Kyle Magnuson

United States of America \ Member since March 2010

#501 104 37 3

I live and work in Los Angeles, California, though I am originally from the Midwest. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in History at the University of Wisconsin-Superior 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 in my 20's, I provided educational services to communities throughout Los Angeles, which led to a career in Education. Today, I am a founding teacher at a middle school, where I teach United States History.

I have contributed an overabundance of information to the country page and forum for South Korea. I consider Korea to be one the great rewards for world heritage travelers. Firstly, a high number of accessible WHS reachable by efficient public transport. Secondly, excellent interpretation and management of each site, including translation. Lastly, the public awareness and domestic interest in world heritage in Korea is exceptional, including world heritage themed festivals and campaigns for aspiring nominations.

I often travel plan and create lists/goals regarding future trips. While I'm not a completist World Heritage traveller, I certainly focus on World Heritage sites when planning. Listed below are the sites I hope to visit during the next few years.

My Flickr

Complete California

World Heritage Planning 2025-2030

Argentina/Uruguay/Brazil (9 WHS)

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier (Argentina)
ESMA Museum and Site of Memory (Argentina)
Cordoba (Argentina)
Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay)
Iguazu National Park (Argentina) *Top 100
Iguacu (Brazil) *Top 100
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Valongo Wharf (Brazil)
Sítio Roberto Burle Marx (Brazil)

Australia (7 WHS)

K’gari Fraser Island (Queensland)
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (Queensland)
Sydney Opera House (New South Wales)
Greater Blue Mountains Area (New South Wales)
Australian Convict Sites (New South Wales)
Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (Victoria)
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape (Victoria)

Azores - Bermuda (2 WHS)

Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroismo in the Azores
The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

Baja California Mexico (1 WHS)

Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

Botswana/Namibia (3 WHS)

Okavango Delta *Top 100
Namib Sand Sea *Top 100
Twyfelfontein

Canada - East (9 WHS)

Grand Pré
Gros Morne National Park *Top 100
Joggins Fossil Cliffs
L'Anse aux Meadows
Mistaken Point
Old Québec
Old Town Lunenburg
Red Bay Basque Whaling Station
Rideau Canal

Canadian Prairie Provinces (4 WHS)

Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Dinosaur Provincial Park
The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks *Top 100

Caribbean (4 WHS)

Historic Bridgetown (Barbados)
Morne Trois Pitons (Dominica)
Volcanoes and Forests of Mount Pelée and the Pitons of Northern Martinique (France)
La Fortaleza (Puerto Rico)

China via Shanghai (3 WHS)

Classical Gardens of Suzhou
The Grand Canal
Migratory Bird Sanctuaries

China via Shenyang (1 WHS)

Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom

France (9 WHS)

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
Chartres Cathedral
The Palace and Park of Fontainebleau
Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge
Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
Maison Carrée de Nîmes
Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments

Ghana/South Africa via Cape Town (2 WHS)

Forts and Castles, Central Region (Ghana) *Cape Coast/Elmina
Cape Floral Region
Robben Island

Gulf States (7 WHS)

Qal'at al-Bahrain (Bahrain)
Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy (Bahrain)
Dilmun Burial Mounds (Bahrain)
Aflaj Irrigation System (Oman)
Bahla Fort (Oman)
Bat, Al-Khutm and Al-Ayn (Oman)
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site (Qatar)

India - Western Coast, Sri Lanka & Seychelles (12 WHS)

Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai (India)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (India)
Elephanta Caves (India)
Churches and Convents of Goa (India)
Valley de Mai Nature Reserve (Seychelles)
Sacred City of Kandy (Sri Lanka)
Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications (Sri Lanka)
Central Highlands (Sri Lanka)
Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple (Sri Lanka)
Ancient City of Sigiriya (Sri Lanka)
Ancient City of Polonnaruwa (Sri Lanka)
Sacred City of Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka)

Japan (9 WHS)

ICN Flight to Tokyo

National Museum of Western Art (Le Corbusier)
Shrines and Temples of Nikko
Mount Fuji
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
Hiraizumi Temples and Gardens

Busan to Fukuoka Ferry

Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region
Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution
Yakushima

ICN Flight to Hokkaido

Shiretoko

Jordan (4 WHS)

Petra *Top 100
Umm al-Jimal
Um er-Rasas (Kastron Mefa'a)
Wadi Rum Protected Area

Mongolia (2 WHS)

Deer Stone Monuments
Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape

Nordic/Baltic Nations (8 WHS)

Visby (Sweden)
Karlskrona (Sweden)
Birka and Hovgarden (Sweden)
Fortress of Suomenlinna (Finland)
Tallinn (Estonia) *ferry from Helsinki
Struve Geodetic Arc - Tartu Observatory (Estonia)

Sweden via driving (2 WHS) *Malmö to Oslo

Grimeton Radio Station (Sweden)
Rock Carvings in Tanum (Sweden)

Northern Mexico via driving (1 WHS)

