Every outdoor adventurer has a bucket list of places to visit – usually full of well-known destinations like Moab, Banff, Jackson Hole, and Bar Harbor.
But while those towns are famous for good reason, their fame comes at a price: crowds, traffic, and high prices.
The 12 towns featured here may not be on your list, but they should be. All offer amazing scenery and memorable trails, but you’ll rarely encounter a two-hour wait for dinner or a timed-entry permit. A few are gateways to parks that barely register on most road-trip plans; others sit in the shadow of their more famous neighbors. What they share is that each deserves more than a quick drive-through.
Munising, Michigan
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was the first national lakeshore in the country. Its sandstone cliffs, streaked orange and green by mineral-rich water, look almost unreal from a tour boat. Unfortunately, many visitors treat Munising as little more than a parking lot for that boat ride. Stick around a while, and you’ll find much more!
Hop on the ferry to Grand Island, a national recreation area with miles of quiet two-track roads that make for a great mountain-biking day. Waterfalls are everywhere, too. Munising Falls is a short walk from the edge of town, and Wagner Falls is barely a detour off the highway.
Hikers should set aside a full day for Chapel Loop along the lakeshore. This 10-mile circuit links Chapel Falls with clifftop views around Chapel Rock, a sandstone column with a white pine growing out of the top. Munising Bay is also home to a cluster of remarkably well-preserved shipwrecks, which you can tour by glass-bottomed boat.
Nearest KOAs:
Munising / Pictured Rocks KOA Journey
Ely, Nevada
Most travelers know Ely as a fuel stop on U.S. Highway 50, the stretch of pavement Life magazine famously called “the loneliest road in America” in 1986. That reputation sells the town short; in fact, Ely makes a great base for exploring Great Basin National Park, one of the quietest national parks in the country.
Great Basin packs a surprising amount of terrain into a small footprint. Wheeler Peak tops out at 13,063 feet, and the summit trail rewards strong hikers with jaw-dropping views. Below ground, ranger-led tours through Lehman Caves wind past marble formations that look almost sculpted. Great Basin is also a certified International Dark Sky Park, and on a moonless night the Milky Way seems almost close enough to touch.
Closer to town, Cave Lake draws anglers after rainbow and brown trout, and Garnet Hill lets rockhounds dig for small, deep-red garnets on public land. Train fans shouldn’t skip the Nevada Northern Railway, where restored steam engines still pull passenger cars out of a rail yard that’s been operating for more than a century.
Nearest KOAs:
Ely KOA Journey
Salida, Colorado
Salida sits in the Upper Arkansas River Valley, a little over two hours southwest of Denver. While this town is no secret to Coloradans, it still sees a fraction of the crowds that pack places like Breckenridge or Aspen on a summer weekend.
The Arkansas River runs right through downtown and has a whitewater park built into it, so you can watch kayakers slice through the waves while you finish your coffee on a riverside patio! A short drive north, Browns Canyon National Monument protects one of the country’s most popular rafting stretches, with Class III rapids that are fun for first-timers but still interesting for veterans.
To the north is the 14,000-foot Collegiate Peaks, with summit routes manageable for fit hikers who start early and watch the afternoon sky. Mountain bikers talk reverently about the Monarch Crest Trail, which follows the Continental Divide above the treeline before dropping thousands of feet back toward the valley floor.
Nearest KOAs:
Royal Gorge / Canon City KOA Holiday
Gunnison KOA Journey
Alma, New Brunswick
Located on the Bay of Fundy, Alma is easy to miss if you’re rushing toward Nova Scotia or the famous flowerpot rocks at Hopewell. Slow down, though, because this tiny fishing village of a few hundred people is right at the doorstep of Fundy National Park, offering some of the most dramatic tidal scenery on the planet.
The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, and in Alma you can watch them from the wharf. At high tide, lobster boats bob at the pier. A few hours later, they’re resting on the mud, and you can walk out across the ocean floor where the water used to be.
Fundy National Park wraps around the village with more than 25 waterfalls and a long list of trails. Dickson Falls is a short, family-friendly loop through mossy forest, while longer routes climb into the Caledonia Highlands for big views over the bay.
