The most photogenic road trip landmarks in America

This land is your land, this land is my land...and it looks way, way cooler in person than it does on a postcard. In honor of the unofficial Summer of the American Road Trip, we rounded up the most eye-popping sights in the nation that are worth a drive—from Savannah to Washington. Instagrammers, start your engines.

You can have a whale of a good time road tripping to this 1893 oceanfront lighthouse, among the best kept secrets on the Oregon coast. Perched on craggy, 1,000-foot-tall misty seafront cliffs at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint, the lighthouse’s beams shed light on the waters as far away as 21 miles into the Pacific. Want to stay a while? Book a room in the assistant lightkeeper’s house, also built in 1893, and now a six-room B&B with a daily wine and cheese hour featuring Oregon-made nibbles and tipples.

Yes, you’ve probably seen #horseshoebend on Instagram—it has no less than 634,000 posts as of press time. Why? The snaking ribbon of Colorado River tucked within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is so jaw-dropping, it could have been conjured by a Hollywood cinematographer. And as natty park overlooks go, it’s incredibly easy to access—just a 1.5 mile, flat, easygoing hike from the trailhead. BYO sunscreen.

It’s no surprise this 480-acre free Colorado Springs park has earned a divine moniker: the red, pink and white sandstone towers that jut up to 300 feet from verdant earth here are nothing less than otherworldly. Locals arrive at 5 a.m. to explore the monoliths with nary a tourist in sight; be sure to stop in for breakfast at Bean Sprouts, where the menu includes house-made hibiscus lemonade and pancake ‘puffadoodles’ with organic jam.

Going out of your way to see a sawmill sounds like the start of a bad joke. But this place, the pride of Eau Claire, is well worth a road-trip detour, because it straddles a rushing waterfall—part of a dam built from Dells Mill Pond for the water-powered grist mill itself. Built in 1864 in the midst of the Civil War, it’s an ode to ingenuity. Be sure to stop in the town of Eau Claire itself for a scoop at Olson’s Ice Cream, opened in 1944, where flavors include Mackinac Island Fudge and Cotton Candy Confetti.

Secret watering holes are a Texas staple, and they don’t get more iconic than this turquoise pond in a box canyon, encircled by a natural stone grotto and fed by a 50-foot waterfall. (Fittingly, it’s actually located in the town of “Dripping Springs,” a 40-minute drive from Austin.) Keep an eye out for pink and yellow chatterbox orchids and golden-cheeked warblers in the surrounding 30,428-acre preserve, and check the website ahead of time if you want to swim—recent falling rocks have caused local authorities to shutter the pool aspect for the current season (we blame 2020).

Touted as the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks, this wending sandstone-walled gorge is, yes, gorge-ous—especially its circa 1932 AuSable Chasm Bridge, a steel arch that perfectly frames the adjacent Rainbow Falls. While you’re here, you can take a lantern tour 150 foot deep into the canyon or hop a raft over whitewater. Indoorsy types will enjoy stopping in at the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, where you can trace the stories of enslaved people like John Thomas, who navigated his way to freedom and eventually had his own farm in the surrounding Adirondacks.

Long before its star turn in “Thelma and Louise,” the land the Navajo’s call Tse’Bii’Ndzisgaii was more than cinematic, thanks to its 1,000-foot-high sandstone pillars. Now a 91,696-acre park helmed by Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation, it’s over-the-top enchanting—and the place to splurge on a starry night sky photo tour to pin down the Milky Way for your ‘gram.

Fans of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” will want to beeline to this 1733 allée of live oak trees laden with thick, luxuriant Spanish moss. The tree-lined drive feels like it goes on forever at 2.3 miles; we highly recommend a convertible to sop up the full effect. Sick of driving? Stop by Savannah’s 1938 Art Deco Greyhound Bus station...not to ride, but for a topnotch dinner in at The Grey, a sceney restaurant whipped up by Chef Mashama Bailey (don’t miss the brown sugar tart with candied pecans, bourbon milk and chantilly cream for dessert).

Yes, it looks like it could be Iceland. But this 200-foot-waterfall streams from within the jagged panorama of 94-acre Palouse Falls State Park in Washington, about a four hour road trip east of Seattle (go in spring or early summer to see the waterfall at full flow). It’s a must for anyone who wants to feel young—because it was formed in the fathomless Lake Missoula floods during the Ice Age, some 13,000 years ago.