USA Remote/Obscure/Undiscovered Places

[Al_4_ISU 12,477]

Inspired by the Far Flung Globe Trotter thread, but what are some off the beaten path or relatively unknown places within the US that you've been to and were totally surprised by, or intend to check out?

One of my favorite parts of traveling around is finding these unheralded places that have a lot to offer and contain a surprising amount of beauty.  I'll start it off:

1) Lake City, Colorado.  Yeah, Colorado isn't exactly lacking for tourist traffic, but Lake City is like a walk back in time compared to the big CO resort areas.  It's in the absolute middle of nowhere in the San Juan Mountains, with absolutely no resort style hotels or gentrified hipster places.  It's an old mountain town with a few bars, a few restaurants, and enough places to lay your head while being in the middle of some of the best trout fishing, hiking, 4x4ing, and mountain biking on the planet.  I've stayed there at least 3 times while hiking the local 14ers.  These are some of the prettiest hikes in Colorado, which is saying something, and when you're done at night you can get a good bite to eat, a few beers, and not have to fight a bunch of asshole tourists to do it.

2) Buffalo River Valley, Arkansas.  Die-hard paddlers definitely know the Buffalo, but the area still feels mostly untouched.  Things are cheap, and the views are astounding.  I find the whole look to the Ozarks to be absolutely beguiling.  Lots of hiking options, and despite the relative proximity to KC, STL, and DFW, it's just not totally overrun.  Bentonville and the MTB scene there seems to suck up a lot of that.  You definitely have to drive in from a little ways if you want civilization at night, but that's part of the charm.

3) Cody, Wyoming.  People tend to think of Jackson as the entrance to Yellowstone, but if you wanted a base for exploring that area with all of the amenities, and none of the bullshit, Cody's the place.  Last time I was in Yellowstone we spent one night in Cody and 2 nights in Jackson.  If/when we go back, I'd stay in Cody the entire time.  Totally unpretentious, affordable, and that drive into the park from the east is spectacular.  Yellowstone isn't exactly obscure, but I think a large amount of the traffic just avoids this area altogether or passes through.

4) Cuyuna Country, Minnesota.  Centered around the town of Crosby, this is a mountain biking/winter sports paradise.  The main gem is an abandoned iron mine in the Cuyuna Iron Range that the State of Minnesota purchased and started building an excellent network of mountain bike trails.  In the summer you can canoe and kayak in the old mine pits which have backfilled with crystal clear snow melt as well.  In the winter, there's an endless network of snowmobiling and all the bike trails are groomed for either fat tire biking or cross county skiing, and snowshoeing is encouraged everywhere.  You're nestled into the Minnesota Northwoods Lake Country as well, which breeds it's own unique culture of vacation homes, and lodges that bustle in the summer but often stay open year round.

5) Upper Iowa Valley, Iowa.  Shout out to my backyard.  Centered around Decorah, the Upper Iowa River is one of the best kept secrets for paddlers out there.  Decorah's nestled in the Driftless Area, which could be it's own entry in this thread.  The Driftless is a dissected plateau in SW Wisconsin, SE Minnesota, NE Iowa, and a little sliver of NW Illinois.  The massive glaciers that flattened the Midwest split just outside of the Twin Cities, and left a large chunk of the Mississippi Valley unglaciated.  One the glaciers melted, the water took the path of least resistance to the Mississippi, carving a network of spectacular rock walled canyons, and the Upper Iowa River is arguably the best example of it.  Cliffs rise up to 200' vertically above the water for over a mile at a time as countless springs dump cold water into the stream, keeping trout conditions off.  The topography provides lots of opportunities for mountain biking and hiking, and the area is also heavily invested in paved bike trails for road biking too.  Lead by Toppling Goliath, there's a phenomenal local brewery scene, and the influence of Luther College brings relatively eclectic food options to the middle of nowhere.  Decorah and the Upper Iowa are a great example of what the greater Driftless Area has to offer and representative of the unique culture that's more progressive than the rural areas of it's member states tend to be, but still very much rural and untamed.

