Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

It's not just a famous backdrop for insurance commercials and Alfred Hitchcock classics. Mount Rushmore, located about 35 miles outside of Rapid City in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, also offers nature walks, sculpture workshops and seminars, educational lectures, and evening memorial lightings. And of course, there are always the awe-inspiring photo opportunities with the larger-than-life busts of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. There is a $10 fee to park at the site.

(Photo: Ed Menard Ranger/nps.gov)