Spring Creek Hatchery
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Salmon Conservation — Historic fish hatchery on the Columbia River — one of the oldest hatcheries in the Pacific […]
Square Lake
🏆🏆🏆 Cascade Mountain Lake — Small mountain lake surrounded by old-growth forest in the Cascade Range foothills Square Lake State
Stuart Island Marine State Park
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Turn Point Lighthouse — Remote 153-acre island with one of the most dramatic lighthouses in the Pacific Northwest —
Turn Island Marine State Park
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Friday Harbor Island — 35-acre island just a 10-minute paddle from Friday Harbor — the most accessible island park
Upright Channel
🏆🏆🏆🏆 San Juan Channel — Protected channel between Lopez and Shaw Islands — calm waters for kayaking through the heart
West Hylebos Wetlands Park
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Urban Ancient Wetland — 120-acre ancient peat bog inside the city of Federal Way — a 10,000-year-old wetland surrounded
Willapa Hills
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Rail Trail Pioneer — 56-mile rail trail through the forested hills of southwestern Washington — following the historic Northern
Bakers Lake State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Coastal Plain Gem — Rare Carolina bay lake ecosystem — one of the mysterious elliptical depressions that dot the
Bay Tree State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Pocosin Wilderness — Ancient pocosin bog ecosystem — the “swamp on a hill” that once covered 2.5 million acres
Bear Paw State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Appalachian Rock Garden — High-elevation rock outcrop ecosystem in the Blue Ridge Mountains — rare plant community with species
Bobs Creek State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Mountain Bog Headwaters — Southern Appalachian bog ecosystem at the headwaters of Bobs Creek — one of the rarest
Brunswick Town
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Colonial Capital Ruins — Ruins of colonial Brunswick Town + Civil War Fort Anderson — two layers of dramatic
Bullhead Mountain State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Blue Ridge Summit — Remote high-elevation summit in the Blue Ridge — protecting rare spruce-fir forest and rock outcrop
Bushy Lake State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Longleaf Savanna — Longleaf pine savanna with Carolina bays — one of the best remaining examples of the fire-maintained
Charles B. Aycock Birthplace
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Education Governor — Birthplace of NC Governor Charles B. Aycock (1859–1912) — the “Education Governor” who championed public schools
Chowan Swamp State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Ancient Blackwater — 14,000-acre pristine blackwater swamp — one of the largest and least-disturbed swamp forests remaining in the
Frutchey State Park
🏆🏆🏆 Piedmont Retreat — Developing state park in the NC Piedmont — future recreational hub for the growing Charlotte-Raleigh corridor
Hemlock Bluffs State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Urban Old-Growth — 150-acre old-growth forest with 200-year-old eastern hemlocks — a nature miracle inside suburban Raleigh (population 470,000!)
James Iredell House
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Founding Father’s Home — Home of James Iredell, one of the first US Supreme Court Justices — appointed by
Lea Island State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Undeveloped Barrier Island — 5-mile undeveloped barrier island on the southern NC coast — one of the last pristine
Masonboro Island State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 NC’s LARGEST Undeveloped Island — 5,653-acre undeveloped barrier island — the largest undeveloped barrier island on the southern NC
Pineola Bog State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Appalachian Bog Orchids — Rare southern Appalachian bog at 3,500 feet — supporting endangered bog orchids and carnivorous plants
Reedy Creek State Park
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Charlotte’s Nature — 737-acre park inside the Charlotte metro area — one of the finest urban nature preserves in
Run Hill State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Tallest Dune on Atlantic Coast — 100-foot sand dune — the TALLEST natural sand dune on the US Atlantic
Salmon Creek State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Colonial Waterway — Pristine blackwater creek in the Albemarle Sound region — one of the earliest areas of English
Sandy Run Savannas State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Venus Flytrap Savanna — One of the world’s best remaining longleaf pine savannas — home to the VENUS FLYTRAP,
Sugar Mountain Bog State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 4,000-Foot Bog — Rare southern Appalachian bog at 4,000 feet elevation — Ice Age relic with northern plant species
Tryon Palace
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 America’s FIRST State Capitol — Reconstructed 1770 colonial palace — the seat of British royal governors and North Carolina’s
Warwick Mill Bay State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Carolina Bay Wetland — Rare Carolina bay with longleaf pine savanna — protecting one of the most diverse plant
Waynesborough State Park
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Revolutionary War Town — Site of the colonial town of Waynesborough — named for “Mad Anthony” Wayne and serving
Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Ancient Longleaf Forest — 898-acre old-growth longleaf pine forest — the finest remaining example in the NC Sandhills with
Yellow Mountain State Natural Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Appalachian Trail Gem — 600-acre high-elevation summit straddling the NC/TN border on the Appalachian Trail — grassy balds with
Burke Lake Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆 Missouri River Lake — Lakeside recreation area on Burke Lake — fishing, camping, and wide-open South Dakota skies Burke
Buryanek Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆 James River Prairie — Small recreation area on a prairie lake in the James River basin — quiet fishing
Chief White Crane Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Yankton Sioux Heritage — Recreation area on the Missouri River named for Chief White Crane (Hupahu Ska) of the
Cow Creek Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Missouri River Reservoir — Recreation area on Lake Sharpe — one of the four massive Missouri River reservoirs that
George S. Mickelson Trail
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Black Hills Rail Trail — 109-mile trail along a historic railroad grade through the Black Hills — the LONGEST
Indian Creek Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Missouri Oahe — Recreation area on massive Lake Oahe — the fourth-largest reservoir in the US stretching 231 miles
LaFramboise Island Nature Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Capital City Island — 345-acre island nature area in the Missouri River at Pierre — the state capital’s wild
Lake Alvin Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Sioux Falls Escape — 93-acre lake just 20 minutes from Sioux Falls — South Dakota’s most accessible nature getaway
Lake Hiddenwood Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Northern Prairie Oasis — Wooded lake in the treeless northern prairie — a surprising oasis of timber in the
Lake Thompson Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 South Dakota’s LARGEST Natural Lake — 16,000-acre glacial lake — the largest natural lake in South Dakota and one
Lake Vermillion Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Glacial Prairie Lake — 280-acre glacial lake in eastern South Dakota — popular fishing and camping destination with a
Little Moreau Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆 Moreau River Prairie — Remote recreation area on the Moreau River in northwestern South Dakota — true isolation on
Llewellyn Johns Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆 Lake Francis Case — Recreation area on Lake Francis Case — 102-mile reservoir on the Missouri River Llewellyn Johns
Mina Lake Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆 Northern Prairie Gem — 275-acre lake in Edmunds County — popular walleye and perch fishing in the “Glacial Lakes”
North Wheeler Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆 Lake Sharpe Access — Recreation area on Lake Sharpe providing boat access to the Missouri River reservoir system North
Oahe Downstream Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Below the Giant — Premier tailwater fishery below Oahe Dam — world-class walleye fishing in the turbulent waters below
Pease Creek Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆 Eastern SD Prairie — Small recreation area on a prairie creek in eastern South Dakota — quiet fishing and
Pickerel Lake Recreation Area
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 SD’s Clearest Lake — 1,004-acre glacial lake with the clearest water in South Dakota — visibility up to 25