This secluded aqua waterfall in the Grand Canyon is the perfect swimming hole, and the Havasupai tribe's fiercely protected natural wonder.

In a largely deserted ghost town, a little brick building recalls its history as a gold rush hub and haven for outlaws.

A nature and cultural preserve named for its multitude of petroglyphs carved by the Northern Sinagua people.

The eroded core of an ancient volcano is now accessible by a short hike.

The old Route 66 town straddling Texas and New Mexico died along with the Main Street of America.

This 4,000-foot-diameter hole is touted as "the most well known, best preserved meteorite crater on Earth."

The hike through a narrow river flanked by the 2,000-foot-tall walls of Zion Canyon is one of the best in the world.

The unusual patterns in this rock formation result from two distinct modes of weathering.

A mysterious spirit totem at the edge of Navajo lands.

Witnessing the might of this dessert-colored desert waterfall is a rare, powerful treat.

These elusive, isolated rodents evolved into a distinct, locally iconic subspecies.

One man handcrafts "the best sake made outside of Japan" in a tiny desert town on Route 66.

Rippling sand dunes frozen in the Arizona rock.

A museum in rural Utah documents the history of the Japanese Americans who were forcibly relocated there.

Eat burgers beneath gargantuan taxidermy and thousands of dollar bills in Utah's oldest continuously-operating bar.

A clear blue swimming hole with hidden caves, still unexplored.

This quiet park's strange sedimentary spires were named after Kodak's color film.

A home base for Judy Chicago, one of America's leading radical feminist artists.

Most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest.

A frozen oasis lies beneath the scorching New Mexico desert.

The official atomic museum of the United States explores the explosive and productive history of a much maligned energy source.

If drivers cross the rumble strip on this stretch of Route 66 at just the right speed it plays "America the Beautiful."

The home of famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle is now a library and museum dedicated to his memory.

A burnt-out motel with priceless Native American artwork in the basement, redeveloped into apartments.