 

I really want to spend more time in or actually visit West Virginia, the Texas Trans Pecos, the Michigan Upper Peninsula, and the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.  Among many others.

What say you, Surly?

[Mo Horn 8,853]

Downeast Maine, which isn't a huge unknown place since Acadia National Park is there. Go there, but go further north away from the tourists. We went to West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, which is the easternmost place in the contiguous US. The entire coast on Maine is breathtaking. I was stunned at the beauty. Plus some of the best seafood anywhere. That's the first place that comes to my mind

[Al_4_ISU 12,477]

30 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Downeast Maine, which isn't a huge unknown place since Acadia National Park is there. Go there, but go further north away from the tourists. We went to West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, which is the easternmost place in the contiguous US. The entire coast on Maine is breathtaking. I was stunned at the beauty. Plus some of the best seafood anywhere. That's the first place that comes to my mind

I've been to Maine once, and thought it was absolutely gorgeous.  We were quite a ways inland and rafted on the Kennebec and climbed Mt Kahtadin.

The eastern US in general isn't a place I've spent a ton of time in, but definitely want to explore more.  That top notch seafood is a huge draw to a landlocked guy like myself.

[CooterBrown 18,022]

1) Lake City, Colorado.  Yeah, Colorado isn't exactly lacking for tourist traffic, but Lake City is like a walk back in time compared to the big CO resort areas.  It's in the absolute middle of nowhere in the San Juan Mountains, with absolutely no resort style hotels or gentrified hipster places.  It's an old mountain town with a few bars, a few restaurants, and enough places to lay your head while being in the middle of some of the best trout fishing, hiking, 4x4ing, and mountain biking on the planet.  I've stayed there at least 3 times while hiking the local 14ers.  These are some of the prettiest hikes in Colorado, which is saying something, and when you're done at night you can get a good bite to eat, a few beers, and not have to fight a bunch of asshole tourists to do it.

Some acquaintances bought a motel there during COVID, remodeled it, and reopened it as the Bushwack Lodge. Go support some Longhorns.

[NWBuck 8,580]

It's a National freaking Park, but North Cascades NP is often overlooked by folks focused on Rainier and the Olympics. 

And it's absolutely amazing...

 

[NWBuck 8,580]

More from North Cascades (these aren't mine, obvs):

Great hike... 

Amazing at night

And a shitter with the best view in America 

Edited March 29, 2023 by NWBuck

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

The Narrows, Texas. Not much of a secret anymore, but access is difficult, but worth it. I hope it continues to be difficult. People can’t be trusted to not fuck it up.

[Al_4_ISU 12,477]

Love those submissions.

[Al_4_ISU 12,477]

Some shots from around the Driftless

Black Falls, Cresco IA

Dunning's Springs, Decorah IA

Whitewater State Park, Altura MN

The Cabbage Rocks, Choice MN

Upper Mississippi Valley from Effigy Mounds National Monument, Marquette IA (looking into the area of Ferryville, WI)

Upper Iowa Valley, Bluffton IA

Edited March 29, 2023 by Al_4_ISU

[Al_4_ISU 12,477]

Buffalo Valley

[rage-a-holic 4,449]

13 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

The Narrows, Texas. Not much of a secret anymore, but access is difficult, but worth it. I hope it continues to be difficult. People can’t be trusted to not fuck it up.

Unless something has changed recently, still nearly impossible to get to without knowing an owner, or having guns pointed at you.

[texasdago 7,577]

It's not really secret (but not quite like the Narrows which is super hard to get to) but Camp Wood is pretty kickass.  The town is a blip on a map (official population is 508 which has to be a lie) and lots of tourists are on the other side of the range swimming in the Frio but, man, the Nueces is stunning by Camp Wood.

  

[4th&Five 41,586]

Stanley, ID

Mountains, rivers, lakes and very few people. I need to get back one of these days. 

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Unless something has changed recently, still nearly impossible to get to without knowing an owner, or having guns pointed at you.

