20 Awesome Destinations for a Perfect U.S. Trip

Badlands Loop State Scenic Byway, Cactus Flat to Wall

Why play a video game when you can drive through one? Guaranteed to get the kids off their screens, the roughly 30-mile ride through Badlands National Park transports travelers into an out-of-this-world landscape of twisted canyons, striped rock walls, native grasslands, and fantastic spires.

Photograph by Stephen St. John, National Geographic Creative