Kyle Magnuson Profile

I am originally from Northern Wisconsin. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in History, and a Master's degree in Teaching (Social Studies) from the University of Southern California (USC). As an undergraduate I completed coursework in China, Scotland, and Korea. As a member of AmeriCorps, I provided educational services to communities throughout Los Angeles. Today, I am a founding teacher at Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy, where I teach U.S. History.
My Flickr
World Heritage Planning
Closest WHS to Visit (2 WHS)
- Guerrero Negro: Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (including San Ignacio Lagoon)
- Nuevo Casas Grandes: Archaeological Zone of Paquimé
- *Loretto: Bahía de Loreto (component of Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California)
United States (2 WHS)
- Puerto Rico: La Fortaleza and San Juan Historic Site in Puerto Rico
- Alaska: Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek
- *San Juan County: Aztec Ruins National Monument (component of Chaco Culture)
Canadian Atlantic Provinces (4 WHS)
- Québec City
- Old Town Lunenburg
- Grand Pré
- Joggins Fossil Cliffs
Canadian Prairie Provinces (4 WHS)
- Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi
- Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
- Dinosaur Provincial Park
- The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Central Mexico (3 WHS)
- Guanajuato
- San Miguel de Allende
- Camino Real
Gulf States (3 WHS)
- Al Ain (UAE)
- Qal'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain)
- Pearling, testimony of an island economy (Bahrain)
Nordic/Baltic Nations (5 WHS)
- Visby (Sweden)
- Karlskrona (Sweden)
- Birka and Hovgarden (Sweden)
- Fortress of Suomenlinna (Finland)
- Tallinn (Estonia)
Slovenia/Italy (3 WHS)
- The Works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
- Škocjan Caves (Slovenia)
- Venice (Italy)
United Kingdom (10 WHS)
- Kew Gardens
- Westminster
- Tower of London
- Maritime Greenwich
- Blenheim Palace
- Stonehenge
- City of Bath
- Great Spa Towns of Europe
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire
- Durham Castle and Cathedral
Recent Reviews Kyle Magnuson
Hawaii Volcanoes
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 10-Jan-22

For all visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the visitor center is a smart first stop to get information about current eruptions. During our exploration of the park, there were eruptions occurring, but the distance was significant. My camera captured the dramatic scene, but I regretted not bringing my binoculars. We spent 1.5 days in the park and there was certainly still more to see. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was reminiscent to me of both Yellowstone National Park (Steam Vents and Sulphur Banks) and Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes (Thurston Lava Tube).
Read OnGulf of California
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 03-Dec-21

We visited this world heritage site over a period of 8 days. One recommendation (based on your own resources), spend a bit more with established tour companies to get a more full experience of the major components that make this enormous natural WHS unique. We primarily used "Cabo Adventures" and they are professional and offer basics like sunset tours to more serious excursions to places like Cabo Pulmo National Park. It is also possible to rent your own vehicle, but it's not an absolute requirement, since there is a bus system that connects Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Loretto, and pretty much the whole Baja Peninsula for reasonable prices. I will return to other components of this WHS in the future, it's so expansive and vast that it will be rewarding to return.
Read OnYellowstone
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 16-Oct-21

Yellowstone has survived for 150 years. Mineral exploitation, logging and poachers were the most serious threats between 1872 and 1916. In the 'The Act of Dedication' (1872), Yellowstone was "set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people". As of October 2021, Yellowstone has already received more than 4 million visitors. The threat to Yellowstone National Park today is primarily heavy visitor usage/footprint and Climate Change.
Best Practices
- all suggestions are meant as general advice when possible and appropriate to your trip planning and schedule
Read OnWaterton Glacier International Peace Park
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 11-Sep-21

Visiting the park between June 15th and June 17th, the season was still early. The Going-to-the-Sun Road was not cleared fully, but more importantly for my visit, I would have to adapt. Firstly, the reservation system for the Going-to-the-Sun Road was completely overwhelmed with the amount of people who wanted to reserve a place. Shuttle service does not begin until July. Millions of Americans after being vaccinated, hit the roads to escape home, but largely still being limited to domestic travel only. Though I planned months in advance and I diligently visited recreation.gov at every "booking window" it was a fruitless exercise. Everything was fully reserved within 1 minute
Read OnGreat Smoky Mountains
Kyle Magnuson California - United States of America - 22-Aug-21

