Sights in Great Plains
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Mount Rushmore
Looking like they're either emerging from or being absorbed by the mountain, the stony faces of past presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt - carved 60ft tall in the granite of a Black Hills outcrop - are one of the most famous images in the USA and the top attraction in the state; the monument gets nearly three million visitors each year. You can't help but be impressed by its sheer scale and the massive physical effort of the team (led by sculptor Gutzon Borglum) that created it between 1927 and 1941.
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Des Moines Art Center
The Des Moines Art Center is worth a look both for its interesting architecture and for its collection of modern art including American greats such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe. A highlight is IM Pei's sculpture garden, featuring Red Grooms' Germanic 'butter cow'. The museum stays open until 21:00 on Thursdays.
There is also a downtown branch at 800 Walnut Street (at the corner of 9th & Walnut Streets).
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A
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum covers both art and history. Even if you come for just one, you're sure to be enthralled by the other. The excellent collection of Western painting and sculpture features many works by Charles M Russell and Frederic Remington while the historical galleries range from barbed wire to rodeos to cowboy hats.
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Deadwood History & Information Center
Deadwood History & Information Center, Like Vegas meets Bonanza, Deadwood juxtaposes the bright neon jangling of slot machines with Wild West storefronts, reenacted gunfights and eternal devotion to Wild Bill Hickock, who was shot in the back of the head here in 1876 while gambling. Settled illegally by eager gold rushers in the 1870s, Deadwood (inspiration for the hit HBO series) is now a National Historic Landmark. Its Main Street is lined with restored gold rush-era buildings. The town's hell-raisin' days are long gone, replaced by a gentler crowd of tour-bus poker players taking advantage of limited-stakes gambling, which jump-started the town's tourist appeal in the …
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Jewel Cave National Monument
)Another of the Black Hills' many fascinating caves is Jewel Cave, 13 miles west of Custer on US 16; so named because calcite crystals line nearly all of its walls. Currently 139 miles have been explored, making it the second longest known cave in the world, but it is presumed to be the longest. Tours range in length and difficulty; reservations are recommended. Make arrangements at the visitor center. If you'll only visit one Black Hills cave, this would be a good choice.
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Custer State Park
The only reason 111-sq-mile Custer State Park isn't a national park is that the state grabbed it first. It boasts one of the largest free-roaming bison herds in the world (about 1500), the famous 'begging burros' (donkeys seeking handouts) and more than 200 species of bird. Other wildlife include elk, pronghorns, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, coyotes, prairie dogs, mountain lions and bobcats.
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Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
About 20 miles east of Des Moines, near Prairie City, this wonderful, 5000-acre wildlife refuge is the site of an unprecedented tallgrass reconstruction project. See the film and displays at the Prairie Learning Center to learn about the ecosystems that have vanished. Outside are herds of buffalo and elk, plus a 5-mile auto tour and 2-mile hiking trail.
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B
Symbolic Memorial
The outdoor Symbolic Memorial has 168 empty chair sculptures for each of the people killed in the attack (the 19 small ones are for the children who perished in the day care center). It's next to a reflecting pool in the former building's footprint. People tie simple yet heart-breaking memorials to the fence on Harvey St.
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C
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis
Under the big green dome of the stunning Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, three blocks east of Forest Park, you'll find a Byzantine interior draped with 83,000 sq ft of mosaics - that's 41.5 million pieces. You can learn about the 80 years of construction (1907-87) downstairs in the church's museum.
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Fort Sill Museum
Fort Sill Museumincludes barracks furnished as it was in the 1870s and the guardhouse where Geronimo was detained after he had celebrated a little too much in nearby Lawton. Many old weapons are displayed nearby. Ask for a map to Geronimo's grave, which is located a couple of miles away.
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Gilcrease Museum
Northwest of downtown, off Hwy 64, the superb Gilcrease Museum sits on the estate of a Native American who discovered oil on his allotment. The impressive collection of American Western, Native American, and Central and South American fine art and archaeology is surrounded by some fine formal gardens.
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D
City Museum
Possibly the wildest highlight to any visit to St Louis, City Museum is a frivolous, frilly fun-house in a vast old shoe factory. The Museum of Mirth, Mystery and Mayhem sets the tone. Run, jump and explore all manner of exhibits. A new Ferris wheel on the roof ($5) offers grand views of the city.
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Crazy Horse Memorial
The world's largest monument, the Crazy Horse Memorial is, as author Ian Frazier describes, 'a ruin, only in reverse.' Onlookers at the 563ft-tall work-in-progress can gawk at what will be the Sioux leader astride his horse, pointing to the horizon saying, 'My lands are where my dead lie buried.'
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E
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Giant badminton shuttlecocks (the building represents the net) surround the encyclopedic Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which has standout European painting, photography and Asian art collections. Its luminescent and cock-free Bloch Building, designed by Steven Holl, has earned rave reviews.
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State Capitol
- Des Moines, USA
- Sights › Other
The bling-heavy State Capitol must have been Liberace's favorite government building. Its every detail, from the sparkling gold dome to the spiral staircases and stained glass in the law library, seems to strive to outdo the other. Join a free tour and you can climb halfway up the dome.
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F
Truman Presidential Museum & Library
Just east of Kansas City, Independence was the home of Harry S Truman, US president from 1945 to 1953. The Truman Presidential Museum & Library exhibits thousands of objects, including the famous 'The BUCK STOPS here!' sign, from the man who led the US through one of its most tumultuous eras.
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Iowa Historical Building
The ambitious Iowa Historical Building includes a library and museum, with exhibits ranging from a 15,000 year old Iowan Hebior mammoth to the more contemporary 'Favorite Things of the 20th Century' exhibit, which tries to explain our fascination with such things as pacemakers and miniskirts.
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Medora Visitor Center
Medora visitor centerhas Theodore Roosevelt's old cabin out back. Roosevelt described this area as 'a land of vast, silent spaces, of lonely rivers, and of plains where the wild game stared at the passing horsemen, ' and it's hard to describe the place better even today.
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Great Platte River Road Archway Monument
The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument arches unexpectedly over I-80 east of Kearney near exit 272. The multimedia exhibits tell an engaging story of the people who've passed this way, from those riding wagon trains to those zipping down the Interstate.
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Greenwood Cultural Center
Greenwood Cultural Center displays photos of the historic African American Greenwood District, which was the scene of America's worst race riot in 1921 when whites killed scores of African Americans and burned the neighborhood, leaving over 10,000 homeless.
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Ashfall Fossil Beds
Watch paleontologists work at Ashfall Fossil Beds, 8 miles northwest of town. You can see unearthed prehistoric skeletons of hundreds of animals, including rhinoceroses, buried 12 million years ago by ash from a Pompeii-like explosion in what is now Idaho.
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G
Stockyards City
You'll brush up against real cowboys in Stockyards City, southwest of downtown, either in the shops and restaurants that cater to them or at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, the world's largest stocker and feeder cattle market.
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Philbrook Museum of Art
South of town, another oil magnate's converted Italianate villa, also ringed by fabulous foliage, houses the eclectic Philbrook Museum of Art. The Native American works stand out; look for Navajo Woman on Horseback by Gerald Nailor.
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Museum of the Great Plains
The stockaded Red River Trading Post at the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton is a faithful reproduction of those found in the area from the 1830s to 1840s. There's a prairie dog town where you can watch the sociable critters cavort.
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H
Magic House Children's Museum
Kids will have a blast at the Magic House Children's Museum, where the hands-on activities are both fun and educational. If the Fitness Safari doesn't tucker 'em out, try the Face Blender, the Gear Wall, or the Kids TV station and recording studio.
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