16 Epic Places in the United States Even Americans Don't Know About

When Anna Hyatt Huntington was looking for a place to showcase her sculptures, she and husband Archer Milton Huntington came across the 9,100-acre property that would become Brookgreen Gardens. Located in Georgetown County, South Carolina, the gardens were originally one of four rice plantations that the couple purchased. The Huntingtons first visited the property in 1929, and Brookgreen Gardens opened in 1932 as the country’s first public sculpture garden. The property features themed gardens with figurative sculptures, a small zoo, and a nature exhibition center.
Brookgreen Gardens, 1931 Brookgreen Garden Dr, Murrells Inlet, SC, USA, +1 843 235 6000

Brookgreen Gardens | © Rain0975 / Flickr

Deep inside a mountain in east Tennessee is The Lost Sea, part of the historic Craighead Caverns cave system and listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as America’s largest underground lake. The Lost Sea was first discovered by settlers in the 1820s, again by Confederate soldiers in 1863, and once more in 1905 by a 13-year old boy named Ben Sands: as he wiggled through the cave’s muddy opening, 300 feet (91.4 meters) underground, he found himself in a room half filled with water. He described how he threw mudballs into the blackness that surrounded him, and hear nothing but splashes. The expansiveness of the Lost Sea is still unknown, but the visible part is 800 feet long by 220 feet wide (244 by 67 feet). More than 13 acres of water have been mapped, but no end to the lake has yet been found.
The Lost Sea, 140 Lost Sea Rd, Sweetwater, TN, USA, +1 423 337 6616

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The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world. The earliest records of the spring are from European explorers from the 1800s who crossed the Midway Geyser Basin and noted a “boiling lake.” The bright rainbow colors of the spring are the result of microbial mats around the edges of the water, which is rich in minerals. Grand Prismatic Spring discharges about 560 gallons (2120 liters) of water per minute.
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA, +1 307 344 7381

Grand Prismatic Spring | © Kyla Duhamel / Flickr

Composed of over 16 million bricks, Fort Jefferson is the largest brick masonry structure in America and is located within the Dry Tortugas National Park, about 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. The unfinished coastal fortress can be reached by ferry, approximately 70 miles (112.65 kilometers) west from Key West, and visitors generally spend several hours here. The fort has a museum and bookstore, and it allows swimming and snorkeling on the reef. The fort was named after President Thomas Jefferson and was constructed in part by civilian carpenters, general laborers, and Key West slaves employed by the United States Army.
Fort Jefferson, Key West, FL, USA, +1 305 242 7700

Fort Jefferson in Key West. Florida | © Russell Conard / Flickr

In the southernmost part of Illinois is the Cache River State Natural Area, situated within a floodplain carved by glacial floodwater from the Ohio River. The wetlands in the area are so vital to migrating waterfowl that the Ramsar Convention designated them a Wetland of International Importance, alongside only 18 other wetlands in the U.S. Many of the cypress trees in the area’s 14,960 acres are over 1,000 years old and exceed 40 feet (12.2 meters) in circumference. Visitors can enjoy several recreational activities, such as hiking, canoeing, biking, and fishing.
Cache River State Natural Area, 930 Sunflower Ln, Belknap, IL, USA, +1 618 657 2064

Cache River State Natural Area | © Miguel Vieira / Flickr

More than 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats call Bracken Cave, the largest bat colony is the in the world, home during the summer, less than 20 miles from downtown San Antonio. The bats fly nearly 1,000 miles from Mexico to the cave, and between March and October, they emerge in the evening hours to hunt insects and moths that are pushed away from crops by the wind. Access to the cave is restricted, but Bat Conservation International does offer evening tours to watch the bats emerge from the cave.
Bracken Cave, 26101 FM3009, San Antonio, TX, USA

Bracken Cave bats | © Daniel Spieiss / Flickr

Plaza Blanca was made famous by the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. The artist visited the area in 1929 and was amazed by the lights and shapes she found in the New Mexico desert. She discovered the outcroppings of dark rock, which she called “Black Place” and inspired her Black Mesa Landscape piece. In 1940, she painted an oil canvas that was inspired by Plaza Blanca, which she called The White Place. She eventually made the nearby Abiquiu her home. The Dar Al Islam Education Center and Mosque, which currently contains Plaza Blanca, is privately owned but does allow visitors access.
Dar Al Islam Education Center and Mosque, 342 County Rd 155, Abiquiu, NM, USA

Plaza Blanca | © Larry Lamsa / Flickr

The rock formations at Garden of the Gods—first called Red Rock Corral by the Europeans until August 1859, when two surveyors explored the site and decided it was a “fit place for the gods to assemble,”—were created millions of years ago during a geological upheaval along a fault line. The fountain formation of the rocks is the result of coarse sand, gravel, and silica combining with the hematite, which gives the rocks their red color. Many American Indian Nations have traveled through Garden of the Gods, and petroglyphs found have been linked to the early Utes. The steep rock formations in the park attract rock climbers.
Garden of the Gods, 1805 N 30th St, Colorado Springs, CO, USA, +1 719 634 6666

Garden of the Gods | © Mark Byzewski / Flickr