States like California, New York and Florida get a lot of fanfare, but every part of the United States has its own charm and interesting things to see. The Midwest – consisting of 12 states including Illinois, Ohio, the Dakotas and Wisconsin, among others – doesn’t have a reputation for being particularly glitzy, but the region is full of natural beauty, cool museums and fascinating cultural oddities. These are just a few of must-see attractions in the marvellous Midwest.

When it comes to Midwest attractions, this is the big one. As one of the country’s most recognisable monuments, this mountainside portrait of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln is meant to honour both America’s history and its natural wonder. While the mountain itself is the obvious star, visitors can also hike around the site, join guided walks and learn about the sculpture’s full history at the Visitor Centre. 

As the world’s tallest structure of its kind and the tallest monument in the US, the stunning Gateway Arch stands at a mighty 630 feet (192m), looming large over downtown St. Louis. Completed in 1965 by architect Eero Saarinen, the gleaming stainless steel arch can be enjoyed from afar, but there are also experiences to be had up close. Take a tram ride up to the top or visit the onsite museum for an interactive lesson in American history.

Estimated to be somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 years old, this snake-like formation that appears under the surface of this green space is the creation of ancient Indigenous peoples. The “serpent” has an oval-shaped head and a meandering body that winds along for 1,348 feet (411m). The mound sits in a quiet park that is also home to a historic village and burial sites of the Adena and Fort Ancient peoples.

One of America’s most legendary national parks, Badlands is named for the wilderness area’s otherworldly geological formations. The park boasts some of the planet's richest fossil beds and 244,000 acres of wild prairie grasslands. Despite the desolate look of the terrain, there’s plenty of wildlife to be seen. Visitors are welcome to take one of the park’s many driving trails to drink in the striped hills and rock formations, hike on designated trails or even explore by horseback.

Veer off of the I-94 highway at Exit 72 near Gladstone, North Dakota on the way to the town of Regent and you’ll be met with a parade of giant sculptures of pheasants, farmers, grasshoppers and other creatures, all created out of brightly painted metal. They were created by artist Gary Greff, who started the project in 1990 to help draw tourists off the Interstate towards Regent, which was suffering from a lack of tourism. Greff even opened the Enchanted Castle Hotel for overnight visitors.

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The Northern Lights (or aurora borealis) are most closely connected with northern Canada, but when the timing is right the phenomenon can also be experienced from the shores of Lake Superior, where the dazzling purple and green glow looks particularly spectacular in the dark sky over the reflective water. Since the lights are a natural phenomenon there’s never any guarantee that they’ll appear, but they are most likely to show up in the winter months between 9pm and 4am.

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Mall of America is not the biggest mall in the world, but it’s certainly the biggest in the Midwest and is a major tourist attraction for the Twin Cities area. The mall opened in 1992 to considerable fanfare, boasting over 300 stores as well as plenty of entertainment spaces and places to eat. The mall still attracts over 40 million people from around the world every year with an aquarium, amusement park and an escape room, in addition to all of those shops.

These awe-inspiring slab-like rock formations on the banks of the Wisconsin River are made of Cambrian sandstone, and were carved out by the river over 500 million years ago. The formations are part of an area that includes a dramatic gorge and a unique ecosystem that is home to a bounty of wildlife, including some extremely rare species. The Dells are also close to the city of Wisconsin Dells, known as the Waterpark Capital of the World.

The shore along the northwest side of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula is prized for its natural beauty and sense of quiet. The wild wonder of the area is protected by this National Park, which encompasses the actual dunes as well as inland lakes, long stretches of beach, islands and wildlife habitats. The dunes themselves are glacial sand deposits and got their name from an Ojibwe legend about a mother bear that sleeps under the dunes’ sands awaiting the return of her two lost cubs.

Many Scandinavian immigrants have found their way to the Midwest over the decades and this outdoor museum represents settlers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. A celebration of Nordic culture and history, visitors to the park can take in a 240-year-old Norwegian log house, an impressive full-scale replica of the Norwegian Gol Stave Church, Danish windmills, a Finnish sauna and other buildings and monuments. The park also hosts events, including an annual Midsummer festival.

