I have been to 130 of these 300 places on my U.S. Travel Wish List (all of the ones in bold). How many have you been to? Which places are on your own U.S. travel wish list?
Northwest
Alaska
1-2. Glacier Bay and Wrangell–St. Elias National Parks and Preserves (a World Heritage Site)
3. Denali National Park and Preserve
4. Katmai National Park and Preserve
5. Sitka National Historical Park
6. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park – Skagway
7. Kenai Fjords National Park
8. Lake Clark National Park
9. Gates Of The Arctic National Park and Preserve
10. Kobuk Valley National Park
Washington
1. Olympic National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Seattle
3. Mount Rainier National Park
4. North Cascades National Park
5. San Juan Island National Historical Park
6. Manhattan Project National Historical Park – Hanford
7. Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Oregon
1. Crater Lake National Park
2. Portland
3. Oregon’s Pacific Coast and Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
4. Columbia River Gorge
5. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, including the Painted Hills
6. Mount Hood
Idaho
1. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
2. Sawtooth National Recreation Area
4. Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness
5. City of Arco and EBR-I (Experimental Breeder Reactor I Museum), Atomic City
6. Nez Perce National Historical Park
7. Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls
Montana
1. Glacier National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Mid-Pacific
California
1. Yosemite National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Redwood National and State Parks (a World Heritage Site)
3-4. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
5. San Francisco (including San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and nearby Rosie The Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park; Golden Gate National Recreation Area – part of the Central California Current [see Point Reyes for full details], which is on the World Heritage Tentative List)
6. Death Valley National Park and Preserve
8. Channel Islands National Park
9. Los Angeles (including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House – part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)
10. Lassen Volcanic National Park
12. Point Reyes National Seashore and the California Current Conservation Complex (World Heritage Tentative List, including Greater Farallones [Fort Ross State Historic Park coast area], Cordell Bank [Point Reyes offshore area], and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries [Monterey Peninsula coast area]; marine waters and certain coastal areas of Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Recreation Area [San Francisco coast area]; Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge; and California Coastal National Monument)
13. Big Sur Coast
14. Monterey, Salinas, and the California Mission Trail (including Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary – part of the Central California Current [see Point Reyes for full details], which is on the World Heritage Tentative List)
15. Route 49 Gold Rush Towns
16. Mojave National Preserve and California’s portion of old Route 66
17. San Diego
18. Fort Ross State Historic Park and Russian House #1 (and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary – part of the Central California Current [see Point Reyes for full details], which is on the World Heritage Tentative List)
Hawaii
1. Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Haleakalā National Park
3. Hana Highway
4. Pearl Harbor National Memorial (World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, including the USS Arizona Memorial)
5. Honolulu (including ʻIolani Palace State Monument, Diamond Head State Monument, and Waikiki Beach) and Polynesian Cultural Center
6. Lapakahi State Historical Park (restored ruins of an ancient fishing village)
7. Pu`ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site (Ancient Hawaiian temple ruins)
8. Nā Pali Coast State Park
9. Waimea Canyon State Park
10. Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (a World Heritage Site)
American Samoa
(U.S. Territory)
1. National Park of American Samoa
2. Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa (National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa – formerly known as the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and Wildlife Refuge) – World Heritage Tentative List
Rocky Mountains
Wyoming
1. Yellowstone National Park (a World Heritage Site)
3. Devils Tower National Monument
4. Cody – Rodeo Capital of the World
Colorado
1. Mesa Verde National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Rocky Mountain National Park
4. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
5. Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
7. Colorado Ski Country
8. Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness
Utah
1. Zion National Park
2. Arches National Park
3. Bryce Canyon National Park
4. Great Salt Lake (including Golden Spike National Historical Park)
7. Capitol Reef National Park
8. Canyonlands National Park