Neither scenarios for me. But it ain’t easy getting there. About 15 mile round trip.

[rage-a-holic 4,449]

55 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Neither scenarios for me. But it ain’t easy getting there. About 15 mile round trip.

The last forum posts I saw from people hiking there involved being threatened by sheriffs and landowners with guns. Cool spot, but not worth the trouble.

[Carl Spackler 3,491]

On 3/27/2023 at 12:40 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

Inspired by the Far Flung Globe Trotter thread, but what are some off the beaten path or relatively unknown places within the US that you've been to and were totally surprised by, or intend to check out?

One of my favorite parts of traveling around is finding these unheralded places that have a lot to offer and contain a surprising amount of beauty.  I'll start it off:

1) Lake City, Colorado.  Yeah, Colorado isn't exactly lacking for tourist traffic, but Lake City is like a walk back in time compared to the big CO resort areas.  It's in the absolute middle of nowhere in the San Juan Mountains, with absolutely no resort style hotels or gentrified hipster places.  It's an old mountain town with a few bars, a few restaurants, and enough places to lay your head while being in the middle of some of the best trout fishing, hiking, 4x4ing, and mountain biking on the planet.  I've stayed there at least 3 times while hiking the local 14ers.  These are some of the prettiest hikes in Colorado, which is saying something, and when you're done at night you can get a good bite to eat, a few beers, and not have to fight a bunch of asshole tourists to do it.

2) Buffalo River Valley, Arkansas.  Die-hard paddlers definitely know the Buffalo, but the area still feels mostly untouched.  Things are cheap, and the views are astounding.  I find the whole look to the Ozarks to be absolutely beguiling.  Lots of hiking options, and despite the relative proximity to KC, STL, and DFW, it's just not totally overrun.  Bentonville and the MTB scene there seems to suck up a lot of that.  You definitely have to drive in from a little ways if you want civilization at night, but that's part of the charm.

3) Cody, Wyoming.  People tend to think of Jackson as the entrance to Yellowstone, but if you wanted a base for exploring that area with all of the amenities, and none of the bullshit, Cody's the place.  Last time I was in Yellowstone we spent one night in Cody and 2 nights in Jackson.  If/when we go back, I'd stay in Cody the entire time.  Totally unpretentious, affordable, and that drive into the park from the east is spectacular.  Yellowstone isn't exactly obscure, but I think a large amount of the traffic just avoids this area altogether or passes through.

4) Cuyuna Country, Minnesota.  Centered around the town of Crosby, this is a mountain biking/winter sports paradise.  The main gem is an abandoned iron mine in the Cuyuna Iron Range that the State of Minnesota purchased and started building an excellent network of mountain bike trails.  In the summer you can canoe and kayak in the old mine pits which have backfilled with crystal clear snow melt as well.  In the winter, there's an endless network of snowmobiling and all the bike trails are groomed for either fat tire biking or cross county skiing, and snowshoeing is encouraged everywhere.  You're nestled into the Minnesota Northwoods Lake Country as well, which breeds it's own unique culture of vacation homes, and lodges that bustle in the summer but often stay open year round.

5) Upper Iowa Valley, Iowa.  Shout out to my backyard.  Centered around Decorah, the Upper Iowa River is one of the best kept secrets for paddlers out there.  Decorah's nestled in the Driftless Area, which could be it's own entry in this thread.  The Driftless is a dissected plateau in SW Wisconsin, SE Minnesota, NE Iowa, and a little sliver of NW Illinois.  The massive glaciers that flattened the Midwest split just outside of the Twin Cities, and left a large chunk of the Mississippi Valley unglaciated.  One the glaciers melted, the water took the path of least resistance to the Mississippi, carving a network of spectacular rock walled canyons, and the Upper Iowa River is arguably the best example of it.  Cliffs rise up to 200' vertically above the water for over a mile at a time as countless springs dump cold water into the stream, keeping trout conditions off.  The topography provides lots of opportunities for mountain biking and hiking, and the area is also heavily invested in paved bike trails for road biking too.  Lead by Toppling Goliath, there's a phenomenal local brewery scene, and the influence of Luther College brings relatively eclectic food options to the middle of nowhere.  Decorah and the Upper Iowa are a great example of what the greater Driftless Area has to offer and representative of the unique culture that's more progressive than the rural areas of it's member states tend to be, but still very much rural and untamed.

