20 USA Places We Want to Visit
This is the first article we’ve written about places we have yet to visit.
Over the past two years we’ve planned enough trips to keep ourselves busy until 2030 — No joke. We’ve created 15 detailed itineraries, anywhere from two weeks to four months in length. Some of them are to foreign countries, but most of them are right here in the United States.
What follows are the top 20 USA Places we’ll try to visit over the next 7 years. These locations are not listed in any particular order. Some of them we have definite plans to visit. Others are something we’ll try to work into our travel nursing assignments.
It should go without saying that none of these photos are ours.
1. Yosemite National Park
The Granddaddy of all National Parks and perhaps the most visually stunning place in the United States. Our plan is to visit here in the summer of 2025.
2. Newport, Rhode Island — USA Places to Visit
The sailing capital of the U.S. and home to some of the most opulent mansions in our country. We were going to visit here in fall of 2024, but plans changed.
3. Makinac Island, Michigan
Imagine going back in time to a place where there are no automobiles. Where everyone gets around on bicycles and horse-drawn buggies. Mackinac Island is that place. Found in UP Michigan.
4. Clearwater, Florida — USA Places to Visit
Clearwater is on the Gulf side of Florida, just west of Tampa Bay. We’ve heard it’s perhaps the best beach in the USA and that has our full attention. Plan to visit in 2026.
5. White Mountains of New Hampshire
I’m not sure why I’m so fascinated with this region of New Hampshire, but I’m drawn here. Lots of hiking, scenic byways, railroad tours, and State Parks. No plans to visit at this time.
6. Glacier National Park
Another National Park I’m dying to see. We’ll visit for a week in the summer of 2026 after spending time in Banff, then we’re headed to Yellowstone and Teton. This is my favorite planned vacay.
7. Ouray/Telluride, Colorado — USA Places to Visit
A couple of box canyons in SW Colorado boast waterfalls and an assortment of fourteener peaks. Looking forward to seeing Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, too.
8. Smokey Mountains, Tennessee
Gatlinburg and Great Smokey Mountain National Park would take weeks to truly experience. So we’re going to spend two weeks here in June of 2024.
9. Kauai, Hawaiian Islands
Of the main four Hawaiian Islands, this is the one we’ve yet to visit. We were married on Maui, spent our 10th anniversary on Oahu, our 15th on the Big Island, and will visit Kauai for our 20th in May 2026.
10. Acadia National Park
The hiking in Acadia N.P. is tremendous and we plan on coming here in the Autumn. Which Autumn we aren’t sure. The plan was to visit Acadia, Newport, R.I., and the White Mountains of New Hampshire next fall. To be continued…
11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — USA Places to Visit
Yeah, it’s run down and most folks complain about it. I’m just here for the history. And the Rocky statue. And the cheesesteaks. Hopefully the VA will send us here. No plans right now.
12. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
There is a gorgeous shoreline along the Michigan coast of Lake Superior along which people kayak. We want to be those people. We had planned to visit last spring, but went another direction. We’ll see…
13. Corolla, North Carolina
We love Nicholas Sparks (well, Monica does), so we love the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Corolla sits at the northern most tip of the islands. No plans to visit now, but we’ll end up here soon enough.
14. Grand Teton National Park
Another ridiculously gorgeous National Park we’ve yet to experience. Can’t wait to hike around this place in the summer of 2026.
15. Central Oregon — USA Places to Visit
We’re from Washington State but we’ve never hung out in Central Oregon. Headed from Mt. Hood to Bend to Crater Lake, we’ll spend ten days trolling along in the summer of 2025.
16. Boundary Waters, Minnesota
We spent 8 days on the North Shore Scenic Drive of Minnesota last Spring and left having not visited the Boundary Waters. Would love to organize a canoe trip with a group of friends in the future.
17. Saint Augustine, Florida — USA Places to Visit
St. Augustine is considered the oldest city in the USA and is home to the fabled Fountain of Youth. Oh, and it has beaches. We will visit in 2026 right before we hit up Clearwater.
18. Nashville, Tennessee
We just wanna hear live country music in the mecca of live country music. I guess we wanna do other things, too. Can’t wait to visit in June 2024.
19. Universal Studios, Florida
We’ve been to Magic Mountain and Cedar Point, the two biggest roller coaster parks in the USA. Next January we’re hitting up Universal Studios to complete the triumvirate.
20. Shiprock, New Mexico — USA Places to Visit
I’ve been drawn to this otherworldly monolith ever since I drove past it three years ago. I can’t get it out of my head and must walk around it to stop the voices. I’ll see you in October, Shiprock.
A Few Other USA Places to Visit
Assateague / Chincoteague
Wild Horses on a Delaware Beach? We’re there.
Manitou Springs, Colorado — USA Places to Visit
Tons of stuff to do in this mountain town outside Colorado Springs. Manitou Incline might be our death.
The Sacred Grove, Upstate New York
This is a sacred sight for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Lake Tahoe, California
Perhaps the United States most beloved lake? We’ll be the judge of that.
Lake Powell, Arizona — USA Places to Visit
Drove past Lake Powell in 2017 and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
An Honest Conclusion
What’s there to lie about: We want to go to these places. If you have any input please tell us all about it in the comments section!
If you’d like to know what we’ve actually done, the 25 Best Places We’ve Been is a slightly outdated article from two years ago, and The 50 Best Things We Did Last Year will no doubt inspire you. It truly was an epic year — we’re still recovering.
Thank you for stopping by our website! We are the Hoffmann family, a full-time RV family that has split residence in Seattle, Washington and San Antonio, Texas. We have special needs children that we homeschool, and work travel assignments for the Veteran Affairs Hospital. If you would like to learn more about us, check out our Start Here and Biography pages. In the meantime, God bless and travel happy!