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USA Today
7 days ago
- USA Today
10 best places in the US to see fireworks for summer 2025
— Our editors and readers independently select what you see on USA TODAY 10BEST. When you buy through a link on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Fireworks may not have originated in the United States, but they're certainly a longstanding American tradition. The first 4th of July fireworks display dates back nearly 250 years, and fireworks have long been a mainstay for a wide variety of other holidays and festivities as well. Beyond being such a feast for the eyes, public fireworks displays are a shared experience that can bring a community together. An expert panel has nominated their top picks for the country's most eye-popping fireworks displays, and readers have voted to decide the winners. Here are the 10 best places to see fireworks in the U.S. this summer.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Visit Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park: Your guide to 2025 season, including rides and tickets
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park was born unintentionally. The owners of a property with two stunning caverns found the demand for tours to be so large they installed rides to keep tourists entertained while waiting. USA TODAY 10BEST has previously honored the caves and its rides. The park also serves as a community hub with concerts and other events. Residents of nearby counties can get free gondola passes each spring that give them access to the mountaintop venue, although the coasters and tours come at an additional cost. Check out what brings people to the highest of Colorado's major amusement parks and waterparks. The adventure park is located on top of Iron Mountain near Glenwood Springs. It has year-round operations with a lighter schedule outside of the summer. Its online schedule shows the park open every day from May 13 through Sept. 1 with hours stretching from 9 am. to 7 p.m. for much of that time before it starts mixing in off-days again. The calendar lists some operating days into January 2026. From the Gondola Ride to the top of Iron Mountain to the alpine coaster back down and the cave tours, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park plays to its unique location. Not all rides are open every day and the harsh weather common on Colorado mountaintops can shut some attractions down, so check the weather and the website before going. Single-day advance tickets start at $32 for just gondola rides up Iron Mountain, ranging up to $79 for a Fun Day ticket that includes access to a cave tour, alpine coaster and other attractions on the mountaintop. A two-day Fun Day pass is $104. Local residents can get free annual gondola passes and discounted annual thrill passes for $94 ($10 cheaper for kids 3 to 10) through May 18. Full-price annual gondola passes are $63 while thrill passes run $157. For more information, visit This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park: 2025 hours, rides and season passes
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This Iowa motorsport race was just ranked among the best in the country
An Iowa motorsport race recently made USA TODAY'S 10BEST Readers' Choice Awards list as one of the best in the country. With 10 raceways around the state and Iowa hosting high-profile races like the NASCAR Cup Series and Sukup IndyCar Race Weekend, it is safe to say Iowans have an affinity for motorsports. Advertisement So out of all the races in Iowa, which one in the state is one of the best in the country? What Iowa motorsport race is one of the best in the country? The NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals placed second in the Top 10 best motorsports races in the country, according to USA TODAY 10BEST. The south-central Iowa race beat out the Dayton 500, Indianapolis 500 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix for Formula 1. More: 15 sports-related things to do in Iowa this summer from marathons to baseball games The only race ranked better than Knoxville's is Sick Week in Orlando, Florida. What is the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals race? First held in 1961, the race draws more than 20,000 spectators annually across four days in early August. Drivers earn points with every lap they complete, and the competitor with the highest point total at the end takes home $1 million. Advertisement The track was initially used for horse racing and is located on the Marion County Fairgrounds. The first automobile race was held in 1901. When is the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Race? The 64th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals begins Aug. 6 and runs until Aug. 9. The current champion of the race is Kyle Larson, who has won the Knoxville Nationals in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Tickets are still available for all four days, and they start at $54. More: Kyle Larson revels in time at Iowa Speedway, Knoxville Raceway during off-week Register reporter Kate Kealey contributed to this report Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@ or follow him on X @CooperAWorth. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Knoxville Nationals ranked among the best motorsport races in U.S.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
This Colorado trail was ranked among the best in the nation. Do you agree?
