Author: HasenChat US

Wyoming is a western U.S. state defined by vast plains and the Rocky Mountains. Its famed Yellowstone National Park, a nearly 3,500-sq.-mile wilderness recreation area, is home to hundreds of animal species, dramatic canyons and alpine rivers. The park’s gushing geysers include the iconic Old Faithful. To the south is Grand Teton National Park, known for backcountry skiing areas, forested trails and Snake River.

Capital: Cheyenne

Wisconsin is a midwestern U.S. state with coastlines on 2 Great Lakes (Michigan and Superior) and an interior of forests and farms. Milwaukee, the largest city, is known for the Milwaukee Public Museum, with its numerous re-created international villages, and the Harley-Davidson Museum, displaying classic motorcycles. Several beer companies are based in Milwaukee, and many offer brewery tours.

Capital: Madison

West Virginia is an eastern U.S. state in the tree-covered Appalachian Mountains. The town of Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah River meets the Potomac River, is the site of a famous Civil War–era raid. Surrounded by a national historical park, the town looks as it did in the 19th century, with many of the buildings open to the public as living-history museums.

Capital: Charleston

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest with terrain spanning the snow-capped Cascade Mountains to forested islands in Puget Sound. Its largest city, Seattle, is known for its thriving tech industry, vibrant music scene and famed coffeehouses. Its landmarks include the futuristic Space Needle, century-old Pike Place Market and Seattle Aquarium. Innovative glass art is displayed at Chihuly Garden & Glass.

Capital: Olympia

Virginia, a southeastern U.S. state, stretches from the Chesapeake Bay to the Appalachian Mountains, with a long Atlantic coastline. It’s one of the 13 original colonies, with historic landmarks including Monticello, founding father Thomas Jefferson’s iconic Charlottesville plantation. The Jamestown Settlement and Colonial Williamsburg are living-history museums reenacting Colonial and Revolutionary-era life.

Capital: Richmond

Vermont is a state in the northeastern United States, known for its natural landscape, which is primarily forested. Part of the New England region, it’s also known for being home to more than 100 19th-century covered wooden bridges, and as a major producer of maple syrup. Thousands of acres of mountain terrain are crossed by hiking trails and skiing slopes.

Capital: Montpelier

Utah is a western U.S. state defined by its vast expanses of desert and the Wasatch Range mountains. Salt Lake City, the capital, is centered around Temple Square, headquarters of the Mormon Church and site of its majestic temple and tabernacle, with its massive dome and renowned choir. The Great Salt Lake’s buoyant waters attract swimmers and sunbathers, especially at Antelope Island State Park.

Capital: Salt Lake City

Texas is a large state in the southern U.S. with deserts, pine forest and the Rio Grande, a river that forms its border with Mexico. In its biggest city, Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts houses works by well-known Impressionist and Renaissance painters, while Space Center Houston offers interactive displays engineered by NASA. Austin, the capital, is known for its eclectic music scene and LBJ Presidential Library.

Capital: Austin

Tennessee is a landlocked state in the U.S. South. Its capital, centrally located Nashville, is the heart of the country-music scene, with the long-running Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and a legendary stretch of honky-tonks and dance halls. Memphis, in the far southwest, is the home of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, rock-and-roll pioneering Sun Studio and the blues clubs of Beale Street.

Capital: Nashville

South Dakota is an expansive, sparsely populated midwestern U.S. state where rolling prairies give way to the dramatic Black Hills National Forest. Black Hills is home to 2 historical monuments carved right into towering granite peaks: Mt. Rushmore, the iconic depiction of 4 revered U.S. presidents, and Crazy Horse Memorial, a tribute to the storied Native American tribal leader.

Capital: Pierre

South Carolina is a southeastern U.S. state known for its shoreline of subtropical beaches and marshlike sea islands. Coastal Charleston is a historic city, defined by pastel-colored houses, Old South plantations and Fort Sumter, where the Civil War’s opening shots were fired. To the north is the Grand Strand, a roughly 60-mile stretch of beachfront known for golf courses and the vacation town Myrtle Beach.