Nearest KOAs:
Sussex KOA Journey
Kimberley, British Columbia
Kimberley is a small mountain town in the East Kootenays region of the Purcell Mountains, with the Rockies filling its eastern skyline. Known for its Bavarian-themed downtown called the Platzl, Kimberley’s biggest pride and joy is Kimberley Nature Park, one of Canada’s largest parks! Hikers and trail runners can spend days here without repeating a route.
The nearby St. Mary River is popular for fly fishing and relaxed rafting trips. Cyclists can pedal the Northstar Rails to Trails, a roughly 15-mile-long paved path that follows an old rail line. The Kimberley Underground Mining Railway takes visitors deep into the old Sullivan Mine.
Nearest KOAs:
Cranbrook / St. Eugene KOA Journey
Winthrop, Washington
Most people who drive the North Cascades Highway are headed somewhere on the west side of the mountain range and treat Winthrop mainly as a place to stretch their legs before turning back. It deserves a lot more than that. The Methow Valley sits on the dry eastern slope of the North Cascades, and that geography changes everything. While the west side collects rain and fog, Winthrop gets sun!
Methow Trails is North America’s largest cross-country ski network, and once the snow melts, summer hiking is excellent. The Maple Pass Loop and the climb to Blue Lake both begin right off Highway 20 and deliver alpine scenery that would require a permit lottery almost anywhere else in the country. North of town, the Pasayten Wilderness covers hundreds of thousands of acres that see very few boot prints.
The Methow River supports good fly fishing and lively rafting during spring runoff. The trail networks around Sun Mountain give hikers and riders a lot of options without a long shuttle.
Nearest KOAs:
Winthrop / North Cascades National Park KOA Holiday
Silver City, New Mexico
New Mexico’s tourism map has well-worn grooves running from Santa Fe to Taos to White Sands. Most travelers never head to Silver City deep in the southwest corner of the state.
An old mining town, Silver City is the front door to the 3.3-million-acre Gila National Forest, one of the wildest stretches of public land left in the Lower 48! It includes the Gila Wilderness, the world’s first designated wilderness area, set aside in 1924 after Aldo Leopold argued that some country ought to stay roadless on purpose.
Backpackers come for the Gila River canyon and the Continental Divide Trail. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, about 45 miles north of town, features rooms built by Mogollon families in the late 1200s. Downtown Silver City has an odd and wonderful feature called the Big Ditch, a sunken creekside park that used to be Main Street until 1890s floods washed it away.
Nearest KOAs:
Silver City KOA Holiday
Lordsburg KOA Journey
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
A lot of travelers only see Sault Ste. Marie through a windshield as they cross the International Bridge from Michigan. That’s a mistake, because the Soo, is the gateway to some of the wildest scenery on Lake Superior.
Start with the Agawa Canyon Tour Train, which runs north through Algoma wilderness to a canyon floor where you can hike to lookouts and waterfalls before riding back to town. Head north on the Trans-Canada Highway to Lake Superior Provincial Park, featuring the shoreline that inspired the Group of Seven painters a century ago. At Agawa Rock, follow the short but slippery trail to ancient Ojibwe pictographs painted on sheer cliffs above the water.
Hiawatha Highlands, on the city’s north side, has a network of paths through hardwood forest with Crystal Falls as the scenic payoff. In winter, the same area turns into a cross-country ski and snowshoe destination!
Nearest KOAs:
Sault Ste. Marie KOA Holiday
St. Ignace / Mackinac Island KOA Holiday (MI)
Mackinaw City / Mackinac Island KOA Journey (MI)
Dubois, Wyoming
Most traffic rolling through Dubois is merely passing through on the way to Togwotee Pass toward the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. By not stopping, they’re missing one of the most authentic mountain towns left in the West!
Dubois sits at nearly 7,000 feet in a valley framed by the Absaroka Range to the north and the Wind River Range to the south. Red and purple badlands roll right up against forested peaks, and the Wind River flows through it all, with good trout fishing right in town. The nearby Whiskey Mountain area supports one of the largest wintering herds of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in the lower 48. Dubois is also home to the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center.
Brooks Lake, tucked below the jagged Pinnacle Buttes, is one of Wyoming’s prettiest. Staying in Dubois instead of Jackson means quieter nights, and the Tetons are still an easy day trip. In summer, the town hosts rodeos and square dances that feel refreshingly unpolished.
