrises atop Cadillac Mountain are certainly worth traveling for.

Acadia National Park

A 13-mile drive from downtown Charleston, South Carolina’s Angel Oak is easily one of the most beautiful places in America. Entrance to the surrounding forest is totally free—just park in an adjacent lot and open your car door; you'll hear nothing bu...

Angel Oak Tree

Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon—and serious Instagram darling—in the American Southwest, just east of Page, Arizona. The narrow, undulating spaces between rock formations allow for vivid patterns when sunlight filters through the striated stone.

Antelope Canyon

This 21-mile edge of Lake Superior is a year-round destination for outdoor adventurers: Not only can travelers go kayaking through the wave-carved sandstone cliffs in the warmer months, but people can even walk across the frozen lake and explore the ...

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Technically located in both Maryland and Virginia (two-thirds belong to Maryland), Assateague Island is immediately associated with its population of wild horses—watching them run along the seashore is a sight you won’t soon forget. There’s much more...

Assateague Island National Seashore

You can find America’s largest swamp, the Atchafalaya Basin, just west of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. It’s home to pretty much every type of flora and fauna the word “swamp” conjures—alligators, Spanish moss, egrets, and bald cypress—and some...

Atchafalaya Basin

Found in the southwest corner of South Dakota, Badlands National Park greets visitors with an otherworldly landscape of rust-colored buttes, spires, and pinnacles rising across thousands of acres. Blink and you might think you’ve been transported to ...

Badlands National Park

There’s fall foliage, and then there’s Berkshires fall foliage. This hilly region of Massachusetts—a long-popular escape for New York and Boston urbanites—comes alive with color during the autumn months, especially along the 63-mile Mohawk Trail. Fil...

The Berkshires

Known for its hiking, camping, and epic sunsets and sunrises, Big Bend National Park consists of more than 800,000 acres of river canyons, desert, and mountains, plus thousands of species of plants and animals.

Big Bend National Park

If you want to plan an iconic American road trip, drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles along Highway 1. Along the Pacific Coast Highway, you’ll stop on the Monterey Peninsula before snaking along through the wilderness of Big Sur, complete with st...

Big Sur

Sprawling more than 30,000 acres on the Utah-Nevada border, the Bonneville Salt Flats will make you see the world in a different way. The chalk-white landscape stretches so far out in all directions that you can actually spy the curvature of the eart...

Bonneville Salt Flats

It’s hard to pick the most beautiful national park in Utah, but Bryce Canyon National Park makes a compelling case with its layered red and orange hoodoos and lookout points positioned perfectly for sunrises and sunsets. The park even dazzles after t...

Bryce Canyon National Park

Cades Cove is a broad, verdant valley situated within the Tennessee portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It has some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities in the entire park (think black bears, white-tailed deer, and coyotes)—driv...

Cades Cove Scenic Drive | Directions, Hours, & Insider Tips

Driving Oregon’s coast is a road trip that rivals even California's Highway 1, with beautiful state parks, rugged coastlines, and secluded hideaways. Cannon Beach is an essential pit stop off Highway 101—in fact, it might just be one of the most beau...

Cannon Beach

Reaching depths of 1,949 feet, the awe-inspiring Crater Lake—about a 4-hour drive south of Portland—is the deepest lake in the U.S. Its contents are supplied entirely by glacial runoff and precipitation, hence the water’s clarity and intense blue hue...

Crater Lake National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Not one to let Tennessee and the Great Smokies steal all the thunder, eastern Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest boasts 708,000 acres of forest land, 600 miles of hiking trails, and 250 recreation sites (including campgrounds and boating ramps)....

Daniel Boone National Forest

This narrow peninsula jutting off the northeast of Wisconsin is one of the Midwest’s most beloved vacation spots, thanks to an abundance of charming towns and beaches sitting off the shores of Lake Michigan. The region is perhaps most stunning in the...