 

I really want to spend more time in or actually visit West Virginia, the Texas Trans Pecos, the Michigan Upper Peninsula, and the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.  Among many others.

What say you, Surly?

I've enjoyed camping in the Mojave National Preserve.  Lava tubes, huge sand dunes, tons of joshua trees, and not many people.

Weaverville, CA is a NoCal mountain town that serves as a good jumping off point for hiking, 4-wheeling, fishing, hunting, etc.  It's about halfway between Lassen Volcanic National Park and the coast

The first place mentioned in your post, Lake City, Co, has been on my list of places to visit for quite a while.  The county in which Lake City is located (Hinsdale County) has fewer than 1,000 residents.   Someone once told me that it also has the fewest miles of paved roads of any county in the Lower 48.  Don't know if that's true, but if it isn't, it's probably close.  I've read about Lake City and heard people talk about it.  Some day I will get there.

Other desolate areas that are on my radar: 

--  The so-called ION area -- where the Oregon, Idaho and Nevada borders converge.  Been kinda fascinated by the idea of checking it out ever since reading "Give a Boy a Gun" by Jack Olsen, about Claude Dallas, the trapper who killed two Idaho game wardens in the early 80's.  Some of the most isolated, desolate country in the Lower 48 is in that area.    

--  The Steens Mountain Wilderness area of eastern Oregon.

--  Some day I will camp at the Cosmic Campground in western New Mexico when there is no moon, the sky is about as dark as it can get, and I can check out the night sky in all its glory.

 

 

  

 

[Carl Spackler 3,491]

16 hours ago, NWBuck said:

It's a National freaking Park, but North Cascades NP is often overlooked by folks focused on Rainier and the Olympics. 

And it's absolutely amazing...

 

Someday, I will do the Cascade Loop.  And it will be glorious.

https://www.cascadeloop.com/

 

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

The last forum posts I saw from people hiking there involved being threatened by sheriffs and landowners with guns. Cool spot, but not worth the trouble.

Yeah, I have seen a lot of those posts. It appears that in some of these cases people are jumping fences. Don’t do that. The law says the riverbed is public land. As long as you stay in the river, you are good. But that also doesn’t mean land owners or cops won’t obey the laws either.

[Kennythetiger 9,433]

Did a Lonesome Dove drive a few years ago, from the Rio Grande to the Milk River. Fort Davis, TX was pretty damn cool. Hotelier told me she wasn’t waiting up for us- metal key would be on the front desk, and please stop and pay in the morning before we left. Beautiful country. 

[High Plains Drifter 11,050]

 

stehekin washington

Town on Lake Chelan in Washington. Accessible only by private boat,  6 hour ferry ride, floatplane, or hiking. No roads in or out, not even jeep trails. There is a bus shuttle from the town that goes up the lake into Lake Chelan National Rec Area where you can access the Pacific Crest Trail and many other hiking and backpacking trails.

A few locals have cars, and there are park service vehicles, but not many.

Less than 100 permanent residents. Add in a few hundred seasonal Nat Park workers and others during the summer.

Its a stopover on the PCT. Took me five days to hike there from the northern terminus of the PCT in Canada.

 

Couple of pics yanked from the intertubes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NWBuck 8,580]

5 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

Someday, I will do the Cascade Loop.  And it will be glorious.

https://www.cascadeloop.com/

Indeed it is... let me know if you need someone to ride shotgun and keep an eye out for 'Squatches.

Oh, and those mountains?

[wild_turkey 3,181]

The last forum posts I saw from people hiking there involved being threatened by sheriffs and landowners with guns. Cool spot, but not worth the trouble.

