The Most Beautiful Place in Each U.S. State

[anethum]

mais oui!

 

[pacergal]

This country is so beautiful!
I've been to a few of those on the list.
Love Crater Lake, have been there twice.

It took me a while to go back, first time was not fun.
1975, with my folks and younger brother. Sewer line broke, over 500 folks ill from drinking water Crater Lake was shut down for about a month.
Had to get gamma shots, one each hip, to prevent hepatitis. Those shots hurt!

 

[Helen]

This country is so beautiful!
I've been to a few of those on the list.
Love Crater Lake, have been there twice.

It took me a while to go back, first time was not fun.
1975, with my folks and younger brother. Sewer line broke, over 500 folks ill from drinking water Crater Lake was shut down for about a month.
Had to get gamma shots, one each hip, to prevent hepatitis. Those shots hurt!

I bought a two month BusAmeriPass from Greyhound right after I graduated from high school in 1975. A friend and I left Michigan and eventually went up the Pacific coast. We had intended to go to Crater Lake but the park was closed due to the contaminated drinking water.

I feel in love with the PNW and ended up moving here in 1990. I have since made it to Crater Lake a few times.

 

[Jerry1]

I agree with the location they picked for Michigan, but there are way better pictures of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have been to 8 of those places. Northern Wisconsin has a ton of beautiful places as does rural New York. For New York I would have picked Letchworth State Park which is called the Grand Canyon of the East.

 

[Rianne]

We lived in Michigan for 9 years. All we had to do is get in the car and go north from Portage. One of my favorites is Mackinac Island. No cars. The bike ride around the is stunning. But there are so many other places in northern Michigan that take your breath away.

 

[Midpack]

I agree with the location they picked for Michigan, but there are way better pictures of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Agreed, I went there on foot once, and sailed by it a dozen times. There are a lot of beautiful areas in western and northern Michigan (it’s not all Detroit), just don’t caught there in the dead of Winter.

 

[Rianne]

Agreed, I went there on foot once, and sailed by it a dozen times. There are a lot of beautiful areas in western and northern Michigan (it’s not all Detroit), just don’t caught there in the dead of Winter.

Ohh, that's when it's really cool. By the lake with gigantic ice chunks and freezing waves crashing into the shore. We'd run out to the lighthouse freezing our butts off in South Haven. Can't forget the 6 ft. of lake effect snow we'd get about twice a week. We'd have to shovel paths for our dogs just to go out. I really miss Michigan.

 

[Midpack]

Ohh, that's when it's really cool. By the lake with gigantic ice chunks and freezing waves crashing into the shore. We'd run out to the lighthouse freezing our butts off in South Haven. Can't forget the 6 ft. of lake effect snow we'd get about twice a week. We'd have to shovel paths for our dogs just to go out. I really miss Michigan.

For some reason I don’t miss shoveling snow, scraping ice or living through power outages in winter. BTDT for 25 (IL)+ 4 (IN) + 10 (OH) + 1 (NJ) = 40 years…

 

[clifp]

I've been to every state but Mississippi, I've been to 22 +/- 2 places on the list. The US is a beautiful country, and I think I live in the prettiest state.

 

[NW-Bound]

What a daunting task that must have been, to select just one place for each state!

Yes.

For example, Alaska Wrangell - St. Elias National Park as the most beautiful place in Alaska?

I have only been to the edge of this huge park and had to look mostly at photos, but am not sure how one chooses it above other places in Alaska.

 

[RunningBum]

Beauty is very subjective, so I take this to be "A beautiful place in each of the 50 states" with plenty of room to disagree. I don't think there were any bad misses, but I would've picked Lake Tahoe in Nevada. I always thought that was the prettiest place I'd seen in the US until I went to Crater Lake, which did make the list. Na Pali coast would be third, but I only saw it from above on a hike of a few hours 30 years ago so I probably didn't get the best vantage point.

 

[Ronstar]

I agree with the location they picked for Michigan, but there are way better pictures of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Agreed, I went there on foot once, and sailed by it a dozen times. There are a lot of beautiful areas in western and northern Michigan (it’s not all Detroit), just don’t caught there in the dead of Winter.

On foot is a real treat - slogging up the steep dunes from the shoreline.

 

[FreeBear]

For some reason I don’t miss shoveling snow, scraping ice or living through power outages in winter. BTDT for 25 (IL)+ 4 (IN) + 10 (OH) + 1 (NJ) = 40 years…

+1 yep, done with that. Moved to AZ 2 years ago, no plans to got back. Several friends have visited during our “winter”. Seems like many who don’t like AZ grew up in the desert and got tried of it, just like we got tired of the endless precipitation, cold and cloudy dark weather for almost 8 months up north. Should have done its sooner and not waited 5 years into retirement.

 

[Koolau]

What a daunting task that must have been, to select just one place for each state! I never heard of the place they selected in Louisiana ("Wild Azalea Trail"?), and might have selected the Atchafalaya Swamp, or some of the many other beautiful locations here. But they got it right with the Na Pali Coast for Hawaii. Maybe - - well, that was the first location that came to mind for Hawaii, anyway.

We live in such amazingly beautiful country.