9. Bears Ears National Monument
Nevada
1. Las Vegas
2. Great Basin National Park
3. Lake Tahoe
4. Hoover Dam
Southwest
Arizona
1. Grand Canyon National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Saguaro National Park
3. Petrified Forest National Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
5. Antelope Canyon
6. Sedona Red Rock Country
7. The Wave at Vermilion Cliffs National Monument
8. Tombstone
9. Tumacacori National Historical Park
Honorable mention: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West near Phoenix (part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)
New Mexico
1. Taos Pueblo (a World Heritage Site)
2. Santa Fe (plus nearby Pecos National Historical Park)
3. Chaco Culture National Historical Park (a World Heritage Site)
4. Carlsbad Caverns National Park (a World Heritage Site)
5. White Sands National Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
6. Roswell and the International UFO Museum
7. Albuquerque – Petroglyph National Monument
8. Manhattan Project National Historical Park – Los Alamos
9. Zuni-Cibola Complex National Historic Landmark (meritorious to be a national historical park)
10. Acoma Sky City
Texas
1. San Antonio (San Antonio Missions National Historical Park – a World Heritage Site)
2. Austin
3. Hill Country (Cowboy Capital of the World and Texas bluebonnets)
4. Big Bend National Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
5. Guadalupe Mountains National Park
8. TEXAS Outdoor Musical at Palo Duro Canyon State Park
9. Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park
Oklahoma
1. Old Route 66
3. Chickasaw National Recreation Area
Great Plains
North Dakota
1. Theodore Roosevelt National Park
South Dakota
1. Mount Rushmore National Memorial
5. Deadwood
7. Jewel Cave National Monument
8. Mammoth Site
9. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
10. Wall Drug
11. Mitchell Corn Palace
Nebraska
4. Lincoln – Haymarket District
5. Omaha
Kansas
1. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
3. Dodge City
4. Santa Fe Trail Shortgrass Prairie
5. Topeka – Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site and the State Capitol (see also: Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area- Ritchie House Underground Railroad historic site in Topeka)
6. Wichita
Iowa
2. Effigy Mounds National Monument
3. Des Moines (Iowa State Fairgrounds, Downtown Farmers Market in front of the Polk County Courthouse, and State Capitol)
Missouri
1. Saint Louis – Gateway Arch National Park (former Jefferson National Expansion Memorial)
2. Kansas City
3. Hannibal – Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum
4. Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park
Great Lakes
Michigan
1. Mackinac
2. Sleeping Bear Dunes Country
4. Isle Royale National Park
5. Detroit and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (MotorCities National Heritage Area)
6. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
7. Keweenaw National Historical Park
9. Frankenmuth
10. Turnip Rock
Wisconsin
1. Door County
3. America’s Dairyland countryside
4. Apostle Island National Lakeshore
5. Milwaukee
6. Devil’s Lake State Park
Minnesota
1. Voyageurs National Park
Illinois
1. Chicago (including: Chicago Early Skyscrapers – World Heritage Tentative List; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House and Unity Temple – part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)
3. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (a World Heritage Site)
4. Pays des Illinois sites (French Colonial Illinois Country)
Indiana
1. Indiana Dunes National Park and State Park
2. Parke County Covered Bridges
3. Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 NASCAR Race – Racing Country
Ohio
1. Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
2. Serpent Mound State Memorial and Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (both on the World Heritage Tentative List)
3. Cuyahoga Valley National Park
4. Cleveland – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
Northeast
Maine
3. Penobscot Bay schooner sailing
4. Maine Lobster Festival – Rockland
New Hampshire
1. Mount Washington
2. Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park
Vermont
1. Lake Champlain
3. Stowe
4. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Massachusetts
1. Boston (including Boston National Historical Park)
2. Cape Cod National Seashore
3. Pilgrim Memorial State Park
4. Minute Man National Historical Park
5. Salem
6. Walden Pond State Reservation
7. New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
8. Lowell National Historical Park
9. Adams National Historical Park in Quincy
Rhode Island
1. Newport
2. Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park/Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Connecticut
1. Hartford (including the to be established Coltsville National Historical Park)
New York
1. New York City (including: Statue of Liberty – a World Heritage Site; Ellis Island – World Heritage Tentative List; Brooklyn Bridge – World Heritage Tentative List; Central Park – World Heritage Tentative List; and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum – part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)
