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Places in the U.S. You Didn’t Know Were UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named more than 1,100 World Heritage Sites across the globe worthy of preservation for their outstanding cultural or natural heritage. Many travelers dream of visiting the bucket-list destinations on this list, such as the Forbidden City, Machu Picchu, Stonehenge, or the Taj Mahal, but many places closer to home that are well worth exploring, too. You might have been to a few of the 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the U.S., perhaps the Great Smoky Mountains or Yellowstone, but here are some of the lesser-known sites you should check out.

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Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Balcony house at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Credit: g01xm/ iStock

Colorado’s Rocky Mountains are a magnificent natural attraction, but for a taste of the state’s Indigenous cultural history, head farther south to Mesa Verde National Park. As many as 26 different Pueblo tribes lived in this region of southwest Colorado from 450 to 1300 CE. They were responsible for building the impressive cliffside dwellings that visitors can still see today, along with more than 4,000 fascinating archaeological sites. The cliff dwellings range from small, one-room storage units to the 150-room Cliff Palace that once housed 100 people. Some of the larger sites are accessible only to tour groups led by park rangers, while visitors are free to explore other sites unaccompanied.

14

Cahokia Mounds, Illinois

Aerial view of ancient Native American burial mound, Cahokia Mounds.
Credit: Kent Raney/ Shutterstock

UNESCO has recognized the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, located about 13 miles from St. Louis, as the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico and a "pre-eminent example of the cultural, religious, and economic center of Mississippian culture." At its peak around 1150 CE, the population at the settlement site was about 20,000 people, larger than the city of London at the time. The biggest mound is Monks Mound, which is also the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the Americas. It stands about 100 feet tall and covers nearly 15 acres. The onsite interpretive center offers a look at what life would have been like in the Cahokia Mounds settlement (though as of early 2022, it’s closed for renovations).

13

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Montana

Lake and mountain views at Waterton Lakes in Montana.
Credit: Brian Lasenby/ Shutterstock

Shared between the U.S. and Canada, this UNESCO site consists of Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park and Montana’s Glacier National Park. Together, they form the world’s first international peace park, commemorating the peaceful relationship between the two nations. The site was chosen for its ecological significance: In addition to a landscape that includes glaciers, prairie, and alpine forests, the park also features an abundance of distinctive flora and fauna. While most visitors are keen to catch a glimpse of the larger mammals — elk, grizzlies, and bighorn sheep, for example — there is also a rich variety of smaller creatures. Your chances of seeing the tiny pygmy shrew might be slim (it’s the size of a dime), but beavers, turtles, snakes, frogs, and several hundred bird species share this habitat with colorful lichens, ferns, and wildflowers.

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Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Entryway into the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky.
Credit: zrfphoto/ iStock

With more than 420 miles of cave discovered so far, Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park is the world’s longest cave system and received its UNESCO designation in 1981. Its vast underground network has revealed a great deal about Earth’s geology, and it contains a huge array of unusual wildlife. Visitors can only view the caves via guided tour, and there is a tour to suit every ability, including those in wheelchairs or with mobility issues. Each tour focuses on a different part of the system and highlights fascinating cave features, from stalactites and stalagmites to subterranean waterways and giant open rock halls.

11

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Hawaii

A view of a coral reef with bright yellow fish swimming around, in Hawaii.
Credit: ultramarinfoto/ iStock

Papahānaumokuākea is the only mixed heritage site in the United States, meaning that UNESCO recognizes it for both cultural and natural purposes. This collection of islands and atolls lies 155 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian islands and covers almost 140,000 square miles of ocean habitat. Papahānaumokuākea is home to one of the deepest coral reefs in the world and has an abundance of endangered wildlife, such as Hawaiian monk seals and black-footed albatrosses. The site is also significant to Hawaiian culture: This is where the Hawaiian people believe that life originated and where spirits return after death. At least two of the islands contain evidence of ancient human settlements.

10

Independence Hall, Pennsylvania

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Credit: f11photo/ Shutterstock

You’ve no doubt heard of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed, but were you aware it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site? These two documents would later influence government charters worldwide, thus cementing the building’s place in American and world history. Completed in 1753, the building was originally the Pennsylvania State House, home to the three branches of the state’s government. Visitors wishing to see Independence Hall must reserve a spot on a guided tour. Nearby is the Liberty Bell, open to the public at no charge, and the Benjamin Franklin Museum, which charts the life and works of the prominent Founding Father.

9

San Antonio Missions, Texas

Mission San Jose in the San Antonio Mission National Park in Texas.
Credit: Mike Brake/ Shutterstock

The San Antonio Missions National Park — the only UNESCO site in Texas — encompasses five frontier missions along the San Antonio River. All were built in the 18th century as part of Spanish efforts to colonize the region’s Indigenous peoples and convert them to Catholicism. Each mission was designed to be a self-sustaining community. As such, they included farmland, mills, and workshops, in addition to the living and worship spaces. Each of the five missions reveals how Indigenous and Spanish cultures became intertwined. Trails guide visitors around the buildings and along historic trails and waterways.

