Some are beautiful, many are strange, but each of these 50 tourist attractions shows off the flavor of the state in which it’s located.
You like to think you’re a savvy traveler, and you wouldn’t be caught dead at a cheap and cheesy tourist trap swarming with gawkers in fanny packs. But just because an attraction is extremely popular with tourists shouldn’t mean it’s automatically off your list of to-dos when you’re on the road. Every state in the U.S. has a long list of unique and often strange tourist attractions; here are 50 of the greatest and most unique, including monuments, bizarre roadside attractions, museums, tours and historic sites.
Alaska – Four-Story Igloo-Shaped Building
Arizona – Arcosanti: An Urban Laboratory
California – Chandelier Tree, Redwood Forest
Colorado – Cano’s Beer Can Castle
Georgia – The Georgia Guidestones
Idaho – Craters of the Moon National Monument
Iowa – Grotto of the Redemption
Kansas – Underground Salt Museum
Kentucky – Louisville Mega Cavern
Maryland – Edgar Allan Poe Museum
Michigan – The Heidelberg Project
Minnesota – Cathedral of St. Paul
Mississippi – Longwood Plantation
Missouri -Billion Gallon Lake, Bonne Terre Mines
New Hampshire – America’s Stonehenge
New Jersey – Lucy the Elephant, Cape May
New Mexico – Old Town, Albuquerque
North Carolina – Mile High Bridge, Grandfather Mountain
North Dakota – Enchanted Highway
Oklahoma – Belle Starr Cowboy History Tour
Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Historic District
Rhode Island – WaterFire, Providence
South Carolina – Angel Oak, Charleston
South Dakota – Crazy Horse Memorial
Tennessee – Crossville Treehouse
Vermont – Aerial Tramway, Jay Peak Resort
Virginia – Colonial Williamsburg
Washington – Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
West Virginia – Coal House, Williamson
Wyoming – Mill Iron Ranch, Jackson Hole
Top image: Gabriella Corrado