Yeah, gotta agree about the Na Pali coast on Kauai being number 1 in the Islands. I live a hundred miles away and have only seen it once. I hope I can go back one more time. Now, having said that, there must be 25 places within Hawaii that rank in 2nd place in the state! YMMV

 

[EastWest Gal]

Yeah, gotta agree about the Na Pali coast on Kauai being number 1 in the Islands. I live a hundred miles away and have only seen it once. I hope I can go back one more time. Now, having said that, there must be 25 places within Hawaii that rank in 2nd place in the state! YMMV

We took a boat tour along the Na Pali coast twice. The first time was a zodiac boat from Hanalei Bay, until they halted most boats their to protect the sea turtles. The second time was a sunset cruise (sunset on the way back) from somewhere near Poipu I think.

I spent 40 years in the SF Bay Area and my cousins have spent their whole lives there. We “played tourist” all the time. My relatives who lived in the redwood forest in the Sonoma wine country would spend a week every year in SF pretending to be tourists, even though they grew up running wild in SF.

Koolau, you should try playing tourist in your own state. Whale watching in Maui in January, Volcanoes National Park and night snorkeling with the manta rays on the big island, scuba diving in the lava tubes off the coast of Kauai, where you can see a hundred sea turtles and huge moray eels just 20-30 feet underwater. And there is nothing more awe inspiring than seeing the Na Pali coast by boat, especially a sunset cruise on a catamaran.

I’ve seen a number of the prettiest places in the western states, but just a few here in the east. We need to take more road trips, I think.

 

[Koolau]

We took a boat tour along the Na Pali coast twice. The first time was a zodiac boat from Hanalei Bay, until they halted most boats their to protect the sea turtles. The second time was a sunset cruise (sunset on the way back) from somewhere near Poipu I think.

I spent 40 years in the SF Bay Area and my cousins have spent their whole lives there. We “played tourist” all the time. My relatives who lived in the redwood forest in the Sonoma wine country would spend a week every year in SF pretending to be tourists, even though they grew up running wild in SF.

Koolau, you should try playing tourist in your own state. Whale watching in Maui in January, Volcanoes National Park and night snorkeling with the manta rays on the big island, scuba diving in the lava tubes off the coast of Kauai, where you can see a hundred sea turtles and huge moray eels just 20-30 feet underwater. And there is nothing more awe inspiring than seeing the Na Pali coast by boat, especially a sunset cruise on a catamaran.

I’ve seen a number of the prettiest places in the western states, but just a few here in the east. We need to take more road trips, I think.

Yeah, we actually did all that back when we really WERE tourists. We visited Hawaii (four islands in total) over 12 different trips. In total, we spent 6 months in the Islands before we decided to settle there.

Having said that, we still take a few days a year and play tourist - mostly on Oahu, but every couple of years on another Island.

 

[Chuckanut]

Yeah, gotta agree about the Na Pali coast on Kauai being number 1 in the Islands. I live a hundred miles away and have only seen it once. I hope I can go back one more time. Now, having said that, there must be 25 places within Hawaii that rank in 2nd place in the state! YMMV

Only 100 miles away is an easy day trip. Get in the car and go.

 

[Librarian]

Hmmmm....

Was excited to see this list.
We have a handful of states left to visit & North Dakota is one--wasn't seeing a reason to visit.
Uh....THAT is the most beautiful place in ND??!!
Makes me even less interested in visiting...
It's a 6 hour drive to the border...maybe just drive up & drive back!

 

[Koolau]

Only 100 miles away is an easy day trip. Get in the car and go.

As soon as they get the bridge done, baby, we'll do that.

 

[clifp]

As soon as they get the bridge done, baby, we'll do that.

Or the ferry right

Other than Kauai, I've actually done most of the tourist things on the islands.
And darn near everything on Oahu. The nice thing about being retired is when friends come to visit, I don't really have an excuse to say no, and we kama'aina (locals) get a discount.

 

[Koolau]

Or the ferry right

Other than Kauai, I've actually done most of the tourist things on the islands.
And darn near everything on Oahu. The nice thing about being retired is when friends come to visit, I don't really have an excuse to say no, and we kama'aina (locals) get a discount.

Heh, heh, most folks here don't get the irony of your comment about the ferry. A ferry to Kauai (and Maui) actually did exist for a brief moment. The environmentalists quickly killed it. A few folks on Kauai made a point of floating on surf boards near the dock on Kauai, making it impossible for the ferry to dock. I can't recall the Maui story, but it was one of those great ideas that a few people were able to kill - because they could. Even got the HI Supreme Court to finish it off. But, I'm not bitter!

Here's what it looked like - You could take your car for a reasonable price - thus not needing to rent a car with all the hassle and expense. YMMV

https://mauiguide.com/hawaii-superferry/

 

[sadie1958]

Agree with Tahoe and Crater Lake remarks.



Would not want to miss Yellowstone Park, nor the hikes of NH White Mountains or Camel's Hump in Vermont.

 

[RVplusDog]

Ahhh for NorthCarolina we far prefer the Land of Waterfalls - a swath of temperate rain forest with steep gorges yielding thousands of gorgeous waterfalls