Grant Wood’s 1930 painting American Gothic is one of America’s most recognisable pieces of art. The house in the background of the painting is a real building in Eldon, Iowa and it’s open to visitors, though the interior is only accessible on select days. There is a visitor centre on site for those who want to learn more about the house and the original painting, which can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago. You can even borrow a pitchfork to hold while taking pictures outside of the house.

Indianapolis is known as the home of IndyCar racing, a motorsport that more closely resembles the slickness of European Formula One racing than the stock cars of the American NASCAR circuit. As the site of the Indy 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is IndyCar’s most famous track. The facility hosts both IndyCar and NASCAR races and driving fans can also visit the facility outside of race days for on-track experiences, tours and to take a look at the Speedway Museum.

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These stone ruins in Missouri’s Ha Ha Tonka State Park wouldn’t look out of place in Italy, but they are absolutely an American creation. The ruins are what remains of a European-style mansion that was under construction in 1906 when the tycoon behind the build was killed in one of the state’s first automobile accidents (cars were still a rarity back in those days). The mansion was eventually completed, but burned down in the 1940s, leaving these ruins that overlook the adjacent landscape.

While most tourists aren’t likely to intentionally seek out the world’s largest ball of twine, this Kansas oddity is certainly worth stopping at if you’re on a Midwest road trip. Created in 1953 by Frank Stoeber, the ball of sisal twine weighed 5,000 pounds (2268kg) and was eight feet (2.4m) by the time Stoeber gifted it to Cawker City in 1961. It keeps getting bigger – every year residents and visitors add twine to the ball, more than doubling its weight of Stoeber's original creation.

Obviously, there’s plenty of highlights in the great city of Chicago, but one of the must-sees is the view from the 108-storey Willis Tower (previously known as the Sears Tower). In addition to looking outward across the Chicago skyline, Skydeck visitors can stand on a glass floor dubbed The Ledge that extends 4.3 feet (1.3m) looking down at the ground 1,353 feet (412m) below. If that’s not enough, the tower also offers a Skydeck Experience detailing Chicago’s storied history.

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A temple to all things rock ‘n’ roll, the Rock Hall is an impressive glass pyramid that sits on the shores of Lake Erie. The physical home of the Hall of Fame opened in 1995 and has since drawn millions of fans to exhibits detailing the history of rock music and artefacts from music’s biggest stars. The Hall also serves as a music venue, regularly hosting free concerts from up-and-coming acts and ticketed shows by more established bands, as well as artist-specific fan days and other events.

Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright was extremely prolific and, since he was born in Wisconsin and spent much of his career in Chicago, his designs can be found throughout the Midwest. One of the oddest is this little two-storey gas station, known as the R.W. Lindholm Service Station in reference to the man who built the station in 1958, shortly before Wright’s death. The station has been in operation ever since and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

One of the most popular natural attractions in the state of Illinois, this state park is jam-packed with seasonal waterfalls that are mostly active in the spring. Named after an Indigenous battle that took place in the 1760s, the park features 13 miles (21km) of trails and 18 canyons to explore as well as 133 campsites, making it a beloved spot for nature lovers even when the waterfalls aren’t flowing. The area also attracts birders, with opportunities to spot bald eagles.

This area in northwest Nebraska is part of the area’s badlands landscape, made remarkable by funky rock formations that resemble toadstools. The park is also filled with very important fossil sites – while it is illegal for the public to collect fossils, signs of prehistoric wildlife can often be seen from the park’s many interpretive trails. There’s also a sod house on site to give visitors an idea of what life was like for early homesteaders in the region.

Billed as the “World’s Only Corn Palace,” this landmark was built in 1921 (to replace a previous corn palace that was deemed too small) as a monument to the region’s corn farming industry. It was built to hold an annual harvest festival, which is still held every August, along with many other events. Even if there’s not a festival or concert going on, it’s worth coming to the palace to see its corn murals, considered a significant part of the American folk art tradition.