3. Adirondacks
4. Erie Canal
5. Women’s Rights National Historical Park
6. Saratoga National Historical Park
7. Hudson Valley (Thomas Cole National Historic Site of the Hudson River School and Sleepy Hollow in autumn)
8. Harriet Tubman National Historical Park
Mid-Atlantic
Pennsylvania
1. Philadelphia (including Independence Hall, Independence National Historical Park – a World Heritage Site)
2. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater (part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)
3. Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish Country
4. Gettysburg National Military Park
5. Valley Forge National Historical Park
6. Pittsburgh
7. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Pocono Mountains
8. Moravian Bethlehem District – Pennsylvania (World Heritage Tentative List) (an extension to Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement, Denmark)
New Jersey
1. Atlantic City
2. Pine Barrens
3. Thomas Edison National Historical Park
4. Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
5. Morristown National Historical Park/Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area
Delaware
1. First State National Historical Park
Maryland
1. Baltimore
2. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
3. Assateague Island National Seashore
4. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument
5. Annapolis
6. Chesapeake Bay
Washington DC
Virginia
1. George Washington’s Mount Vernon (World Heritage Tentative List)
2. Colonial National Historical Park (Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown)
3. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the University of Virginia (a World Heritage Site), plus Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest and the Virginia State Capitol (World Heritage Tentative List)
4. Colonial Williamsburg
6. Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
7. Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park
8. James Madison’s Montpelier
9. Norfolk with its naval yards
West Virginia
1. New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
2. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
South Central
Kentucky
1. Louisville and Bluegrass Country
2. Mammoth Cave National Park (a World Heritage Site)
3. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
4. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
5. My Old Kentucky Home State Park
6. Cumberland Falls State Resort Park
7. Shaker Museum at South Union
Tennessee
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Nashville
3. Memphis
4. Manhattan Project National Historical Park – Oak Ridge
Arkansas
2. Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and Testament: The Little Rock Nine Monument
3. Ozark Hill Country
Louisiana
1. New Orleans (including New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park)
2. Bayous – such as the Barataria Preserve at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
3. Poverty Point National Monument and State Historic Site (a World Heritage Site)
4. Cane River Creole National Historical Park
Mississippi
1. Natchez
3. Indian Mounds of Mississippi
4. Vicksburg National Military Park
5. Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale/Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area
Alabama
1. Civil Rights Movement sites: Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery and 16th Street Baptist Church and Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham (World Heritage Tentative List)
2. Mobile Bay
3. U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville
4. Tuskegee (Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site and Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site)
Southeast
North Carolina
1. Outer Banks
3. Blue Ridge Parkway/Blue Ridge National Heritage Area
4. Charlotte
5. Old Salem Historic District of Winston-Salem
South Carolina
1. Charleston (including Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park)
2. Congaree National Park
3. Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
4. Reconstruction Era National Historical Park
Georgia
1. Savannah
2. Okefenokee Swamp (World Heritage Tentative List)
3. Atlanta (including Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park)
4. Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park
5. Cumberland Island National Seashore
Florida
1. Everglades National Park (a World Heritage Site)
2. Biscayne National Park
3. Dry Tortugas National Park
4. Saint Augustine (Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and Fort Matanzas National Monument)
5. Miami
6. Florida Keys (including John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park on Key Largo and Key West)
Puerto Rico
(U.S. Territory)
1. San Juan: La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site – a World Heritage Site, and the rest of Old San Juan
2. El Yunque National Forest
3. Bioluminescence in Mosquito Bay at Isla de Vieques
U.S. Virgin Islands
(U.S. Territory)
1. St. John: Virgin Islands National Park
2. St. Croix: Salt River Bay National Historical Park & Ecological Preserve, Christiansted National Historic Site, and Buck Island Reef National Monument