70 Fun Facts About US Travel

Which US airport has been the world's busiest by passengers every year since 1998, except 2020?

It is Delta's main hub, with around 1,000 flights a day to 225 destinations, and is considered America's first mega-hub.

Which is the most visited national park in the United States, with over 11 million visitors in 2025?

Straddling Tennessee and North Carolina, it charges no entrance fee, and Dollywood sits just outside its gates.

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

It sits mainly in the northwest corner of 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 combined run is 2,728 miles and second-longest in the Americas, behind only Canada's The Canadian.

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

It is a quasi-public corporation that takes state and federal subsidies but is run as a for-profit business.

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

Its final stretch at the western end opened in 1993, and the eastern extension in Boston was finished in 2003 as part of the Big Dig.

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

Established in 1926, it crossed eight states on the way and was also nicknamed the Main Street of America.

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

Its 'Mother Road' nickname was popularised by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Which Florida park was the most visited theme park in the world in 2024, for the eighteenth year running?

It drew 17.83 million visitors that year and has been North America's most visited park for at least 24 years.

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?

Exceptions are made only for emergency and city service vehicles, and snowmobiles in winter; the Victorian Grand Hotel is its landmark.

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

It is the longest linear park in the US and links Shenandoah National Park with the Smokies.

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

It is about 130 miles southwest of Miami and is the westernmost Florida Key reachable by highway.

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

It opened in August 1992 on the old site of Metropolitan Stadium, where the Twins and Vikings once played.

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

He designed it in 1947, though construction did not finish until 1965; it is still the world's tallest arch.

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

Owner Ted Hustead's wife Dorothy had the idea; today billboards for the store stretch for hundreds of miles and it draws around two million visitors a year.

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

The Ant Farm art group installed it in 1974, and the cars are said to lean at the same angle as the pyramids of Giza.

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

Its western end meets US 101 within a mile of the Pacific; in the east it roughly parallels Interstate 90.

Chicago O'Hare's airport code is ORD. What does it 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?

At 605 feet it was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi, and the fair drew more than 2.3 million visitors.

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

It is the most recognised landmark in Arches National Park and also featured on a stamp for Utah's centennial of statehood in 1996.

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

It partly fills a caldera left when Mount Mazama collapsed about 7,700 years ago, and it appears on the Oregon state quarter.

What 1913 Death Valley air temperature still stands as the highest ever measured on Earth?

The World Meteorological Organization lists Death Valley as the site of the hottest surface temperature recorded on the planet.

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

Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Florida's first governor, founded it on September 8 that year.

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

It is more than 1.5 times longer than the runner-up, an underwater cave system in Mexico.

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

The roughly 50-mile road tops out at 6,646 feet and spans the park from its west to its east entrance.

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

More than 7.2 million cruise passengers passed through in 2023, and it was the original homeport of Icon of the Seas, launched in 2024 as the largest cruise ship ever built.

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

A red line leads from Boston Common to the Old North Church and Bunker Hill Monument; most stops are free.

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

The horseshoe-shaped 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?

The contiguous 48 states use four of them; Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific and Caribbean territories account for the rest.

The Four Corners Monument marks the only point in the US shared by four states. Which four?

Visitors line up to stand in all four at once; the surrounding region takes its name from the spot.

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

The US Navy had suggested black and yellow stripes for visibility; architect Irving Morrow's choice won out.

Waikiki Beach is on which Hawaiian island?

It is a Honolulu neighbourhood, and its famous sand is almost entirely man-made.

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

Sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed it, Gustave Eiffel built the framework, and it was dedicated in October 1886.

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

It is one of the ten most visited tourist attractions on Earth, with 21.6 million sightseers in 2018 who were not even catching a train.

Disneyland opened in 1955 in which California city?

Disney bought the 160-acre site in 1953 after a Stanford Research Institute study, and the opening was televised live on ABC.

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

Much of it was built on the right-of-way of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad, the old Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway.

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

The Moorish Revival arena hosts basketball and concerts and draws up to half a million tourists a year.

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

Visitors are still invited to add twine to the ball, so it keeps growing.

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

Since 1974 it has broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House, with winter returns to its old home.

Alcatraz, drawing 1.4 million tourists a year, closed as a federal prison in which year?

Strong tidal currents and cold water made escape from the island almost impossible during its 29 years as a penitentiary.

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

Officially called Cloud Gate, it is made of 168 welded stainless steel plates with no visible seams, and he initially disliked the nickname.

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

Founded as Air Southwest Co. in 1967, it started out as an intrastate airline flying between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

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

Its summit in California's Sierra Nevada is the southern end of a 211.9-mile trail that starts in Yosemite Valley.

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

Its name in Spanish is Calle de Borbón, from the city's colonial past.

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?

The valley became an official American Viticultural Area in 1981, only the second in the nation.

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

The park draws about four million visitors a year, most of whom never leave the seven square miles of the valley floor.

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

The dam sits in the Black Canyon of the Colorado about 30 miles from Las Vegas, near Boulder City, which was built to house its workers.

Niagara is actually three separate cataracts. Which is the largest, straddling the US-Canada border?

It is the most powerful waterfall in North America by 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?

The other four are shared with Canada.

Which is the one Smithsonian museum that charges admission?

The institution runs 21 museums, 21 libraries and a zoo, mostly in Washington, DC.

How many stories does the Empire State Building have?

About four million tourists a year visit its 86th- and 102nd-floor observatories, and an 80th-floor indoor deck opened in 2019.

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

Gutzon Borglum oversaw the carving from 1927 to 1941; only Washington has any detail below the chin, because funding ran out.

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

About 12 million immigrants were processed there, and by one estimate two-fifths of Americans descend from one of them.

How long is the Grand Canyon?

It is up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep, exposing nearly two billion years of geological history.

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

Along with Zion, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef it makes up Utah's so-called Mighty 5.

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

Its walls are reddish and tan sandstone; the park sits near Springdale in southwestern Utah.

The Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur is part of which numbered California highway?

At 656 miles it is California's longest state route and the second-longest in the country after Montana Highway 200.

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

At 6,225 feet up in the Sierra Nevada, only the five Great Lakes hold more water in the US, and the Nevada shore has casino resorts.

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

Around 50 million people visit Times Square a year, and over a million pack in for the drop itself.

Which Seattle attraction, opened in 1907, draws more than 20 million visitors a year?

It is built on the edge of a steep hill, with fishmongers and produce stalls up top and antique and comic shops on the levels below.

Who founded New Orleans in 1718, laying out the city around what became the French Quarter?

Most of the Quarter's surviving historic buildings actually date from the late-1700s Spanish period or the early American decades.

At 6,998 feet, which is the highest-altitude state capital in the United States?

Founded in 1610 at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, it is also the oldest state capital in the country.

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

The idea dates to 1953 and the first stars were unveiled in 1958; today more than 2,800 terrazzo-and-brass stars line Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

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 200-mile string of barrier islands also hosted the Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kill Devil Hills in 1903.

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

Sedona Schnebly's mother claimed she simply invented the name because 'it sounded pretty'.

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

Elvis's father Vernon inherited the Memphis estate after the singer's death in 1977; it became a National Historic Landmark in 2006.