Michigan’s position on the Great Lakes makes for some beautiful waterside areas, including this island on Lake Superior that is located just off the Canadian border (and actually significantly north of cities like Toronto and Montreal). Because of the remote location, the park is favoured by wilderness buffs looking for a real escape from civilisation. The island can be reached by ferry, seaplane or private boat and once there visitors tend to camp, though there are a couple of resorts on the island.

America is full of strange and whimsical rural art installations and this site just off Nebraska’s Highway 87 is one of the quirkiest. Carhenge is the work of artist Jim Reinders, who completed his homage to Stonehenge in 1987 as a memorial to his late father. The sculpture is made of 39 cars, all painted grey to mimic stones. Reinders passed away in 2021 but Carhenge is now managed and preserved by the City of Alliance.

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As part of the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is an outdoor collection of contemporary sculptures in the heart of Minnesota’s biggest city. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Spoonbridge and Cherry is the most well-known piece in the garden, but there are dozens of other pieces to take in, including works by Roy Lichtenstein and Katharina Fritsch. Admission to see the sculptures is free and visitors can download a sheet for a self-guided tour.

The Apostle Islands are comprised of 21 different islands situated in Lake Superior. The rocky shorelines make for some dramatic scenery that is great to look at from the deck of a boat, but there are plenty of lighthouses, sandy beaches and sea caves to see on land at Raspberry Island, Stockton Island, Sand Island and all of the other parts of the archipelago. Adventurous visitors may want to hop on a kayak to paddle around.

One of Ohio’s most renowned natural areas, Hocking Hills is a wonderland of rock formations, forests and waterfalls. Even though Ohio can get cold in the winter the park is visited year-round, with the waterfalls turning to dramatic ice sculptures as they freeze. Sleeping in nature is one of the main things to do here, with everything from resort lodges to primitive backpack camping and even horse riding available to those who want to get closer to the land.

Part of Door County, a quaint vacation area in eastern Wisconsin on Lake Michigan, this lighthouse can be reached either by foot or on a wagon that travels along a narrow causeway that is often covered by shallow water. The lighthouse itself sits on a picturesque point. At one time it was the tallest building in Door County, but it’s an easy climb to the top via a spiral staircase. The lightkeeper’s house is home to a small museum that details the Maritime history of the region.

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Many people know of the 1992 novel (and 1995 film) The Bridges of Madison County, which makes reference to actual bridges in rural Iowa in an area just southwest of the city of Des Moines. At one point, there were as many as 19 covered bridges in the county, but today only six of the romantic structures remain. The bridges are accessible to the public and you can get a map of them all to take a self-guided car tour or hire a tour guide who will tell the stories behind each bridge.

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The term “Boot hill” describes a cemetery used to bury Wild West gunfighters who died with their boots on, so to speak. The Boot Hill Museum sits on the site of an original boot hill cemetery, now exhibiting stories of the Native Americans who have inhabited the area for centuries and the Santa Fe Trail that brought settlers into the region. There’s lots of fun to be had, with Wild West storefronts, costumed interpreters and gunfight shows.

The largest cave system in the state, Ohio Caverns are not only impressive, but they’re easily accessible to the public. Full of stalactite and stalagmite formations, the caverns were discovered 125 years ago and there are now over two miles (3.2km) of surveyed passageways inside. Guests access the caverns through guided tours, with the option of historic, natural or hybrid-themed programming. After the tour, you can spend some time in the park outside of the cavern.

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Rising out of the flat landscape of the Smoky Hill Valley, these chalky rock formations look like they’re from another planet. The rocks were once used as a landmark to guide Wild West travellers along the Smoky Hill Trail. Designated as a National Natural Landmark, the rocks’ history goes back millions of years to the Cretaceous Period and are full of fossils to prove it. Today the rocks sit on private property, but the owners allow visitors to come in for a look.