Five Places to Take Pictures in All 50 U.S. States

The “Great American Road Trip” is a dream shared by many, myself included. So I got to thinking about what I would like to do if I were to visit every state in the U.S. There are obviously too many great things in this country for one person to photograph everything in-depth during one lifetime so I came up with the idea for this blog post – Five Places to Take Pictures in All 50 U.S. States. This would still be quite an undertaking but probably attainable for most people with careful planning and resources.

Coming up with five places to photograph in every state was not as easy as I had initially thought so in addition to personal experience it required me to do some research on state tourism websites, Trip Advisor, stock photography websites, Google Images, Smithsonian guide books and soliciting feedback from other photographers both on this blog and on a popular nature photography forum. In California for instance, you pick five places but then there are another ten places that it pains you to leave out, not to mention that none of the 21 California Missions would have even made my top ten. Then when I got to the North Dakota section I was left grasping for straws. Not to pick on North Dakota as I’m sure a good photographer can find interesting subject matter there but that requires a bit more research and creativity than postcard-friendly states like Arizona.

This list is based on my interests which are landscapes, history and American culture. With that in mind, hopefully you can get a few ideas from this post and maybe you have some ideas that I had overlooked or completely missed the mark on. Here we go:

Alabama

1. U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville
2. Cheaha Mountain, Talladega Scenic Drive
3. Gulf Shores
4. USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, Mobile
5. Old Alabama Town, Montgomery

Alaska

1. Denali National Park
2. Aialik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park
3. Silver Salmon Creek, Lake Clark National Park
4. McNeil River State Game Sanctuary
5. Caribou migration, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arizona

1. Grand Canyon National Park
2. Monument Valley, Navajo Nation
3. Cathedral Rock, Sedona
4. The Wave, Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness
5. Antelope Canyon, Navajo Nation – Suggested by Shivakumar Shankar

Arkansas

1. Hot Springs National Park
2. Buffalo National River
3. Ozark Folk Center State Park
4. William J. Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock
5. Old Washington State Historic Park

California

1. Yosemite Valley except during summer
2. Big Sur, Pacific Coast Highway from San Luis Obispo to Monterey
3. Golden Gate Bridge scenic view from Marin Headlands
4. Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve during spring bloom
5. Eastern Sierra during fall season

Colorado

1. Maroon Bells from Maroon Lake
2. Rocky Mountain National Park
3. Great Sand Dunes National Park – Suggested by Stan Rose
4. Mesa Verde National Park cliff dwellings
5. Dinosaur National Monument

Connecticut

1. Yale University, New Haven
2. Stonington Borough
3. Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center
4. Wadsworth Falls State Park
5. Mystic Seaport – Suggested by David Leland Hyde

Delaware

1. Cape Henlopen State Park
2. Delaware State Capitol, Dover
3. Delaware Breakwater End End Lighthouse
4. Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington
5. Fort Delaware State Park

Florida

1. Everglades National Park
2. South Beach, Miami
3. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island
4. Key West – Suggested by David Leland Hyde
5. Kennedy Space Center

Georgia

1. Stone Mountain
2. Amicalola Falls State Park - Suggested by Marcus Taylor
3. Savannah
4. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Atlanta
5. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta

Hawaii

1. Lava flows at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
2. USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor
3. Waimea Canyon, Kauai Island
4. Na Pali Coast State Park, Kauai Island
5. Hawaiian Luau

Idaho

1. East Fork Owyhee River
2. Sawtooth National Recreation Area
3. Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
4. Craters of the Moon National Monument
5. Shoshone Falls, Twin Falls

Illinois

1. Cloud Gate at Millenium Park, Chicago
2. The Field Museum, Chicago
3. Scenic views from John Hancock Observatory, Chicago
4. Shawnee National Forest – Suggested by Beth Summer and Bruce Palla
   
