Oklahoma
Built as a frontier fort in 1824, Fort Gibson came to play an integral – and notorious – role in the Trail of Tears. It was home to the removal commission…
Must-see attractions in The Great Plains
South Dakota
The massacre site, 16 miles northeast of Pine Ridge town, is marked by a faded sign. It helps to read up on the events before you arrive. The mass grave…
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
North Dakota
Here you can still see the mounds left by three earthen villages of the Hidatsas, who lived on the Knife River, a narrow tributary of the nearby Missouri,…
Chimney Rock National Historic Site
Nebraska
Eons-old bluff formations rise up from the horizon, their striking presence a dramatic sentinel connecting modern-day travelers with their pioneer…
Nebraska
Once a separate city, South Omaha was the center of the Omaha stockyards starting in the late 1800s. Today it's a hub of Omaha's thriving Hispanic…
Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site
North Dakota
This historic site is in two parts. The main site is a deactivated underground command center from where missiles would have been launched. Visits are by…
Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center
Black Hills
Gape at the 1250ft-deep Homestake Gold Mine to see what open-pit mining can do to a mountain. Nearby are the mine's shafts, which plunge more than 1.5…
Fort Sill National Historic Landmark & Museum
Oklahoma
This historic site includes several original stone buildings. A highlight is the 1872 Post Guardhouse, the center of law enforcement for the Indian…
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
Iowa
Herbert Hoover, the president of the United States from 1929 to 1933, will forever be remembered for the Great Depression, the economic cataclysm that…
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
Springfield
The sight of the first major Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi River, this large rolling open space is a fascinating place to visit. The…
South Dakota
This Cold War–era missile silo, located down a dirt road in a desolate area 5 miles southeast of Wall, gives you a glimpse into the enormous network of…
Iowa
The Czech Village/New Bohemia neighborhood of Cedar Rapids just south of downtown was first settled in the 1870s by Czech immigrants who found jobs at…
Black Hills
If you visit only one Black Hills cave, this would be a good choice. It's 13 miles west of Custer and is so named because calcite crystals line much of…
Nebraska
This old military fort's turbulent past belies its stately appearance today: Crazy Horse was killed here in 1877, 'buffalo soldier' African American…
Springfield
All manner of geologic wonders are on display at these caverns, which wend through the eroded limestone beneath the Ozarks, 8 miles northwest of downtown…
Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum
Nebraska
After WWII Omaha's Offutt Air Force Base was home to the US Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC), the nuclear force detailed in Stanley Kubrick's Dr…
Eisenhower Presidential Center
Kansas
Fittingly set against a backdrop of grain elevators, the rather regal Eisenhower Presidential Center includes Ike's boyhood home, a recently redesigned…
Nebraska
This is the site of the very first homestead granted under the landmark Homestead Act of 1862. It opened much of the western US to settlers who were given…
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
North Dakota
At this modern center you can learn about the duo's epic expedition and the Native Americans who helped them. There are also rotating exhibits of Western…
St Louis
After receiving a facelift along with the rest of the park and reopening in summer 2018, this now sleeker museum not only offers more high-tech…
Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
St Louis
Marvel at the place where two of the world's great rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi, meet. Unfortunately an industrial park on the far side of the…
Oklahoma
This 1845 plantation home recreates pre-Civil War life in Oklahoma. George Murrell, who was of European descent, married Minerva Ross, a member of a…
Iowa
This art museum's complex is an all-star monument to some of the greatest architects of the modern era; Eliel Saarinen, IM Pei and Richard Meier all…
Missouri
Still imposing, the 1858 Patee House has had a long and historic life. It now showcases the city's rich history with exhibits full of 19th-century…
Kansas
The iconic song of the American West, 'Home on the Range,' was written by Brewster M Higley in 1871 at a remote cabin in northern Kansas. Today you can…
George Washington Carver National Monument
Missouri
Visit the birthplace of the African American scientist whose experiments with peanuts have been taught to generations of American school kids. As the park…
Truman Presidential Museum & Library
Missouri
There are 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…
Oklahoma
Fittingly, Henry Overholser, known as the 'Father of Oklahoma City,' lived with his wife Anna in what remains Oklahoma City's grandest mansion. This three…
Missouri
Almost 400 miles in length, the Ozark Trail wends through the Ozarks in 13 sections, most of which are linked up (the longest through stretch is 230 miles…
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
North Dakota
The highlight at this attractive rural park on the west bank of the Missouri is On-a-Slant Indian Village, which has five re-created Mandan earth lodges…
Nebraska
Dynamic 19th-century expedition duo Lewis and Clark get their due on the east side of the Missouri River at this hidden gem of a park high up on a bluff…
Fort Kearny State Historical Park
Nebraska
In the mid-1800s, two of the most important pioneer trails west, the California and Oregon Trails, converged at this frontier fort. Parts of the fort are…
North Dakota
Fargo's embrace of its namesake film is on full display at the town's engaging visitor center, which houses the actual woodchipper used for the scene…
Nebraska
Step inside what some researchers think is an original 1860 Pony Express Station from the old cross-state mail route, one of just a few still in existence…
Iowa
Using nothing but apples (no sugars, waters, noxious chemicals etc) the family behind this cidery creates a range of cider styles and flavours. Much…
State Historical Museum of Iowa
Iowa
At the foot of the capitol, this modern museum features first person accounts from people who lived through different historical eras and events. Yes,…
Iowa
Visit Grant Wood's downtown studio where he worked from 1924 to 1935. In this 2nd-floor space above a carriage house for the neighboring Douglas Mansion…
St Louis
This flashy museum explores blues legends like hometown hero Chuck Berry, while making a strong case for the genre's myriad influences on modern rock,…
Iowa
This curvaceous public park has great skyline views and features sculptures by 22 celebrated artists, including Sol LeWitt, Keith Haring and Willem de…
South Dakota
This well-curated art museum has traditional and contemporary works and a craft shop with locally made artisan goods. Haunting photos taken after the…