Capital: Columbia

Rhode Island, a U.S. state in New England, is known for sandy shores and seaside Colonial towns. It’s home to several large cities, including Newport, which is famed for sailing and Gilded Age mansions, such as The Breakers. Providence, its capital, is home to Brown University, green Roger Williams Park, landscaped Waterplace Park and Riverwalk, with the famed WaterFire art installation.

Capital: Providence

Pennsylvania, a northeastern U.S. state and one of the 13 original colonies, has a diverse terrain, which includes wide stretches of farmland, national forests and mountains. Philadelphia, the Keystone State’s largest city, displays its rich history in Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed) and the Liberty Bell, an enduring symbol of American freedom.

Capital: Harrisburg

Oregon is a coastal U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest known for its diverse landscape of forests, mountains, farms and beaches. The city of Portland is famed for its quirky, avant-garde culture and is home to iconic coffee shops, boutiques, farm-to-table restaurants and microbreweries. Highlights include the Native American art in the Portland Art Museum, the Japanese Garden and the Lan Su Chinese Garden.

Capital: Salem

Oklahoma is a midwestern U.S. state whose diverse landscape includes the Great Plains, hills lakes and forests. Oklahoma City, the capital, is home to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, recognizing the state’s pioneer history, and the Bricktown entertainment district, popular for dining and nightlife. The poignant Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum commemorates the bombing here in 1995.

Capital: Oklahoma City

Ohio is a midwestern U.S. state stretching from the Ohio River and Appalachian Mountains in the south to Lake Erie in the north. On the shores of the lake is the city of Cleveland, site of the Cleveland Museum of Art and its renowned collection of European paintings and especially Asian art. Cleveland is also home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and close to expansive Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Capital: Columbus

North Dakota is a midwestern U.S. state dominated by the Great Plains. Its eastern city of Fargo showcases Native American and modern art at the Plains Art Museum. The area’s immigrant history is honored at the Scandinavian Heritage Association in the city of Minot. The Great Plains give way to the rugged Badlands near the border with Montana, where Theodore Roosevelt National Park spans the Little Missouri River.

Capital: Bismarck

North Carolina is a southeastern U.S. state with a landscape ranging from Atlantic Ocean beaches to the Appalachian Mountains. Charlotte, the state’s largest city, is home to the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and museums such as the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The state motto (“First in Flight”) honors the Wright Brothers, who flew their first plane in Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks, barrier islands lined with popular beaches.

Capital: Raleigh

New York is a state in the northeastern U.S., known for New York City and towering Niagara Falls. NYC’s island of Manhattan is home to the Empire State Building, Times Square and Central Park. The Brooklyn Bridge connects Manhattan with the borough of Brooklyn. The iconic Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor. To the east, Long Island has beaches, the Montauk Lighthouse, the ritzy Hamptons and Fire Island.

Capital: Albany

New Mexico is a southwestern U.S. state whose diverse terrain encompasses the Chihuahuan Desert and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Its capital, Santa Fe, founded in 1610, is known for upscale spas and Spanish colonial architecture. It’s also home to a vibrant arts scene, as well as the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, featuring the artist’s iconic New Mexican landscape paintings, and the open-air Santa Fe Opera.

Capital: Santa Fe

New Jersey is a northeastern U.S. state with some 130 miles of Atlantic coast. Jersey City, across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan, is the site of Liberty State Park, where ferries embark for nearby Ellis Island, with its historic Immigration Museum, and the iconic Statue of Liberty. The Jersey Shore includes notable resort towns like historic Asbury Park and Cape May, with its preserved Victorian buildings.

Capital: Trenton

New Hampshire, a U.S. state in New England, is defined by its quaint towns and large expanses of wilderness. In the north, White Mountain National Forest is known for winter sports areas and Mt. Washington, the region’s highest peak, with a cog railway to its summit. Also in the White Mountains are moose, black bears and part of the Appalachian Trail.

Capital: Concord

Nevada is a western U.S. state defined by its great expanses of desert, and by the 24-hour casinos and entertainment for which its largest city, Las Vegas, is famed. Las Vegas is home to elaborate theme hotels and luxury resorts that line its main thoroughfare, the Las Vegas Strip. The city’s also home to museums such as the Mob Museum, extravagant live shows and upscale shopping malls and restaurants.

Capital: Carson City