When I lived in El Paso years ago I would go to the [Chiricahua Mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiricahua_Mountainsin) in AZ. It’s so out of the way that you are essentially guaranteed privacy. It’s a neat little [sky island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_island) that is a fun place to get away from the city and do some real camping. I don’t mind calling it out because I doubt anyone is going to go flocking there because of this post haha.
Do you guys/gals have an isolated place here in the States that most people either overlook or just plain don’t know about?
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This is like asking my dad where his favorite fishing spot is. Nobody is giving up their fav private spots.
The Big Bend of Texas (Sshh, don’t tell anybody)
Well known in New England but less so outside of the region: Crawford’s Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
I went camping at Pinnacles NP earlier this year and both the park and the general area are gorgeous. It was springtime and everything was green and blooming. Before I went everyone I told about my upcoming trip was like “where is that?”.
[Muir Woods](https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm)! Not _super secret_ but not well known to people outside the San Francisco Bay Area (I have yet to meet someone who traveled to the area just for this place).
Wyoming and Idaho in general
In California, I would say the far north of the state in the Cascade Range, as well as the Eastern Sierra.
The Cascade region has places such as Mount Shasta, Lassen National Park, MacArthur-Burney Falls, and Lava Beds.
In the Eastern Sierra, there are places such as Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Convict Lake, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Alabama Hills, and Mount Whitney, plus lots of hot springs.
The Great Lakes in general are a sorely overlooked region. Both Chicago and Cleveland have great urban nature preserves, and northern Michigan’s national forest and dunes are killer and rarely too crowded.
Beyond the road closure on any of the Sierra passes that close for the winter in Northern California. If you just want beautiful views, go while the pass is open. If you want to go on hard mode, grab a snowmobile and enjoy it while the road is still closed.
Glen Onoko waterfalls in Pennsylvania. While not really truly hidden, it is not overrun by tourists (or at least when I was there). I hiked the trail after a heavy rainfall the day before, and the waterfall was spectacular. It is certainly my favorite spot in PA.
Upstate New York
Queens point and cheat lake in WV. Also Greenbrier county.
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. I guess since it’s a National Park it’s debatable to call it hidden. But IME most people outside of the region don’t know about it. it’s the longest cave system in the world and pretty incredible.
Lake Willoughby, Vermont.
The dune trails of Cape Cod National Seashore.
Linville Gorge, N.C.
Chesapeake Bay inlets and rivers.
Baxter State Park in Maine.
Heh, this is one of those questions I will never answer truthfully, because I want my hidden gems to remain hidden. So… Yellowstone, yeah, that one >,>
[Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Plains_National_Wildlife_Refuge)
absolutely beautiful.
People always think of Yellowstone and the Tetons in Wyoming but the wind river is insanely gorgeous.
Fire Island. Bring poppers.
San Luis Valley in Southern CO
I love how this thread is dominated by California locations. The whole state truly is a gem of natural beauty.
The pandemic taught me that if enough people are bored they will eventually stumble upon your hidden gem spots and trash them
The area in/around the Gila River in New Mexico is my favorite place in the whole world. Gila NF, Gila Wilderness, Aldo Leopold Wilderness are all just beautiful. The Ponderosa and Pinon pine forests that rise to sky islands of Aspen stands mixed with Gambel Oak trees, mountain ash and Spruce… The Alligator Junipers that are older than the wild west, the shy Javelina that show up in the canyons… There’s so much hidden water too — my favorite granite holes 30ft deep and kept full by a small creek, the monsoon season that replenishes it all, plus the headwaters of the Gila River where you can float on one of the last wild and scenic, un-damed rivers in the whole USA. Very similar probably to the Chiricahuas since they’re not far away!
Door County in Wisconsin
Big Bend National Park, barely anyone around the world visits!
Turkey Run State Park in Indiana.
Also despite it being a National Park I think Indiana Dunes is overlooked.
Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Voyageurs/Boundary Waters.
north shore right above Duluth and Spearfish, South Dakota
Big South Fork in East TN :). Unbelievably vast feeling, lush, and ultra pretty. It feels truly wild in some parts, like an ancient place with wise old trees and wildlife around every corner
Red River Gorge, the Big South Fork National Recreation Area, and the Daniel Boone National Forest in Tennessee/Kentucky. IDK why the Smokies are so famous when these areas are much more geographically unique. Id rather go see cool stone arches that can’t easily be found on the east coast over a bunch of mountains you can find anywhere
* Letchworth State Park
* Watkins Glen
* State Parks near Ithaca
* Indianhead Mountain in the Adirondacks
Pro tip for visiting Niagara Falls, the Niagara Gorge is just as breathtaking and way less crowded and there’s several great state parks with trails descending the gorge.
Isle Royal National Park on Lake Superior.
Michigan’s upper peninsula. 200+ waterfalls, hundreds of miles of shoreline, and not many people.
High Peaks region of Adirondack Park. I might be bias, but the Adirondacks really are beautiful.
Northwoods of Wisconsin and Minnesota (Chain Lakes, etc.), and the Driftless Area in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois.