Ballard & Discovery Park
Hard to beat on a sunny spring day, this former military installation has been transformed into a wild coastal park, laced with walking trails and…
Must-see attractions in Western USA
Lone Pine
The setting for countless ride-‘em-out movies, the popular Lone Ranger TV series and, more recently, parts of Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008) and Quentin…
La Jolla
Built in the 1930s behind a wave-cutting seawall, La Jolla’s Children’s Pool was created as a family beach but has since been invaded by herds of seals…
La Jolla
This state-of-the-art aquarium is a wonderous underwater world home to 5000 fish. Visitors can watch sharks dart, kelp forests sway, and even meet a…
Portland
This popular riverside park, which lines the west bank of the Willamette River, was finished in 1978 after four years of construction. It replaced an old…
Monterey
Monterey is practically synonymous with its world-class aquarium overlooking Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which protects dense kelp forests and…
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Big Sur
If you're chasing waterfalls, swing into this state park named for the daughter of some of the earliest European settlers to arrive in Big Sur. The…
Big Sur
Pfeiffer Beach is at the heart of what Big Sur is all about – splendid, unusual scenery that's inspired generations of artists, writers, and travelers…
Greater Palm Springs
Palm Springs has long been famous a celebrity playground, but few destinations in the valley better exemplify that pedigree than Sunnylands, the retreat…
Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has been an Americana classic like few others for over a century. Now as in 1907 when the amusement park first opened, the…
Belltown & Seattle Center
This ingenious feat of urban planning is an offshoot of the Seattle Art Museum and it bears the same strong eye for design and curation. There are dozens…
Denver
Where Cherry Creek and South Platte River meet is the nexus and plexus of Denver's sunshine-loving culture. Thousands of outdoorsy Denverites flock here…
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Sea lions took over San Francisco’s most coveted waterfront real estate in 1989 and have been making a public display of themselves ever since. Some…
Death Valley National Park
Not many national park features can say they were celebrated in a 1969 film of the same name, but Zabriskie Point claims that honor thanks to director…
West Hills
Abutting the more manicured Washington Park to the south (to which it is linked by various trails) is the far wilder 5100-acre Forest Park, an urban…
Death Valley National Park
Dante's View is an overlook that sits perched at 5475ft atop the Black Mountains, affording stunning panoramic views of the entire southern Death Valley…
West Hills
Often called the most authentic Japanese garden outside Japan, this tranquil escape recently underwent a $30-million expansion under the guidance of…
San Diego
It's easy to spend an hour in this heartfelt museum of surf artifacts, from a timeline of surfing history to surf-themed art and a radical collection of…
Denver
Dedicated exclusively to the work and legacy of 20th-century American abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, this fascinating museum's collection includes…
Joshua Tree National Park
High atop the Little San Bernardino Mountains, Keys View offers panoramic views of the whole Coachella Valley spread out like a picnic blanket. On clear…
Greater Palm Springs
Art fans should not miss this museum and its changing exhibitions drawn from a stellar collection of international modern and contemporary painting,…
Las Vegas
Angular and glittering gold, massive Mandalay Bay flanks the far south end of the Strip. It's the first resort many visitors lay eyes on as they roll into…
Santa Monica
Once the very end of the legendary Route 66 and still the object of a tourist love affair, this much-photographed pier dates back to 1908 and is the city…
Las Vegas
Running between The LINQ Hotel & Casino and the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, the LINQ Promenade is a partially-covered outdoor pedestrian walkway…
Las Vegas
The myth and mystique of mobsters from Bugsy Siegel to Al Capone get the museum treatment inside a hulking Downtown courthouse where real gangsters sat…
San Diego
Next to the new Waterfront Park, this collection of 11 historic sailing ships, steam boats and submarines is easy to spot: just look for the 100ft-high…
Portland
The heart of downtown Portland, at the heart of Portland’s retail district and the city’s transit system, is a multi-tiered brick plaza nicknamed Portland…
Mammoth Lakes
Mammoth Mountain is the product of millions of years of volcanic activity, so it should be no surprise that the region surrounding it is full of…
Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks
Awesome in their grandeur, the Tetons have captivated the imagination from the moment humans laid eyes on them. While their name is often ascribed to…
Southern Oregon
The ancient mountain whose remains now form Crater Lake was known to the the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Band of the Snake as Giiwas, or "sacred place."…
Tucson
Saguaros (sah-wah-ros) are icons of the American Southwest, and an entire cactus army of these majestic, ribbed sentinels is protected in this desert…
Yosemite National Park
With their massive stature and multi-millennium maturity, the chunky high-rise sequoias of Mariposa Grove will make you feel rather insignificant. The…
Southeastern Utah
A Salvador Dalí–esque melted-rock fantasy, a valley of giant stone mushrooms, an otherworldly alien landscape or the results of a cosmological acid trip?…
Yellowstone National Park
The imposing Lower and Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs are the highlight of the Mammoth region. An hour’s worth of boardwalks wind their way between…
Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
One of the most delightful, inspirational spots in LA, the Huntington is rightly a highlight of any trip to California thanks to a world-class mix of art,…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
From the instant it opened in September 2015, the Broad (rhymes with 'road') became a must-visit for contemporary-art fans. It houses the world-class…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
In its billion-dollar, in-the-clouds perch, high above the city grit and grime, the Getty Center presents triple delights: a stellar art collection …
Yosemite National Park
If you drove, the views from 7214ft Glacier Point might make you feel like you cheated – superstar sights present themselves without your having made…
Colorado Springs
This gorgeous vein of red sandstone (about 290 million years old) appears elsewhere along Colorado's Front Range, but the exquisitely thin cathedral…
Bryce Canyon National Park
If you stop nowhere else along the scenic drive, be sure to catch the stunning views from Bryce Point. You can walk the rim above Bryce Amphitheater for…