Destination Door County

Occupying 1.5 million prime acres of Southern Florida, these famed wetlands are one of the world’s most varied (and fascinating) ecosystems. Be sure to check out our guide to the Everglades’ best airboat tours and alligator lookouts before your next ...

Everglades National Park

The Florida Keys evoke many images—spectacular sunsets and white-sand beaches among them. The set of tropical islands stretches beautifully between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, with the impressive Overseas Highway transporting travelers...

Florida Keys & Key West | Travel & Vacation Planning

If you want to see crashing glaciers, temperate rainforests, breaching whales, and mountain goats in one single day, head straight for Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park. Covering 3.3 million acres of pristine mountains and fjords, this national park...

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

It’s little wonder why Glacier National Park is one of the most-visited parks in the country. With its pristine mountain lakes, glaciers, 700 miles of hiking trails, and road trips along Going-to-the-Sun Road, the park represents some of the best nat...

Glacier National Park

No list of beautiful places in the U.S. would be complete without the Grand Canyon. We could tell you all about the sunsets and views and epic hikes along this 277-mile-long chasm, but honestly? This is one you need to see for yourself.

Grand Canyon National Park

Pretty much every square inch of Yellowstone National Park is worth seeing in person—but if we had to pick just one striking landmark within the park, it would be the Grand Prismatic Spring. As its name suggests, the largest hot spring in the United ...

Grand Prismatic Spring

Jutting up to 13,775 feet above the prairie-like landscapes of Wyoming, the magnificent Teton mountain range feels almost like a mirage. Visitors can enjoy nearly 200 miles of hiking trails, go rafting in the Snake River, and maybe even spot a grizzl...

Grand Teton National Park

Set against the Rocky Mountains, the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado (the tallest dunes in North America) look like they were transported straight from the Sahara. It takes hours to climb to the top of the dunes from the parking lot, but the feeling of ...

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Open (and beautiful) all year round, Hocking Hills State Park is packed with hiking trails that pass by waterfalls, cliffs, thick forests, and gorges canopied by hemlock trees. The trail leading to the Whispering Cave—a 300-foot-wide recess cave with...

Hocking Hills State Park

The Hoh Rain Forest is one of the only rainforests in the US, with lichen-shrouded trees and fungus-covered logs hidden in the middle of Washington’s Olympic National Park. The Hoh River Valley is also home to the quietest spot in the contiguous 48 s...

Hoh Rain Forest

It may be one of America’s newer national parks (it was officially upgraded in 2019), but Indiana Dunes National Park has long been a beloved destination for midwesterners. Stretching for miles along Lake Michigan, the lakeshore is a popular spot for...

Indiana Dunes National Park

Consistently voted one of the best islands in America by our readers, Jekyll Island stretches for seven miles off the Atlantic coast of Georgia. The small sliver of land goes big on natural beauty, from the Spanish moss hanging dreamily off trees to ...

Jekyll Island Club Resort

Joshua Tree National Park is a sight to behold 24 hours a day. Whether you choose to view the park’s wildlife, cacti, and namesake Joshua trees during the day or enjoy some of the country’s best stargazing at night, there’s truly no wrong way to expe...

Joshua Tree National Park

New York’s Greater Niagara area has some seriously beautiful spots outside of the Falls—most notably Letchworth State Park, aka “the Grand Canyon of the East.” Whether you experience the park from a hot-air balloon or the 66 miles of surrounding hiki...

Letchworth State Park

Lake Tahoe is the largest of the alpine lakes in North America, formed millions of years ago during the Ice Age. Set in the Sierra Nevadas, it receives worldwide acclaim for its scenic mountain views, luxe ski resorts, and Nevada casinos—not to menti...

Lake Tahoe Dam

A popular excursion from Aspen (located about 10 miles away), the Maroon Bells are a pair of 14,000-foot peaks that are best viewed from afar. Towering over the White River National Forest, the mountains and surrounding aspen trees reflect perfectly ...

