69 Fun Facts About US Travel

Which US airport became the world's busiest by passenger numbers in 1998?

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Delta's main hub, took the top spot from Chicago O'Hare in 1998 and became the first airport to pass 100 million passengers in 2015.

Which national park, with about 12 million visitors in 2024, is America's most visited?

Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles Tennessee and North Carolina, charges no entrance fee, and drew 12.2 million visitors in 2024, more than twice Grand Canyon's total.

Which 1872 park was the first US national park and widely considered the first in the world?

Yellowstone was established on 1 March 1872, mainly in northwest Wyoming with slivers in Montana and Idaho, and is home to the Old Faithful geyser.

Amtrak's Texas Eagle joins which train at San Antonio to form America's longest passenger rail route?

The Sunset Limited carries the Texas Eagle's through cars from San Antonio to Los Angeles, making the Chicago–Los Angeles run 2,728 miles, Amtrak's longest.

In what year was Amtrak founded to take over most US intercity passenger rail?

Amtrak began operating on 1 May 1971 under the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970, taking over most intercity passenger trains from the private railroads.

Interstate 90, the longest Interstate at just under 3,100 miles, runs from Boston to which West Coast city?

I-90 ends in Seattle, Washington, where its final segment opened in 1993; the Boston end was extended to Logan Airport in 2003 as part of the Big Dig.

Historic Route 66 ran 2,448 miles from Chicago to which California city?

Route 66, established in 1926, ran from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, crossing eight states, and was nicknamed the Main Street of America.

In which year was Route 66 officially removed from the US Highway System?

Route 66 was removed from the US Highway System on 27 June 1985, after Interstate 40 bypassed its final stretch in Arizona the year before.

Which Florida park was the world's most visited theme park in 2024?

Magic Kingdom, the original Walt Disney World park near Orlando, drew about 17.8 million visitors in 2024, the most of any theme park worldwide.

Most of the Las Vegas Strip lies in which unincorporated town, not the city itself?

The roughly 4.2-mile stretch lies just south of the city limits, in Paradise and Winchester.

Which Michigan island resort bans nearly all motor vehicles?

Mackinac Island has banned motor vehicles since 1898, allowing only emergency and city service vehicles and winter snowmobiles; horse carriages and bicycles serve the Victorian Grand Hotel.

Which 469-mile scenic road has been the most visited National Park System unit almost every year since 1946?

The Blue Ridge Parkway, America's longest linear park at 469 miles, runs from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Cherokee, North Carolina, with no entrance fee.

Key West, the southernmost city in the contiguous US, lies roughly 95 miles north of which country?

Key West's Southernmost Point marker claims '90 miles to Cuba'; the actual distance to the Cuban coast is about 94 miles, closer than Miami is.

The Mall of America, the largest mall in the US, is in which Minnesota city?

The Mall of America opened in Bloomington, a suburb south of Minneapolis, in August 1992 on the site of Metropolitan Stadium, the Twins' and Vikings' former home.

Which Finnish-American architect designed the 630-foot Gateway Arch in St. Louis?

Eero Saarinen won the 1947–48 design competition for the Gateway Arch; the 630-foot stainless-steel monument was completed in October 1965, four years after his death.

Wall Drug in South Dakota built its 1930s fame by advertising what to travellers?

Ted Hustead's wife Dorothy suggested offering free ice water to hot travellers in 1936, and the roadside signs that followed turned Wall Drug into a famous stop.

Cadillac Ranch, ten Cadillacs buried nose-first, is near which Texas city?

The Ant Farm collective installed Cadillac Ranch west of Amarillo in 1974 for patron Stanley Marsh 3; the cars are said to match the angle of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

US Route 20, America's longest road, runs from Boston to which Oregon coastal town?

US Route 20 ends at US 101 in Newport, Oregon, about 3,365 miles from Boston's Kenmore Square, which makes it the longest US highway.

What did Chicago O'Hare's airport code ORD originally stand for?

The airfield was renamed Orchard Field in the mid-1940s and given the code before it was renamed again in 1949 for aviator Edward 'Butch' O'Hare.

The Space Needle was built for a World's Fair held in which year?

The Space Needle opened in April 1962 for the Century 21 Exposition; at 605 feet it was then the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River.

Which 52-foot freestanding natural span near Moab, Utah, appears on the state's license plates?

Delicate Arch, a 52-foot sandstone span, is the best-known landmark of Arches National Park and also appeared on the 1996 Utah statehood centennial postage stamp.

At 1,949 feet deep, what is the deepest body of water in the United States, found in southern Oregon?

Crater Lake partly fills the caldera left when Mount Mazama collapsed about 7,700 years ago, and the lake appears on Oregon's 2005 state quarter.

What air temperature did Death Valley's Furnace Creek record on 10 July 1913?

Furnace Creek recorded 134 °F (56.7 °C) on 10 July 1913, a reading the World Meteorological Organization accepted as the highest air temperature ever measured on Earth.