Shared public spaces can be places for making connections to a community. They can also be sources of pride when they stand out among the best in the U.S. USA TODAY 10BEST had a panel of experts nominate community places that make cities feel like home in several categories, including the best city parks and recreational trails. Readers then made their choices for the best of the bunch, including tapping the South Platte River Trail in Julesburg as the No. 7 recreational trail. It was one of only three trails in the continental U.S. west of the Mississippi River to make the list. Here's a look at the latest Colorado place to be recognized in the USA TODAY 10BEST Reader's Choice Awards. The 19-mile loop – the shortest byway in Colorado – was recognized by USA TODAY 10BEST as being 'ideal for history buffs.' The site highlighted the Fort Sedgwick Museum, which focuses on a fort built in 1864 to protect telegram lines and early settlers of the western U.S. It also gave a nod to the Hippodrome Arts Centre, a theatre that opened more than a century ago and still shows movies in addition to hosting community groups and providing arts access. In addition to those points, the South Platte River Trail connects to the Lincoln Highway – the nation's first coast-to-coast car route – and Colorado's only Pony Express Station. More: This Colorado small town was named one of the best in the US. Here's why you should visit USA TODAY 10BEST readers ranked these as the best public trails in the country: Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama Withlacoochee State Trail, Inverness, Florida Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail, Spokane Valley, Washington Katy Trail, Missouri Chessie Trail, Lexington, Virginia Capital City State Trail, Madison, Wisconsin South Platte River Trail, Julesburg, Colorado Ke Ala Hele Makalae, Kauai, Hawaii Silver Comet Trail, Georgia Great Allegheny Passage, Maryland and Pennsylvania Readers honored several community spaces across the country in different categories. Here's who they chose: Best Boardwalk: Wildwoods Boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey Best City Park: Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, Florida Best Main Street: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Best Public Playground: The Nest at Downtown Cary Park in Cary, North Carolina Best Public Square: Campus Martius Park in Detroit, Michigan Best Recreational Trail: Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama Best Riverwalk: Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky USA TODAY 10BEST says a panel of experts nominated public places in each award category, with the final nominees selected via editorial review by its editors. Once the nominees in an award category were announced, the public had four weeks to vote online for their favorites. People could vote for one nominee in each category each calendar day. Nate Trela covers trending news in Colorado and Utah for the USA TODAY Network. This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: South Platte River Trail in Colorado named one of the best trails
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Three Wisconsin spots named as USA TODAY 10BEST public spaces by readers in spring 2025
Three Wisconsin spots ― a playground, a multiuse trail and a public square ― finished among the top 10 best public spaces in the country in a poll of USA TODAY readers. Kendall Weisgerber Memorial Playground in Baileys Harbor and the Capital City State Trail and Capitol Square, both in Madison, were named as award winners on the USA TODAY 10BEST Readers' Choice Awards lists of best public spaces. 10BEST released its lists of the best boardwalks, city parks, main streets, public playgrounds, public squares, recreational trails and riverwalks in the U.S. on Wednesday. To determine the lists, USA TODAY 10BEST invited industry experts to nominate their favorite points of interest in the categories. 10BEST editors then vetted the nominations and selected the final nominees, which were presented to readers to vote on. The four-week voting period ran from March 10 to April 7. Here are Wisconsin's 10BEST public spaces and where they finished on the list: Kendall Weisgerber Memorial Playground in the Door County town of Baileys Harbor finished third among USA TODAY's 10BEST public playgrounds. The playground, located near the Baileys Harbor Town Hall, was remodeled less than two years ago. The playground offers options for toddlers, older children and children with disabilities. The remodel added a separate area with equipment designed for younger children, ADA-compliant equipment and a flat turf instead of wood chips. Kids can also enjoy a large play structure with multiple slides and a climbing area. The park was originally built in 1992 to honor Kendall Weisgerber, a Baileys Harbor 6-year-old who died in a drowning accident in 1991. In 2021, Kendall's family and other organizations began raising money to replace the 30-year-old playground equipment and make the playground more accessible. They raised $500,000 and celebrated the park's grand reopening in June 2024. These are the USA TODAY 10BEST public playgrounds: The Nest at Downtown Cary Park (Cary, North Carolina) Chapman Foundations Adventure Playground at Gathering Place (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Kendall Weisgerber Memorial Playground (Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin) Variety Wonderland Playground at Forest Park (St. Louis, Missouri) Discovery Playground at Lewis & Clark Landing (Omaha, Nebraska) Battery Playscape (New York City, New York) Yanaguana Garden Playground at Hemisfair (San Antonio, Texas) Shane's Inspiration at Griffith Park (Los Angeles, California) Barrier Free Park (Boynton Beach, Florida) Kamalani Playground at Lydgate Beach Park (Lihue, Hawaii) The Capitol Square in Madison was named the sixth-best public square on 10BEST's list. The square, surrounding the Wisconsin State Capitol building, is home to many of Madison's most popular annual events, especially in the spring and summer months. Highlights include the large, outdoor Dane County Farmers' Market; summertime Concerts on the Square orchestra performances, where visitors crowd the Capitol lawn on picnic blankets to enjoy music from the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; and the annual Art Fair on the Square, which features over 500 artists exhibiting and selling their work. The Capitol lawn is home to trees, flowers and grass, where visitors can sit and enjoy the weather. Multiple major endurance races also finish near the square each year, including the Madison Marathon and Ironman Wisconsin. These are the USA TODAY 10BEST public squares: Campus Martius Park (Detroit, Michigan) Jackson Square (New Orleans, Louisiana) Winterset Town Square (Winterset, Iowa) The Square (Oxford, Mississippi) Franklin Square (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Capitol Square (Madison, Wisconsin) Fountain Square (Cincinnati, Ohio) Healdsburg Plaza (Healdsburg, California) Centerway Square (Corning, New York) Mission Plaza (San Luis Obispo, California) The Capital City State Trail in the Madison area was named the sixth-best recreational trail on 10BEST's list. The 17-mile asphalt trail allows cyclists, runners, walkers and other users to easily access landmarks in Madison and the nearby suburb of Fitchburg. The trail is open year-round and links the Military Ridge and Badger State Trails for easy travel around Dane County. Nine miles of the trail go through the scenic Capital Springs State Recreation Area. These are the USA TODAY 10BEST recreational trails: Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail (Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama) Withlacoochee State Trail (Inverness, Florida) Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail (Spokane Valley, Washington) Katy Trail (Missouri) Chessie Trail (Lexington, Virginia) Capital City State Trail (Madison, Wisconsin) South Platte River Trail (Julesburg, Colorado) Ke Ala Hele Makalae (Kauai, Hawaii) Silver Comet Trail (Georgia) Great Allegheny Passage (Maryland and Pennsylvania) This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Three Wisconsin spots among the USA TODAY 10BEST public spaces