Great Smoky Mountains National Park deserves a minimum of two days. Gatlinburg is the hub for most visitors (beware weekends in the Summer). I visited the National Park on a Monday and Tuesday. As a general rule in popular National Parks we make sure to get on the trails early, rest in the middle of the day, and head back out to explore around 4pm until dark. Pleasant hikes to waterfalls (such as Laurel or Grotto Falls) are really for all hiking abilities and if you have the time, make sure do to at least one of them (aim for 7am or 8am to avoid crowds).
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Kyle Magnuson
- Country
- California - United States of America
- Most Impressive
- Natural Sites: El Pinacate (Mexico), Gulf of California (Mexico), Jeju Volcanic Island (Korea), Everglades (US), Grand Canyon (US), Hawaii Volcanoes (US), Olympic (US), Redwoods (US), Yellowstone (US), Yosemite (US)
- Proposal
- Native/Indigenous Sites in the United States: (1) Ancestral Lands of the Diné: Canyon de Chelly & Monument Valley (2) Coso Rock Art District (3) Heritage of the Hawaiian Kingdom (4) Rock Art of the Chumash People (5) Sinagua Cultural Landscape
- Website
- website
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 24.06.22
-
Visited WHS
Rating StatsEl Pinacate 4.5Grand Canyon 4.5Hawaii Volcanoes 4.5Imperial Palace 4.5Istanbul 4.5Mesa Verde 4.5Redwood 4.5Jeju 4Segovia 4Sintra 4Toledo 4Cuzco 3.5El Escurial 3.5Gyeongju 3.5Haeinsa Temple 3.5Macao 3.5Mammoth Cave 3.5Mount Taishan 3.5Namhansanseong 3.5Qhapaq Ñan 3.5Silk Roads 3.5Southern Öland 3.5Summer Palace 3.5Temple of Heaven 3.5Versailles 3.5Aranjuez 3Belem 3Lima 3Carlsbad Caverns 2.5Drottningholm 2.5Nice 2.5Poverty Point 2.5Skogskyrkogarden 2.5Reviewed WHS
- Hawaii Volcanoes
- Gulf of California
- Yellowstone
- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
- Great Smoky Mountains
- Monticello
- Poverty Point
- Carlsbad Caverns
- Monastery of Alcobaça
- Monastery of Batalha
- Sintra
- Convent of Christ in Tomar
- Belem
- Mafra Palace, Convent and Royal Hunting Park
- Segovia
- El Escurial
- Aranjuez
- University of Coimbra
- Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro
- Drottningholm
- Kronborg Castle
- Roskilde Cathedral
- Skogskyrkogarden
- Southern Öland
- Par force hunting landscape
- Olympic National Park
- Nice
- El Pinacate
- Seowon, Neo-Confucian Academies
- Macao
- San Antonio Missions
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Great Wall
- Versailles
- Mesa Verde
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- Statue of Liberty
- Independence Hall
- Temple of Heaven
- Teotihuacan
- Central University City Campus of the UNAM
- Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Grand Canyon
- Qhapaq Ñan
- South China Karst
- Silk Roads
- Forth Bridge
- El Pinacate
- Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries
- Taos Pueblo
- Edinburgh
- Machu Picchu
- Summer Palace
- Chaco Culture
- Toledo
- Cahokia Mounds
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius
- Imperial Tombs
- Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings
- Redwood
- Everglades
- Imperial Palace
- Baroque Churches
- Hahoe and Yangdong
- Getbol, Korean Tidal Flat
- Namhansanseong
- Baekje Historic Areas
- Gyeongju
- Haeinsa Temple
- Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen
- Jongmyo Shrine
- Mammoth Cave
- Istanbul
- Lima
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
- Mount Taishan
- Hwaseong Fortress
- Royal Joseon Tombs
- New Lanark
- Cuzco
- Jeju
- Yosemite National Park
- Changdeokgung Palace Complex
Visited TWHS
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancient Mountain Fortresses in Central Korea (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- California Current Conservation Complex (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Civil Rights Movement Sites (T)
- Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs (T)
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Ensemble of Alvaro Siza's Architecture Works in Portugal (T)
- Gaya Tumuli (T)
- Head Office and Garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (T)
- Moravian Church Settlements (USA) (T)
- Mount Vernon (T)
- Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve (T)
- Naganeupseong, Town Fortress and Village (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- Oeam Village (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Rade de Marseille (T)
- Route of Magellan (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Seoul City Wall (T)
- Sites of fossilized dinosaurs throughout the Southern seacoast (T)
- Sites of Globalization (T)
- Southwest Coast (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- Thomas Jefferson Buildings (T)
- Upo Wetland (T)
- White Sands National Monument (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Civil Rights Movement Sites (T)
- Moravian Church Settlements (USA) (T)
- Thomas Jefferson Buildings (T)
- Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (T)
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Mount Vernon (T)
- Route of Magellan (T)
- Sites of Globalization (T)
- The Historic City of Dublin (T)
- Ensemble of Alvaro Siza's Architecture Works in Portugal (T)
- Head Office and Garden of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Southwest Coast (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
