Featured Destinations

Places we love, with partners on the ground.

We work with communities and tourism partners across the country to bring you authentic, on-the-ground stories. Explore the destinations featured in Explore USA Magazine.

Featured Destinations

Mountain slopes covered in autumn color beneath a rocky peak and partly cloudy sky

Damascus, Virginia: Trail Town USA

Damascus, Virginia, known as Trail Town USA, is a Southwest Virginia mountain town where seven trails and routes meet, including the Appalachian Trai…

White columned historic house at the end of an alley of moss-draped live oaks

St. Francisville & West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

St. Francisville, established in 1807, is the historic heart of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana's Hill Country, about 35 minutes north of Baton Roug…

Grand Canyon at sunset with pink clouds and snow along the rim overlook

Sheridan House Inn, Williams, Arizona

Sheridan House Inn is an adults-only, eight-room inn in the ponderosa pines above historic Route 66 in Williams, Arizona, at about 7,000 feet. It is…

Red dirt country road beside a white wooden fence under dramatic evening clouds

Alabama Black Belt Adventures

Alabama Black Belt Adventures is a nonprofit promoting outdoor recreation and tourism across Alabama's 23-county Black Belt, from hunting, fishing, b…

Aerial view of a river, bridge and green city neighborhoods with Blue Ridge mountains beyond

Asheville, North Carolina

Asheville, North Carolina, is a Blue Ridge Mountains city known for the Blue Ridge Parkway, the River Arts District, a nationally recognized food and…

A Route 66 shield painted on the asphalt of a road, symbolizing the historic highway that runs through Pontiac, Illinois

Pontiac, Illinois

This small Illinois town on Route 66 offers museum-hopping, gold leaf history, 26-plus murals, and swinging bridges over the Vermilion River.

A wooden dock stretching into a calm lake at sunset, evoking the waterfront recreation found along Lake Decatur's shoreline

Decatur Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

Decatur and Forsyth, Illinois pair Lincoln era history and downtown culture with Lake Decatur outdoor recreation in one welcoming Macon County commun…

A classic Route 66 highway sign standing along the historic road at Roy's Motel and Cafe, evoking the American road trip spirit of the Mother Road

Oklahoma Route 66 Association

A nonprofit founded in 1989 supporting Oklahoma's 400+ miles of Route 66 through trip guides, events, youth programs, and preservation work.

Multnomah Falls cascading through a lush forested cliff in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce – Explore The Dalles

In the heart of the Columbia River Gorge, The Dalles, Oregon offers wineries, pioneer history, waterfalls, and year-round outdoor adventure.

Elegant furnished interior of the Shorter Mansion, one of Eufaula, Alabama's grand historic homes

Eufaula Chamber of Commerce – Experience Eufaula

Historic charm and lake living on the shores of Lake Eufaula, Alabama's largest lake: antebellum homes, world-class bass fishing, and Southern hospit…

Golden prairie grassland stretching to the horizon under a wide sunset sky on the Kansas plains

Visit Liberal, Kansas

From the Land of Oz to the Mid-America Air Museum, Liberal, Kansas pairs Wizard of Oz nostalgia with aviation history on the High Plains.

Wooden dock stretching into a calm Minnesota lake, framed by shoreline trees on a summer day

Welcome Glenwood – Glenwood Lakes Area Welcome Center

On the shores of Lake Minnewaska, Glenwood, Minnesota offers lakeside recreation, charming main streets, and small-town warmth in every season.

A bison grazing in a grassy prairie field, evocative of the plains around Jamestown, North Dakota

Discover Jamestown North Dakota

Home of the World's Largest Buffalo and the National Buffalo Museum, Jamestown, North Dakota blends frontier history with family-friendly attractions.

Editor's Picks

Destination Guides

Small and mid-size places our editors love across every season, with the essentials for planning a trip.

Arched granite bridge over a quiet road among evergreen trees in Acadia National Park

Bar Harbor, Maine

Bar Harbor, Maine, on Mount Desert Island, is the main gateway to Acadia National Park. Visitors drive the Park Loop Road, bike the historic carriage…

White antebellum home with double porches behind a live oak in Beaufort's Old Point

Beaufort, South Carolina

Beaufort, South Carolina, founded in 1711, is the state's second-oldest city, set on the Beaufort River in the Lowcountry between Charleston and Sava…

Red pierhead lighthouse at Sturgeon Bay on a rocky breakwater in blue Lake Michigan water

Door County, Wisconsin

Door County, Wisconsin, is a peninsula between Lake Michigan and Green Bay with more than 300 miles of shoreline, 11 historic lighthouses, five state…

Golden sunset over forested Ozark hills and a rocky bluff touched with autumn color

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is a Victorian resort town in the Ozark Mountains whose entire downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac…

Brick storefronts and flags lining historic Main Street in Galena on a summer day

Galena, Illinois

Galena, Illinois, is a historic town in the rolling hills of northwest Illinois, where about 85 percent of buildings lie within the Galena Historic D…

Aerial view of Lake Placid's forested islands and mountains under a pink dawn sky

Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid, New York, is an Adirondack village that hosted the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980. Visitors can tour the Olympic Center, home of the 1…

Golden high desert grassland stretching toward distant mountains under a wide sky near Marfa

Marfa, Texas

Marfa, Texas, is a small high-desert town in the Big Bend region known for minimalist art, including Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation and Judd Founda…

Delicate Arch glowing red in late light with snowy La Sal Mountains on the horizon

Moab, Utah

Moab, Utah, is the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and Dead Horse Point State Park, all designated International Dark Sky Parks. Spr…

Aerial view of a lakeside road, homes and evergreen forest along the water near Sandpoint

Sandpoint, Idaho

Sandpoint, Idaho, is a small Panhandle town on Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho's largest lake and one of the deepest in the country, at more than 1,150 feet…

Sandy dune and beach grass above deep blue Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes

Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City, Michigan, sits on Grand Traverse Bay in northern Lower Michigan and calls itself the Cherry Capital of the World. Wineries line the Ol…