5. Mississippi Palisades State Park

Indiana

1. Clifty Falls State Park
2. Falls of the Ohio State Park (incl. Louisville skyline)
3. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
4. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
5. Downtown Madison

Iowa

1. Roseman Bridge, Madison County
2. Pella Historical Village during Tulip Time in May
3. Seed Savers Heritage Farm, Decorah
4. Pikes Peak State Park
5. Effigy Mounds National Monument

Kansas

1. Monument Rocks
2. Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum, Abilene
3. Storm Chasing
4. Botanica, Wichita
5. Old Cowtown Museum, Wichita

Kentucky

1. Red River Gorge Geological Area
2. Cumberland Falls State Park
3. Mammoth Cave National Park
4. Bernheim Arboretum and Forest during fall season
5. Natural Bridge State Resort Park

Louisiana

1. Jackson Square, New Orleans
2. Natchitoches
3. Preservation Hall, New Orleans
4. Lake Martin cypress swamps
5. The Atchafalaya Experience Swamp Tour, LaFayette

Maine

1. Bar Harbor
2. Portland Head Lighthouse, Cape Elizabeth
3. Baxter State Park during fall season
4. Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, during fall season
5. Otter Cliff, Acadia National Park

Maryland

1. Great Falls, Potomac River
2. Antietam National Battlefield
3. Ocean City Beach
4. Fort McHenry National Monument
5. National Aquarium, Baltimore

Massachusetts

1. Motif #1, Rockport
2. Cape Cod National Seashore
3. Old North Bridge, Minute Man National Historic Park
4. Harvard University, Cambridge
5. Gay Head Cliffs, Martha’s Vineyard

Michigan

1. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Lake Superior
2. Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Upper Peninsula
3. Isle Royale National Park
4. Mackinac Island
5. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore – Suggested by Mark Graf

Minnesota

1. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – Suggested by Dave Taylor
2. Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul
3. Gooseberry Falls State Park – Suggested by Beth Wold
4. Voyageurs National Park
5. Lake Itasca (Beginning of the Mississippi River)

Mississippi

1. Antebellum mansions, Natchez
2. Vicksburg National Military Park
3. Mississippi State Capitol, Jackson
4. Natchez Trace Parkway
5. Davis Bayou, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Missouri

1. The Gateway Arch, Saint Louis
2. Mark Twain Cave, Hannibal
3. Mark Twain Boyhood Home, Hannibal
4. Onondaga Cave State Park
5. Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Lake of the Ozarks

Montana

1. St. Mary Lake, Glacier National Park
2. Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park – Suggested by Gerry Menezes
3. Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
4. Lewis and Clark Trail
5. Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park

Nebraska

1. Platte River Valley sandhill crane migration
2. Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln
3. Scotts Bluff National Monument
4. Toadstool Geologic Park, Oglala National Grassland
5. Cornhusker Stadium, Lincoln, on Saturdays during fall season

Nevada

1. Red Rock Canyon
2. Bellagio water fountains, Las Vegas
3. Valley of Fire State Park
4. Reno Arch / “The Biggest Little City in the World” sign
5. Black Rock Desert

New Hampshire

1. Old Man of the Mountain, White Mountain, (profile collapsed in 2003)
2. Mount Washington (the windiest place in the U.S.)
3. Hanover (Home of Dartmouth University and named second best place to live in America)
4. Flume Gorge
5. Canterbury Shaker Village

New Jersey

1. New York City skyline view from Weehawken Bluffs – Suggested by Peter Bennett
2. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
3. Barnegat Lighthouse, Long Beach Island – Suggested by “Scott”
4. Princeton University
5. Sandy Hook

New Mexico

1. Taos Pueblo
2. White Sands National Monument
3. Carlsbad Caverns National Park – Suggested by Gerry Menezes
4. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge during winter sandhill crane migration
5. Santa Fe Plaza

New York

1. The Statue of Liberty
2. Central Park, Manhattan – Suggested by Luke Ormand
3. National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown
4. Niagara Falls – Suggested by “Scott”
5. High Peaks Region, Adirondack Mountains – Suggested by Robert Rodriguez Jr.