Which Florida city, founded by Spain in 1565, is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the lower 48?

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spain's first governor of Florida, founded St. Augustine on 8 September 1565, naming it for the saint whose feast fell on the day he sighted land.

Mammoth Cave, the longest known cave system in the world with over 426 miles surveyed, is in which state?

Mammoth Cave lies in south-central Kentucky near Bowling Green; its mapped passages are more than 1.5 times the length of the runner-up, Mexico's underwater Sistema Sac Actun.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road crossing which national park?

Going-to-the-Sun Road crosses Glacier National Park from West Glacier to St. Mary, about 50 miles, cresting the Continental Divide at 6,646-foot Logan Pass.

Which US port was the busiest cruise passenger port in the world in 2024?

PortMiami, the self-styled Cruise Capital of the World, handled about 8 million cruise passengers in fiscal 2024 and launched Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas in January 2024.

How many historic sites does Boston's 2.5-mile Freedom Trail pass?

The Freedom Trail's 16 sites run from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument, marked by a red line of brick or paint; most are free to visit.

The glass Grand Canyon Skywalk at Grand Canyon West is owned by which Native American tribe?

The Hualapai Tribe owns the Skywalk on its reservation at Grand Canyon West; the horseshoe-shaped glass cantilever opened to the public in March 2007.

Which state capital has no roads to the rest of its state, so visitors come by air or ferry?

The city sits beneath the vast Juneau Icefield, and its rugged terrain is why no highway was ever built.

Counting states, territories and possessions, how many standard time zones does the United States use?

Federal law defines 9 standard time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii–Aleutian, Atlantic, Samoa and Chamorro, the last three serving Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam.

Which four states meet at the Four Corners Monument, the only such point in the US?

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet at the Four Corners Monument, first surveyed in 1875 and marked by a granite-and-brass disk; visitors stand in all four at once.

What is the official name of the Golden Gate Bridge's colour?

Consulting architect Irving Morrow chose International Orange for the Golden Gate Bridge, rejecting the US Navy's suggestion of black and yellow stripes for visibility; the bridge opened in 1937.

Waikiki Beach is on which Hawaiian island?

Waikiki is a beachfront neighbourhood of Honolulu on Oahu's south shore; much of its sand was shipped in from other beaches from the 1920s onward.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from the people of which country?

France gave the statue to mark the centennial of American independence; Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed it, Gustave Eiffel engineered the iron framework, and it was dedicated in October 1886.

Which New York station has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world?

Grand Central Terminal, opened in 1913, spreads 44 platforms and 67 tracks over two underground levels beneath Midtown Manhattan, more platforms than any other railroad station.

Disneyland opened in 1955 in which California city?

Walt Disney chose a 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim after a 1953 Stanford Research Institute site study; the July 1955 opening was televised live on ABC.

The 113-mile Overseas Highway through the Florida Keys carries which US highway to Key West?

US Route 1 ends at Key West after the 113-mile Overseas Highway, much of it built on the right-of-way of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad after the 1935 hurricane wrecked the line.

The Corn Palace, redecorated yearly with corn murals, is in which South Dakota town?

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, first built in 1892 and rebuilt in 1921, is a Moorish Revival arena whose exterior murals are redone each year with corn and grains.

Cawker City, one of several towns claiming the world's largest ball of twine, is in which state?

Cawker City, Kansas, has housed Frank Stoeber's ball of twine since 1961; visitors add twine each August at a twine-a-thon, so the ball keeps growing.

To which Nashville venue did the Grand Ole Opry move in 1943, its home for three decades?

The Opry broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium, built in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, from June 1943 until March 1974, when it moved to the Grand Ole Opry House.

Chicago's mirror-polished sculpture nicknamed 'The Bean' is the work of which artist?

Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate, unveiled in Millennium Park in 2004 and completed in 2006, is made of 168 welded stainless steel plates polished to hide the seams; Kapoor initially disliked the nickname.

Southwest Airlines is headquartered in the neighbourhood of which Dallas airport?

Founded as Air Southwest Co. in 1967, the airline has flown from Dallas Love Field since its first day of service, and its headquarters sit beside the airfield.

At 14,505 feet, which peak is the highest point in the contiguous United States?

Mount Whitney, in California's Sierra Nevada on the Sequoia–Inyo boundary, rises 14,505 feet, and Badwater Basin, the continent's lowest point, lies only about 85 miles away.

Bourbon Street runs through the heart of which New Orleans neighbourhood?

Bourbon Street runs 13 blocks through the French Quarter, the city's original 1718 settlement, and was named for the royal House of Bourbon, not the whiskey.

Antelope Canyon, the photogenic slot canyon near Page, Arizona, lies on the land of which Native nation?

It is the main attraction of Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park and can only be visited on a guided tour.

Napa Valley wines shocked the world by beating top French wines at a Paris tasting in which year?