Maroon Bells

Martha’s Vineyard is a favorite summer escape, lined by rugged Atlantic beaches and dotted with quaint towns. Head to the southwestern tip of the island (locally known as “up-island”) for more undeveloped and rural scenery, including dense woods, unc...

Martha's Vineyard Cha…

The ice caves inside Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier are not easily accessible nor for the faint of heart—those who want to see them in person must first kayak to the glacier and then ice-climb to reach it. But once adventurers stand under the glowing bl...

Explore Alaska's Mendenhall Ice Caves Before They Melt

Snorkeling at Molokini Crater, located between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe, is one of the most colorful experiences available in the Hawaiian islands. This half-in, half-out-of-water crater boasts a reef and hundreds of varieties of underwater ...

Molokini Crater

Easily the most striking coastline in America, the Na Pali (“high cliffs” in Hawaiian) Coast is only accessible by boat, helicopter, or strenuous hike—and it is 100 percent worth the effort. This northwest edge of Kauai has towering waterfalls, cresc...

Nā Pali Coast State Park

There’s a reason John Denver sang about West Virginia—the landscapes here do, indeed, feel almost like heaven. Just look at New River Gorge, a national park and preserve defined by its sandstone cliffs, biodiverse forests, and river bookended by the ...

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve

The Outer Banks (or OBX, according to many a bumper sticker) refers to a string of barrier islands cupping North Carolina’s entire coast, with some of the best beaches and historic attractions in the state. You can explore several of the islands in o...

Outer Banks

The rolling region of the Palouse covers 4,000 sq. miles of northern Idaho and southeastern Washington. The loess hills resemble sand dunes in shape (probably because they were formed by wind-blown sediment, not erosion), but become a dreamscape of v...

Palouse

Proving it’s just as magnificent as any ocean, Lake Superior offers beaches, waterfalls, ice caves, forests, and colorful sandstone cliffs—and that’s just within the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. This stretch of coastline will turn any visitor i...

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

If you thought you had to travel to France to see endless fields of lavender, you clearly haven't been to Sequim, Washington before. As if the Olympic Peninsula’s beaches and mountains weren’t incredible enough, Sequim’s lavender farms add another pe...

Sequim Chamber of Commerce

With more than 500 miles of hiking trails, Shenandoah National Park is a massive retreat just an hour and fifteen minutes away from D.C. in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Besides hiking, you can do almost anything in the park—fishing, horseback riding, ca...

Shenandoah National Park …

The Shiprock is a 1,583-foot tall rock formation rising like a villain’s castle in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation. The landmark formed some 30 million years ago as a volcanic plume, which remained while erosion erased the rest of the volcano, leaving beh...

Shiprock Rock Formation

Dubbed the “Niagara Falls of the West,” Idaho’s terraced Shoshone Falls drop 212 feet along the Snake River. If you’re planning to visit, aim for the spring or summer when water levels are typically at their highest.

Shoshone Falls

While coastlines and mountains tend to get all the attention, there’s something to be said for the quiet and serene beauty of America’s prairies—an ecosystem that continues to be eradicated in favor of farmlands and development. The Kansas Flint Hill...

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

It may not be the first national park that comes to mind, but this 110-square-mile piece of land supposedly inspired Theodore Roosevelt (who frequently hunted wild game here) to become a champion of conservation and an early driving force behind the ...

Theodore Roosevelt - National Park Service

Tucked away in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border, Voyageurs National Park is all about the water—from border rivers to lakes dotted with tiny islands. During the summer months grab a canoe and row to one of the campsites on the Lake Kabetog...

Voyageurs National Park

New Mexico’s White Sands National Park is one of the newest honorees of all 63 parks, only just officially recognized in December 2019. The sprawling area is the world’s largest gypsum dune field (gypsum is a common rock material that reflects light,...

White Sands National Park

One of the country’s most popular national parks, Yosemite contains alpine meadows, five of the world’s highest waterfalls, giant sequoia groves, and the spectacular, half-mile-deep Yosemite Valley. And all that beauty didn’t happen overnight—glacial...

Yosemite National Park