Nuevo Casas Grandes: Archaeological Zone of Paquimé

Rwanda/Zambia (3 WHS)

Memorial sites of the Genocide (Rwanda)
Nyungwe National Park (Rwanda)
Victoria Falls *Top 100

Sicily - Malta - Tunisia (11 WHS)

Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (Italy)
Mount Etna (Italy)
Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica (Italy)
Villa Romana del Casale (Italy)
City of Valletta (Malta)
Megalithic Temples (Malta)
Hal Saflieni Hypogeum (Malta)
Isole Eolie (Italy)
Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale (Italy)
Medina of Tunis (Tunisia)
Archaeological Site of Carthage (Tunisia)

Slovenia/Italy (3 WHS)

The Works of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Škocjan Caves (Slovenia)
Venice (Italy) *Top 100

Southern Spain (4 WHS)

Historic Centre of Cordoba *Top 100
Caliphate City of Medina Azahara
Cathedral, Alcazar and Archivo de Indias in Seville *Top 100
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzin, Granada *Top 100

Thailand/Cambodia (5 WHS)

Historic City of Ayutthaya (Thailand)
The Ancient Town of Si Thep (Thailand)
Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai Forest Complex (Thailand)
Angkor (Cambodia) *Top 100
Koh Ker (Cambodia)

United Kingdom (12 WHS)

Flow Country
The Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Durham Castle and Cathedral
City of Bath
Great Spa Towns of Europe
Stonehenge
Kew Gardens
Westminster
Tower of London
Maritime Greenwich
Blenheim Palace

United States/Canada (2 WHS)

Alaska: Glacier Parks / Wrangell-St. *Top 100
Canada: Tr’ondëk-Klondike

Yucatán Peninsula Mexico via train (6 WHS)

Sian Ka'an
Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza *Top 100
Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal
Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque *Top 100
Ancient Maya City of Calakmul, Campeche *Top 100

Travel Plans [Country List]

My most impressive site: Yellowstone, Machu Picchu

My proposal for a new site: Native/Indigenous Sites in the United States: (1) Ancestral Lands of the Diné: Canyon de Chelly & Monument Valley (2) Coso Rock Art Historic District (3) Heritage of the Hawaiian Kingdom (4) Rock Art of the Chumash People (5) Sinagua Cultural Landscape 6) Southwestern Utah: Canyonlands and Bears Ears Cultural Landscape 7) Grand Canyon National Park (cultural criteria)

Check out my website: http://completecalifornia.weebly.com/

Recent Visits

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1

July 30, 2025

Korea Summer 2025: Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at Hwasun Unjusa Temple
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July 21, 2025

Korea Summer 2025: Gyeongju
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July 9, 2025

Korea Summer 2025: Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats (Extension)