At the 1976 Judgment of Paris, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Cabernet and Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay beat top Bordeaux and Burgundies in a blind tasting.

Which naturalist led the 1890 campaign that persuaded Congress to make Yosemite a national park?

John Muir's 1890 Century magazine articles, pushed by editor Robert Underwood Johnson, helped persuade Congress to create Yosemite National Park on 1 October 1890; Muir co-founded the Sierra Club in 1892.

Hoover Dam, on the border of Nevada and Arizona, holds back which reservoir?

Lake Mead, formed by Hoover Dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, is the largest reservoir in the US by capacity and lies about 30 miles from Las Vegas.

Which of Niagara's three waterfalls is the largest, straddling the US–Canada border?

Horseshoe Falls, about 2,600 feet wide and 167 feet high, carries roughly 90 percent of the Niagara River's flow; the two smaller falls lie entirely in New York State.

Which is the only one of the Great Lakes that lies entirely within the United States?

Lake Michigan lies entirely within the United States, bordered by Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana; the other four Great Lakes are shared with Canada.

Which is the one Smithsonian museum that charges admission?

Cooper Hewitt in New York, the Smithsonian's design museum in Andrew Carnegie's former Fifth Avenue mansion, charges admission, while the Smithsonian's Washington museums and zoo are free.

How many stories does the Empire State Building have?

The Empire State Building has 102 stories and rises 1,454 feet to its antenna tip; observatories sit on the 86th and 102nd floors, and a renovated 80th-floor exhibit opened in 2019.

Mount Rushmore's four presidential heads are carved into a granite peak in which mountain range?

Mount Rushmore was blasted into a granite face of the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, between 1927 and 1941 under sculptor Gutzon Borglum, each head about 60 feet tall.

Ellis Island's immigrant inspection station operated from 1892 until what year?

Ellis Island processed about 12 million immigrants from 1 January 1892 until it closed on 12 November 1954; roughly 40 percent of Americans can trace an ancestor through it.

How long is the Grand Canyon?

The Grand Canyon runs 277 river miles from Lees Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs, is up to 18 miles wide and more than a mile deep, exposing nearly two billion years of rock.

Which Utah national park is famous for its hoodoos, spindly rock pillars formed by frost and erosion?

Bryce Canyon's hoodoos formed as frost wedging and rain eroded the Claron Formation limestone into pillars; the park is not a true canyon but a series of amphitheatres.

Zion Canyon in Utah was carved by the North Fork of which waterway?

The North Fork of the Virgin River cut Zion Canyon up to 2,000 feet deep through reddish and tan sandstone; upstream, the Narrows squeeze to about 20 feet wide.

Which Alaska national park, the largest in the US, covers over 13 million acres?

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve spans 13.2 million acres of Alaska, larger than Switzerland, and holds Mount St. Elias, the second-highest peak in the US.

Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America, straddles the border between which two states?

Lake Tahoe lies in California and Nevada, about two-thirds on the California side; at 1,645 feet deep it is the second-deepest lake in the United States.

In what year did the first New Year's Eve ball drop take place in Times Square?

The first ball, an iron-and-wood sphere lit by 100 bulbs, was lowered from the One Times Square flagpole on 31 December 1907 to welcome 1908.

Which attraction is famous for its fish-throwing vendors and the original Starbucks store?

Pike Place Market, one of the oldest continuously operating public markets in the US, sits on a steep hill above Elliott Bay, with fishmongers up top and shops on the levels below.

Who founded New Orleans in 1718 on a crescent bend of the Mississippi River?

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded New Orleans in 1718 for the Company of the West and named it for the Duke of Orléans, then regent for the boy king Louis XV.

At about 7,000 feet, which is the highest-altitude state capital in the United States?

Santa Fe sits at roughly 7,000 feet at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains; founded in 1610 by Pedro de Peralta, it is also the oldest state capital.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame's first permanent stars were set into the sidewalk in which year?

Eight demonstration stars were shown in 1958, but the permanent stars went in from February 1960, with more than 1,500 laid over the following year and a half.

Since 1914, most of Cape Cod has been cut off from mainland Massachusetts by what?

The Cape Cod Canal runs about 7 miles across the base of the peninsula, and the name Cape Cod was coined by Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602.

Hundreds of shipwrecks off North Carolina's Outer Banks earned the surrounding seas what nickname?

The Outer Banks' shifting shoals, especially Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras, have wrecked an estimated 2,000 or more ships, earning the waters the name Graveyard of the Atlantic.

Sedona, Arizona, famous for its glowing rock formations, is named after whom?

Theodore Carlton Schnebly, the settlement's first postmaster, named it in 1902 for his wife Sedona Schnebly, whose mother said she had invented the name because it sounded pretty.

Graceland opened to the public as a house museum in which year?

Priscilla Presley, as a trustee for Lisa Marie, opened Graceland to paying visitors on 7 June 1982 to cover the estate's costs; it became a National Historic Landmark in 2006.