Tourists descended on an ancient town in Thailand this week after UNESCO named it a world heritage site, prompting officials to consider banning visitors from climbing the 1,500-year-old ruins.
15.09.2023 - 17:55 / nationalgeographic.com
Come fall, there are many leaf-peeping opportunities in America’s national parks. But the great outdoors extends far beyond official park boundaries.
Here are six scenic autumnal drives winding through some of the United States’ wildest and most iconic landscapes, from state parks and national forests to scenic byways and charming mountain roads.
Wisconsin’s 70-mile Lake Superior Scenic Byway traces the coastline of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, one of only three national lakeshores in the U.S. From late September through early October, the route is awash with turning leaves (red maples, yellow birches) mixed with evergreens. See the best of them in Port Wing Boreal Forest and Houghton Falls State Natural Area, which feature several plunging waterfalls and gorges.
About a third of the way through the route, seven miles from Bayfield, you’ll arrive at Frog Bay National Tribal Park, the nation’s first tribal national park. Here, on the sovereign lands of the local Red Cliff Indigenous people, visitors can hike along several short trails through old-growth forests and relax on the beachy shores of Gichigami (the Red Cliff people’s word for Lake Superior).
(One of these seven places may be America’s next national park.)
The autumn colors peak in mid-to-late October on West Virginia’s Seneca Skyway, a 300-mile loop through the Potomac Highlands. Highlights include the expansive Monongahela National Forest, which covers over 919,000 acres in 10 counties. In 2021, Watoga State Park became a designated Dark Sky Park.
Seneca Rocks, a stunning formation with dozens of surrounding hiking trails, was once used by the U.S. Army for wilderness assault training. Stay in the wild without a tent by overnighting at the top of a 65-foot-tall fire tower in Seneca State Forest.
(America’s newest national park is a haven for outdoor adventure.)
Despite its deserts and canyons, Arizona is one of the best places in the Southwest for changing leaves—if you know where to look. Start at 7,000 feet in the town of Pinetop-Lakeside, where giant maples offer pops of color between the world’s largest contiguous stretch of ponderosa pines. From here, travel through the White Mountain Apache Reservation on State Route 260, where the aspen leaves turn amber, crimson, and gold hues between late October and mid-November.
Stop at the Sunrise Ski Park for a leisurely chairlift ride up White Mountain to view fall colors from above. Journey further to Big Lake to see foliage at 9,000 feet. On the drive spot bald eagles, enormous elk, or bears foraging before hibernation.
The leaves of red maples, box elders, and scarlet and black oaks turn late in northern South Carolina—usually from mid-October to early November. That’s the
Tourists descended on an ancient town in Thailand this week after UNESCO named it a world heritage site, prompting officials to consider banning visitors from climbing the 1,500-year-old ruins.
We're still several weeks away from turkeys appearing on supermarket shelves en masse and familiar holiday tunes playing on the loudspeakers in stores. However, now is the time to get serious about booking holiday travel — particularly when it comes to flights.
For decades, authors, artists and presidents have all been drawn to the Hudson Valley in New York.
A train journey is an ideal way to appreciate fall foliage. Many train lines in the US wind along the same dazzling forests, lakes, and mountains as scenic byways built for cars. But passengers on board a train have the luxury of cozying up and losing themselves completely in the colorful views, without needing to worry about surrounding traffic.
While the Caribbean is home to its fair share of wildlife-filled islands—Saint Lucia, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, to name a few—one of the region’s most underrated ecotourism destinations measures in at just a mere thirteen square kilometers in area. Known as Saba, this dazzling Dutch overseas region holds a king-sized level of biodiversity in spite of its small size, packed full of fascinating fish, reptiles, and birds for visitors to marvel at—and when it comes to avian life in particular, the Saba Bird Fest is one of the island’s most unmissable events.
Skiers and riders, it’s time to start plotting out your 2023/24 season.
While travelling for wellness feels like a modern phenomenon, the Romans were known to travel to thermal baths as early as the 2nd century BC. The earliest spas—the Latin word for which, ‘salus per aquam,’ translates to ‘health from water’—were considered integral to a healthy life. Roman legionaries would sooth their sore muscles in natural spring water and thermal treatments were prescribed to relieve physical ailments. Centuries later and Italy continues to take their spas seriously.
If there's one thing New York City does better than most other US destinations, it's overloading the senses.
With the Labor Day holiday now behind us, the year’s peak period for warm-weather travel has passed. Summer is winding down and, although the autumnal equinox doesn’t actually arrive until September 23, many fall fanatics cannot wait for crisper weather to roll in and the harvest season festivities to start. Some autumn enthusiasts will start amassing all things pumpkin spice, putting together the perfect Halloween costume or crafting Thanksgiving-themed decorations.
In recognition of their continued commitment to the travel advisor community, Scenic has announced a promotion that will reward one lucky advisor and their guest with the ultimate new year’s getaway: 13 days in Antarctica aboard the line’s newest Discovery Yacht, Scenic Eclipse II.
Hurricane Lee continues to strengthen as it grows larger this week, but the storm’s projected path has the travel industry—and the cruise lines especially—in the Caribbean and along the east coast of the United States on notice.
A cyberattack has breached the computer system at MGM Resorts, forcing the company to shut down operations at a dozen of the most iconic casino hotels in Las Vegas—including the Bellagio, Mandalay Bay and the Cosmopolitan—as well as another half-dozen MGM properties around the United States. The attack has left hotel guests locked out of their rooms and unable to use their digital key cards to charge goods and services.