Ronald Reagan’s burial site, on a hilltop in Simi Valley, is a serene spot that joins a list of often obscure places serving as final homes for presidents. Like Reagan, many of the nation’s former chief executives chose to be buried far from the corridors of power in Washington. Indeed, only Woodrow Wilson, the nation’s 28th president, remains in death in the city he once dominated in life. His tomb is in the National Cathedral.

By contrast, many of the past presidents lie near where they were born or, as with Reagan, in a place they long called home. In some cases, they are buried on their estates, a tradition that dates back to the nation’s first president, George Washington.

Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, which is in Virginia just outside Washington, D.C., is a major tourist attraction, drawing around 1 million visitors a year -- "nearly all of whom go to the tomb," spokeswoman Rebecca Ryser says.

Still, Washington’s burial site is an exception.

"Most of these presidential sites don’t have very many visitors at all," says Brian Lamb, author of "Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb? A Tour of Presidential Gravesites."

Lamb, better known as the head of C-SPAN, the cable station that broadcasts U.S. legislative sessions and other political events, has visited the gravesite of every president. Some are so sparsely visited, he notes, that he couldn’t find another person to take his picture.

Even at Arlington National Cemetery, where thousands still come each year to view the eternal flame at the grave of John F. Kennedy, an earlier president lies nearby almost unnoticed, he says. "You walk a few paces from Kennedy and there is William Howard Taft. Almost nobody goes there."

If history is a guide, the outpouring of interest in President Reagan’s gravesite won’t last long. Consider the case of another larger-than-life president, Ulysses S. Grant, who’s famously buried in "Grant’s Tomb" in New York City. Today, the tomb is sparsely visited.

"He was enormously popular when he died. There were something like a million people on the parade route," Lamb notes. "But you wouldn’t know from the number of people there today."

Lamb says there’s plenty of reason to make a detour to a presidential burial site. The sites, which often are near boyhood homes or family estates, offer a glimpse into the making and mind-set of the men who would become president. They also offer a powerful reminder of the limitations of seeking power and fame.

"One of the lessons you learn is that no matter how powerful you are, you will die, and there’s nothing that power can do to stop it," Lamb says.

Lamb says the most intriguing presidential burial sites are the ones that are located near the homes or onetime workplaces of the presidents, where there’s "a total package" for visitors. Springfield, Ill., site of Abraham Lincoln’s home, office and gravesite, is one.

Lamb’s favorite? Plymouth, Vt., home to the gravesite of Calvin Coolidge. The Coolidge family home, the community church, cheese factory, one-room schoolhouse and general store have been carefully preserved, and the area appears almost unchanged from the early 20th century.

"It’s an incredibly beautiful site, and the gravestone is so simple. It’s like a tablet on the ground. There’s nothing to it at all," he says. The whole experience of visiting "gives you a feel for what his life was like."

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