- The Rise of Systematic Biology (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ellis Island (T)
- Central Park (T)
- California Current Conservation Complex (T)
- Nuruosmaniye Complex (T)
- Gaya Tumuli (T)
- Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs (T)
- Seoul City Wall (T)
- Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle (T)
- White Sands National Monument (T)
- Trading Posts and Fortifications on Genoese Trade Routes from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea (T)
- The Central Axis of Beijing (including Beihai) (T)
- Oeam Village (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Upo Wetland (T)
- Sites of fossilized dinosaurs throughout the Southern seacoast (T)
- Naganeupseong, Town Fortress and Village (T)
- Ancient Mountain Fortresses in Central Korea (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Rade de Marseille (T)
Top 50 Missing Sites
- Bagan
- Chicago School of Architecture
- Ciudad Perdida, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
- Concordia
- Dilwara Temples at Mt Abu
- Dzongs of Bhutan
- El Nido Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area
- Kaieteur National Park, Iwokrama Forest and the Kanuku Mountains
- Klondike and the Gold Rush Trails
- Laas Gaal
- Lake Titicaca
- Major Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright
- Nan Madol
- Okavango Delta
- Plain of Jars / Sites Mégalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang
- Silk Roads
- Sistema Vial Andino/Qhapaq Ñan
- Svalbard
- Torres del Paine National Park
- Ur
Top 200 WHS
- Volcanoes of Kamchatka
- Hawaii Volcanoes
- Teide National Park
- Ferrara
- Shibam
- Edinburgh
- Toledo
- Sana'a
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Rome
- Istanbul
- Venice and its Lagoon
- Qhapaq Ñan
- Silk Roads
- Ayutthaya
- Ellora Caves
- Moenjodaro
- Sukhothai
- Angkor
- Vézère Valley
- Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc
- Altamira Cave
- Sundarbans National Park
- Iguazu National Park
- The Sundarbans
- Okavango Delta
- Victoria Falls
- Three parallel rivers of Yunnan
- Pantanal
- Kenya Lake System
- Central Amazon Conservation Complex
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Neolithic Orkney
- Çatalhöyük
- Stonehenge
- Palenque
- Chichen-Itza
- Caral-Supe
- Tikal National Park
- Teotihuacan
- Chan Chan
- Mesa Verde
- SGang Gwaay
- Chaco Culture
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- St. Petersburg
- Florence
- Carthage
- Villa d'Este
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Dinosaur Provincial Park
- Fontainebleau
- Potsdam
- Golestan Palace
- Changdeokgung Palace Complex
- Imperial Palace
- Rapa Nui
- Nemrut Dag
- Petra
- Persepolis
- Tchogha Zanbil
- Samarra
- Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch
- Machu Picchu
- Kilimanjaro National Park
- Sagarmatha National Park
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
- Great Wall
- Crac des Chevaliers
- Gwynedd Castles
- Agra Fort
- Statue of Liberty
- Genbaku Dome
- Auschwitz Birkenau
- Kutna Hora
- Vienna
- Dubrovnik
- Siena
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- Rock Islands
- West Norwegian Fjords
- Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Skocjan Caves
- Ha Long Bay
- South China Karst
- Selimiye Mosque
- Meidan Emam, Esfahan
- Sub-Antarctic Islands
- Temple of Heaven
- Sun Temple, Konarak
- Prambanan
- Khajuraho Group of Monuments
- Chola Temples
- Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona
- Los Glaciares
- Te Wahipounamu
- Ilulissat Icefjord
- Yosemite National Park
- Glacier parks
- Rio Abiseo National Park
- Jiuzhaigou Valley
- Tropical Rainforest Sumatra
- Redwood
- Cape Floral Region
- Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
- Serengeti
- Ngorongoro
- Yellowstone
- Galapagos Islands
- Aldabra Atoll
- Komodo National Park
- Gulf of California
- Koguryo Kingdom
- Ancient Kyoto
- Fagus Factory
- China Danxia
- Grand Canyon
- Nubian Monuments
- Ancient Thebes
- Central University City Campus of the UNAM
- Jantar Mantar
- Museumsinsel (Museum Island)
- Olympic National Park
- Cerrado Protected Areas
- Lorentz National Park
- Virunga National Park
- Namib Sand Sea
- El Pinacate
- St. Kilda
- Pergamon
- Medici Villas and Gardens
- Uluru
- Bali Subak system
- Persian Garden
- Wadi Rum
- West Lake
- Thingvellir
- Guanajuato
- Québec
- Puebla
- Meroe
- Great Zimbabwe Ruins
- Cliff of Bandiagara
- Shushtar
- Kremlin and Red Square
- Sceilg Mhichíl
- Mount Athos
- Westminster
- Mont-Saint-Michel
- Piazza del Duomo (Pisa)
- Vatican City
- Meteora
- Lalibela
- Aachen Cathedral
- Mystras
- Göreme NP
- Royal Joseon Tombs
- Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Etruscan Necropolises
- Taj Mahal
- Pyramids (Memphis)
- Yungang Grottoes
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
- Taxila
- Longmen Grottoes
- Mount Emei, including Leshan Giant Buddha
- Mogao Caves
- Mahabodhi Temple Complex
- Borobudur
- Potala Palace
- Sigiriya
- Dazu Rock Carvings
- Ajanta Caves
- Xidi and Hongcun
- Hué
- Kathmandu Valley
- Ping Yao
- Samarkand
- Medina of Marrakesh
- Damascus
- Aleppo
- Leptis Magna
- Pompei
- Villa Romana del Casale
- Cyrene
- Hierapolis-Pamukkale
- Acropolis
- Mycenae and Tiryns
- Olympia
- Hani Rice Terraces
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- Timbuktu
- Ghadames
- Djenné
- Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou
- Aksum
- Jeju