8

Chaco Culture Park, New Mexico

Kiva at Pueblo Bonito at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico.
Credit: Nagel Photography/ Shutterstock

This UNESCO site was a ceremonial and political hub for the Pueblo peoples of the Four Corners, from approximately 850 to 1250. Chaco is of particular note for its distinctive architecture and the complexity of its buildings. That such buildings were constructed in the harsh desert climate is even more impressive. Visitors can still trace their way through the carefully engineered roads, which linked each site. From studying the remains at Chaco, archaeologists have learned much about the advanced social structure of Chaco culture. In 2013, that Chaco Culture National Historical Park was also designated an International Dark Sky Park, meaning it is an ideal spot to camp out and enjoy a view of the stars undisturbed by urban light pollution.

7

Monticello and the University of Virginia, Virginia

Yellow tulips with Monticello Home in the background.
Credit: N8Allen/ Shutterstock

Just as visitors to Independence Hall can learn about Benjamin Franklin’s legacy, so too can visitors to Monticello learn about fellow Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. The author of the Declaration of Independence was also an architect of neoclassical buildings and designed Monticello and an “academical village,” which is now part of the University of Virginia. According to UNESCO, the property “symbolizes both the aspirations of the new American republic as the inheritor of European tradition and the cultural experimentation that could be expected as the country matured.” Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the property and grounds.

6

La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico

Beautiful view of El Morro and the historical ruins in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Credit: Venturelli Luca/ Shutterstock

La Fortaleza, now known as Santa Catalina Palace, is the home of the governor of Puerto Rico. It was originally built in 1540 as a fortress to protect the Spanish settlers of the small Caribbean island against raids from the local Indigenous population. Ironically, La Fortaleza was seized twice in its history, by the English in 1598, and by the Dutch in 1625. Through the centuries, additional fortified structures were added, and in 1983, UNESCO chose to recognize the site for its fantastic display of European military architecture, which has been adapted to its island location. A number of different styles — Renaissance, Baroque, and Enlightenment — all chart the history of the nations that sought and ultimately failed to control Puerto Rico.

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Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point, Louisiana

Poverty Point Site in Louisiana with boardwalk stairs climbing the largest earthen mound.
Credit: EWY Media/ Shutterstock

The name Poverty Point may come from a nearby 19th-century plantation, but the impressive series of monumental mounds in Louisiana date much further back. The five giant mounds and series of semi-elliptical ridges were constructed between 1700 and 1100 BCE. Archaeologists believe that the hunter-gatherer peoples used this area as a settlement but also as a ceremonial center. At one time, it was part of a vast trade network that expanded for hundreds of miles. Whereas many such sites have been redeveloped or heavily excavated, less than 1% of the land at Poverty Point has been disturbed, allowing visitors to appreciate its size and the work that went into building it.

4

Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay, Alaska

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Credit: Galyna Andrushko/ Shutterstock

Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks combine with Canada’s Kluane National Park and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park to form a single UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering almost 38,000 square miles. The largest non-polar ice field in the world lies within the site’s borders, as do vast expanses of untouched forest, rugged mountains, and glaciers. Unsurprisingly, this wild land is a habitat for a variety of animal life, including caribou, grizzlies, mountain goats, and polar bears. Along the coast, visitors might spy humpback whales, porpoises, otters, and seals. Park management at both Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St. Elias work in partnership with local tribal management to protect both the natural and cultural heritage of the land and its people.

3

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

The beautiful colors seen in the massive volcanic crater at Haleakala National Park.
Credit: MH Anderson Photography/ Shutterstock

Hawaii’s second UNESCO World Heritage Site contains two of the world’s most active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Their level of activity has created an ever-changing landscape that also acts as a haven for rare birds, which has led to the park’s International Biosphere Reserve designation. Access to the park changes according to the local volcanic activity, but during an eruption, visitors often flock to lookout points where they can see fiery magma colliding with the ocean water from a safe distance. Visiting the park during quieter times affords more opportunities for hiking and driving the backtrails, and to see the spectacular geological formations created by millennia of activity.

2

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico

Taos Pueblo in New Mexico.
Credit: Dan Kaplan/ Shutterstock

The adobe settlement at Taos Pueblo in New Mexico reveals the culture of the Puebloan peoples who settled near the Rio Grande in the 13th and 14th centuries. The dwellings have been continuously inhabited since then and are in a remarkable state of preservation despite their age. Taos Pueblo is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United States recognized for its ongoing and thriving living community. Each year, a ceremony is held to mark the addition of a new layer of adobe plaster to the buildings. The dwellings have changed somewhat over the years; entry was once by ladders to holes in the roof, but windows and doors have now been added. Since Taos Pueblo is still home to the Red Willow people, visitors are reminded to remain respectful of the residents and their land at all times.

1

The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Various Locations

Falling water over Bear Run waterfall in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains.
Credit: Venti Views/ Unsplash

The final entry on this list is not one site but eight, all linked by their architect. Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs established him as one of the preeminent 20th-century American artists. His Prairie style emphasized open-plan buildings that worked in harmony with their surroundings to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor. The properties that share the UNESCO designation span 50 years of Wright’s career and include the Unity Temple in Illinois and New York’s Guggenheim Museum, as well as houses in Chicago, Wisconsin, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Whether you visit one or all, you will be able to admire his eye for “organic architecture” that helped to redefine and create the nation’s modern cultural heritage.

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