North Carolina

1. Grandfather Mountain
2. Linville Gorge
3. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Outer Banks
4. Whitewater Falls, Jocassee Gorge
5. The Elizabethan Gardens, Roanoke Island

North Dakota

1. Theodore Roosevelt National Park
2. North Dakota State Fair, Minot
3. North Dakota State Capitol – “The Skyscraper on the Prairie”, Bismarck
4. KVLY-TV mast, Blanchard, 2nd tallest manmade structure in the world
5. Cross Ranch State Park

Ohio

1. Cuyahoga Valley National Park
2. Amish Country
3. National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton
4. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
5. Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton

Oklahoma

1. Oklahoma National Stockyards, Oklahoma City
2. Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
3. National Route 66 Museum, Elk City
4. Storm Chasing
5. Gloss Mountain State Park

Oregon

1. Crown Point, Columbia River Gorge
2. Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge
3. Bandon Beach
4. Crater Lake National Park
5. Ecola State Park

Pennsylvania

1. Gettysburg National Military Park
2. Liberty Bell, Philadelphia
3. Independence Hall, Philadelphia
4. Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square
5. Lancaster County / “Pennsylvania Dutch Country”

Rhode Island

1. Rhode Island State Capitol, Providence
2. The Breakers Mansion, Newport, also include the Cliff Walk
3. Mohegan Bluffs, Block Island
4. WaterFire, Providence
5. Rose Island Lighthouse, Newport – Suggested by Hali Sowle

South Carolina

1. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston
2. Congaree National Park
3. Middleton Place, Charleston
4. Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Mount Pleasant
5. Fort Sumter National Monument

South Dakota

1. Mount Rushmore National Monument
2. Crazy Horse Monument
3. Wall Drug
4. Corn Palace, Mitchell
5. Badlands National Park

Tennessee

1. Graceland, Memphis
2. Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
3. Live music at Beale Street, Memphis
4. Roan Mountain rhododendron blooms
5. Big South Fork of the Cumberland River

Texas

1. Texas Hill Country wildflowers
2. Palo Duro Canyon State Park – Suggested by Derrick Birdsall
3. The Alamo, San Antonio
4. Big Bend National Park
5. Bats Under Congress Avenue Bridge, Austin (summer evenings)

Utah

1. Delicate Arch, Arches National Park
2. The Narrows, Zion National Park
3. The Subway, Zion National Park
4. Thor’s Hammer, Bryce Canyon National Park
5. Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park

Vermont

1. During fall season
2. Appalachian Trail
3. Green Mountains – Suggested by David Leland Hyde
4. Hildene – The Lincoln Family Home, Manchester
5. Vermont State House, Montpelier

Virginia

1. Arlington National Cemetery
2. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville
3. Shenandoah National Park fall colors
4. Great Falls
5. Manassas National Battlefield Park

Washington

1. Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park
2. Mount Rainier
3. Pike Place Market, Seattle
4. Mount St. Helens
5. 2nd Beach, Olympic National Park

West Virginia

1. New River Gorge
2. Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park, during fall season
3. Harpers Ferry National Historic Park
4. Sandstone Falls
5. Dolly Sods Wilderness during fall season

Wisconsin

1. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
2. Harley Davidson Museum, Milwaukie
3. Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison
4. Door County, during fall season – Suggested by Greg Lato
5. Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison

Wyoming

1. Upper Geyser Basin (including Old Faithful Geyser), Yellowstone National Park
2. Snake River Overlook, Grand Teton National Park
3. Cody Nite Rodeo (June – August only)
4. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park
5. Devils Tower National Monument

Note: I haven’t been to all of these locations so I would recommend checking ahead of time to make sure you can take photos at these places. Last updated: August 28, 2012.