Top 10 Missing

Completed Countries

About Kyle Magnuson

Member since: March 2010

Country of Origin: United States of America

Visits

Rank: #501

WHS: 104

Tentative Sites: 37

Website Participation

Reviews: 156

Ratings Ratings World Heritage Sites Yellowstone 5.0 Machu Picchu 5.0 Great Wall 5.0 Yosemite National Park 4.5 Chaco Culture 4.5 Hawaii Volcanoes 4.5 Palau de la Musica Catalana & Hospital de Sant Pau 4.5 El Pinacate 4.5 Works of Antoni Gaudí 4.5 Grand Canyon 4.5 Mesa Verde 4.5 Istanbul 4.5 Redwood 4.5 Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing 4.5 Gulf of California 4.5 Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings 4.5 Gyeongju 4.5 Taos Pueblo 4.0 Teotihuacan 4.0 Sintra 4.0 Segovia 4.0 Everglades 4.0 Olympic National Park 4.0 Great Smoky Mountains 4.0 Toledo 4.0 Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor 4.0 Edinburgh 4.0 Guanacaste 4.0 Mexico City and Xochimilco 4.0 Guanajuato 4.0 Paris, Banks of the Seine 4.0 Waterton Glacier International Peace Park 4.0 Jeju 4.0 Bali Subak system 4.0 University of Coimbra 4.0 Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries 4.0 Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats 3.5 Macao 3.5 Vizcaya Bridge 3.5 South China Karst 3.5 Beijing Central Axis 3.5 Central University City Campus of the UNAM 3.5 Melaka and George Town 3.5 San Miguel de Allende 3.5 Royal Joseon Tombs 3.5 Hahoe and Yangdong 3.5 Al Ain 3.5 Temple of Heaven 3.5 Southern Öland 3.5 Cuzco 3.5 Mammoth Cave 3.5 Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple 3.5 Mount Taishan 3.5 Statue of Liberty 3.5 Haeinsa Temple 3.5 Monastery of Batalha 3.5 Convent of Christ in Tomar 3.5 Monastery of Alcobaça 3.5 Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius 3.5 Versailles 3.5 Changdeokgung Palace Complex 3.5 El Escurial 3.5 Willemstad 3.5 Summer Palace 3.5 Namhansanseong 3.5 Cahokia Mounds 3.0 Roskilde Cathedral 3.0 Jongmyo Shrine 3.0 Hwaseong Fortress 3.0 Gaya Tumuli 3.0 Independence Hall 3.0 Lima 3.0 Querétaro 3.0 Baroque Churches 3.0 Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro 3.0 Aranjuez 3.0 Belem 3.0 Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream 3.0 Par force hunting landscape 3.0 Baekje Historic Areas 3.0 Singapore Botanic Gardens 3.0 Forth Bridge 3.0 Seowon, Neo-Confucian Academies 3.0 Carlsbad Caverns 3.0 Mudejar Architecture of Aragon 3.0 Monticello 3.0 Kronborg Castle 3.0 Imperial Tombs 3.0 Grand Canal 3.0 San Antonio Missions 3.0 Moravian Church Settlements 3.0 Mafra 2.5 Faya Palaeolandscape 2.5 Hopewell 2.5 Poverty Point 2.5 Drottningholm 2.5 Skogskyrkogarden 2.5 Nice 2.5 Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen 2.5 FRIM Selangor 2.5 New Lanark 2.0 Tentative Sites The Padang Civic Ensemble Nuruosmaniye Complex Pombaline Lisbon Rural Temples of Cusco Ellis Island Lake Titicaca Sites of fossilized dinosaurs Civil Rights Movement Sites Capital Fortifications of Hanyang City of York Sharjah: the Gate to Trucial States Hoeamsa Temple Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats (Extension) Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at Hwasun Unjusa Temple Naganeupseong Rade de Marseille Brooklyn Bridge California Current Conservation Complex Central Park Early Chicago Skyscrapers Petrified Forest National Park White Sands National Monument El Nido-Taytay Protected Area Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve Upo Wetland Amalienborg and its district Plantations in West Curacao Mount Vernon Chapultepec Woods, Hill and Castle Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Kangjingun Kiln Sites Walled City of Manila Thomas Jefferson Buildings The Rise of Systematic Biology D-Day Landing Beaches, Normandy, 1944 Khor Dubai Ancient Mountain Fortresses in Central Korea Mleiha Oeam Village: 101 39

Locations: 92

Zones: 0

Reviews by Kyle Magnuson

Page 7 of 8

Mausoleum of the First Qin Em… (Inscribed)

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

The highlight of any trip to Xian, the world famous Terra Cotta Warriors are magnifient to behold. The only downside is the sites are relatively quick to "view" and then …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 14/09/12

Temple, Mansion and Cemetery … (Inscribed)

Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius

I really enjoyed my time in Qufu. While this small city is fairly off the tourist map, the Family Mansion of Confucius can get very crowded (like most China WHS). …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 13/09/12

Imperial Tombs (Inscribed)

Imperial Tombs

Like others I visited the Changling Tomb. I visited China the first time in 2006, and at the time I was not even aware of Unesco. I enjoyed my time …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 12/09/12

Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings (Inscribed)

An Architectural Collection Spanning 50 Years

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the great architects of the 20th century, with a far-reaching influence and legacy of design that we encounter frequently in our own homes …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 25/07/12

Redwood (Inscribed)

Like Walking into a Primeval Forest

Following the previous days 11 hour drive from Los Angeles, visiting Redwood National Park is a challenge because of its remote location. (5 hrs drive north from San Francisco) Nevertheless, …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 30/05/12

Everglades (Inscribed)

Wet Prarie

As I had plenty of time in Southern Florida in December 2011, I made three excursions into Everglades National Park. First I visited Shark Valley and walked more than half …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 03/01/12

Imperial Palaces of the Ming … (Inscribed)

Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing

I visited the Imperial Palace in Beijing twice. Once in 2006 and once in 2007. A true exploration of the site runs about half a day. It is worthwile to …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 28/12/11

Baroque Churches (Inscribed)

San Agustin Church: Intramuros Manila

While in Manila for a brief time, my short excursion into Intramuros was enjoyable. Like others have mentioned, Manila is a somewhat chaotic city and San Agustin Church provides a …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 26/12/11

Oeam Village (On tentative list)

Joseon Farm Village

Oeam village is a beautiful small village, whose inhabitants are largely in the 60+ range. The village is not really a tourist site, more being an actual old village which …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 13/06/11

El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area by Kyle Magnuson

El Nido-Taytay Protected Area (On tentative list)

El Nido-Taytay Protected Area

The archipalego's around El Nido and Taytay are certainly of "outstanding universal value." Bacuit bay is an incredible panorama of pristine islands, teeming with biodiversity. Snorkeling anywhere in Bacuit bay …

Keep reading Kyle Magn… 12/06/11

Upo Wetland (On tentative list)

Changnyeong Biosphere Reserve

I was pleasantly suprised by Upo. I honestly did not know what to expect. No one in Korea I knew ever visited Upo marsh, while only a few had even …