You guys got me curious so I googled it and found a detailed report that agrees with you.

https://texasriverbum.com/index.php/2014/09/17/hike-and-hassled-to-the-narrows/

No thanks.

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

You guys got me curious so I googled it and found a detailed report that agrees with you.

https://texasriverbum.com/index.php/2014/09/17/hike-and-hassled-to-the-narrows/

No thanks.

I am honestly not trying to convince y’all to go because the fewer that do the better the chances it stays pristine. However, since that was put on the internet, just about everyone has read it. I’m not the only one from this site that didn’t have any issues. Your mileage may vary, but it is legal.

[Al_4_ISU 12,477]

13 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

Did a Lonesome Dove drive a few years ago, from the Rio Grande to the Milk River. Fort Davis, TX was pretty damn cool. Hotelier told me she wasn’t waiting up for us- metal key would be on the front desk, and please stop and pay in the morning before we left. Beautiful country. 

I would be very curious to see that route if you had it saved somewhere.  Ft Davis seems a bit west of what that route would have been, unless you're talking about Call's return to Texas.

[Kennythetiger 9,433]

4 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

I would be very curious to see that route if you had it saved somewhere.  Ft Davis seems a bit west of what that route would have been, unless you're talking about Call's return to Texas.

I will type more after lunch when I have an actual keyboard. 
You’re right- we didn’t follow the exact route. Tried to combine the Goodnight-Loving route with McMurtry’s route, along with some modifications. We were so far west in TX because I wanted to go to Langtry, TX. My dad absolutely loves the Paul Newman movie “Judge Roy Bean”. 
My uncle lives in Kalispell, MT and was hosting a family reunion that summer. Being 40 years old and having no kids, we thought “It’s now or never.”  I had talked about making the drive for 20 years. Finally did it. 

[CHIEF 5,094]

19 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

 

Yeah, I have seen a lot of those posts. It appears that in some of these cases people are jumping fences. Don’t do that. The law says the riverbed is public land. As long as you stay in the river, you are good. But that also doesn’t mean land owners or cops won’t obey the laws either.

 

Are you sure? We live on the Brazos, the riverbed is public because the Brazos is considered a "navigable" river. I remember, when we lived in Austin, people were being hassled if they stood up in the Blanco river, down by Wimberly. The landowners always argued that the Blanco was not considered "navigable" therefore the riverbed belonged to the landowner. You were okay floating, but you couldn't touch the bottom. At least that is the argument the landowners used.

https://www.kut.org/texas/2017-03-31/want-to-visit-the-blanco-river-private-land-ownership-makes-this-texas-waterway-elusive-to-most

CHIEF

Edited March 30, 2023 by CHIEF
float but not touch bottom

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

Are you sure? We live on the Brazos, the riverbed is public because the Brazos is considered a "navigable" river. I remember, when we lived in Austin, people were being hassled if they stood up in the Blanco river, down by Wimberly. The landowners always argued that the Blanco was not considered "navigable" therefore the riverbed belonged to the landowner.
https://www.kut.org/texas/2017-03-31/want-to-visit-the-blanco-river-private-land-ownership-makes-this-texas-waterway-elusive-to-most
CHIEF

I am sure the landowners can say or feel however they want, but as far as I know the state of Texas considers the Blanco “navigable”. I can imagine they are pissed because dickheads do jump fences to get there the east way. I’d be annoyed too. But unless the state says the river is not navigable they have no basis for harassing people that remain in the river bed. Which my brother and I did.

[texasdago 7,577]

This summer we're going to stay in Prospect, OR for a night because it is on the way from Crater Lake to northern CA and Redwood NP.  Pretty much in the middle of nowhere on the Rogue river but it looks like it does not suck and there are two places to eat.

 

[smuggs 9,353]

[CHIEF 5,094]

4 minutes ago, smuggs said:

Be on the lookout for one Chad Briscoe, and a Rudy rubbing his bird.

CHIEF