Nearest KOAs:
Dubois / Wind River KOA Holiday
Brevard, North Carolina
Located on the edge of Pisgah National Forest, Brevard is one of the best-kept secrets in the Southern Appalachians. Its neighbor Asheville, just 35 miles up the road, tends to soak up most of the attention in this corner of the Blue Ridge.
Transylvania County markets itself as the Land of Waterfalls, and that’s not an exaggeration. The county contains roughly 250 of them! Looking Glass Falls drops about 60 feet right beside U.S. 276. Nearby Sliding Rock is a 60-foot natural waterslide that sends swimmers down a smooth rock face into a very chilly pool.
DuPont State Recreational Forest, just south of town, deserves a full day. Its trail network strings together several big waterfalls, including Triple Falls and High Falls. Serious mountain bikers already know Pisgah for its steep, rooty singletrack. Anglers have the Davidson River, a well-known trout stream that runs close to town.
Nearest KOAs:
Travelers Rest / North Greenville KOA Holiday (SC)
Asheville West KOA Holiday
Asheville East KOA Holiday
Anderson / Lake Hartwell KOA Holiday (SC)
Hot Springs, South Dakota
Black Hills vacationers tend to cluster around Mount Rushmore and the busy tourist strip in Keystone. Only a fraction of that traffic reaches Hot Springs, a town built from pink sandstone at the southern end of the hills that still has a relaxed, old-resort feel.
About 12 miles north of town is Wind Cave National Park. This park encompasses one of the world’s longest cave systems, known for rare and delicate boxwork formations. Above ground, the park is a sweep of mixed-grass prairie where bison graze near the road and prairie dog towns keep up a constant chatter. Elk and pronghorn are common sightings. Plus, Custer State Park and its famous Wildlife Loop Road are right next door.
Evans Plunge has drawn swimmers to its warm, spring-fed pool since 1890, and the Mammoth Site lets you watch paleontologists work an active dig full of Ice Age fossils. About 10 miles south, Cascade Falls is a spring-fed swimming hole that stays surprisingly mild well into the fall. Not to be outdone, the Angostura Reservoir, just southeast of town, adds boating and sandy beaches to the mix!
Nearest KOAs:
Hot Springs SD / Black Hills KOA Holiday
Custer / Crazy Horse / Black Hills KOA Holiday
Hill City / Needles Highway KOA Holiday
Mount Rushmore KOA Resort at Palmer Gulch
Rapid City / Black Hills KOA Holiday
Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
When you picture stunning canyon scenery, Pennsylvania’s probably not top of mind. But Pine Creek Gorge, which locals call the “Pennsylvania Grand Canyon,” cuts 47 miles through the northern part of the state and drops up to 1,450 feet at its deepest! It’s been a National Natural Landmark since 1968. Wellsboro, with its gas-lit street lamps along Main Street, sits on its edge.
Leonard Harrison State Park anchors the east side of town. On the west side is Colton Point State Park; it’s rougher and quieter, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. From either rim, the Turkey Path drops hard for about a mile and a half, past a string of waterfalls. A big draw for many campers is the Pine Creek Rail Trail, which follows an old rail grade for roughly 62 miles on a nearly flat surface.
Pine Creek has no dams, so it runs on snowmelt and rain, and the canyon stretch is usually best from mid-March into early June. Bald eagles nest here, and the gorge is an Audubon Important Bird Area. Head east about 40 miles for Cherry Springs State Park, which offers some of the darkest skies on the East Coast.
Nearest KOAs:
Watkins Glen / Corning KOA Resort (NY)
Williamsport South / Nittany Mountain KOA Holiday
Bellefonte / State College KOA Holiday
Finding Your Own Underrated Favorite
The best part about towns like these is that they reward curiosity. You don’t need a reservation six months out or a strategy for beating enormous crowds – you just need to be willing to stay a night or two longer than you planned.
Although more famous destinations will always have their place, many of us find that the trips we talk about most later on are those that happened somewhere quieter, in towns like these that we almost drove past without a second look.
Leslie is a freelance travel and health/wellness writer who gets butterflies from telling stories and sharing information with readers across the globe. Her voice comes from a place filled with passion and dreams.
With over 10 years of experience in crafting words and years of embarking on travels that have taken this Montana girl to some incredible places, Leslie loves the adventures of both body and mind that her writing takes her on.
To see what Leslie’s up to in the writing and design world, visit her website here.
