Get off the beaten path at these 10 incredible places in North America

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Get off the beaten path at these 10 incredible places in North America

It’s not just you, the world’s most touristy places are more crowded than ever.
The number of people traveling internationally has grown steadily since the 1950s with a great spike in the last year as travel interests peak in a post-pandemic era. Intense airline competition, falling fares and increases in disposable incomes are just some of the key reasons why travel has boomed in the past few decades: pre-pandemic, the United Nations World Tourism Organization recorded around 1.5 billion annual international tourist arrivals globally. But where do 1.5 billion people go?

Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada
Move over Banff and Glacier National Park — this Rocky Mountain bolthole has it all
In the Rocky Mountains between the big-ticket national parks of Glacier in the US and Banff in Canada, Waterton Lakes enjoys less celebrity and less traffic than its esteemed neighbors. Yet this spectacular pocket of the Rockies has international pedigree. Inaugurated in 1895 as one of the world’s first national parks, it has since been recognized by Unesco as a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site. To add to its uniqueness, Waterton was conjoined with Glacier in 1932 to form America’s first International Peace Park, symbolizing the longstanding relationship between the two countries.
The Lost Sierra, California, USA
Where old gold-mining communities are reviving trails for adventurers.
Speeding downhill, your shoulders skimming the trunks of giant trees and the wheels of your bike bouncing over rocks and roots, it’s impossible to take your eyes off the trail ahead. But pull over occasionally to appreciate your surroundings among ponderosa pines or red fir trees, blue jays hopping from branch to branch, the only sound a river churning with snowmelt below. And there won’t be another soul in sight

Sunshine Coast Trail, Canada
An epic adventure traveling hut-to-hut across British Columbia.
Canada’s longest backcountry hut-to-hut hiking route travels through the forests and mountains of coastal British Columbia in the region known as the Sunshine Coast. Yes, it can be sunny as you traverse this 180km (112 mile) route above the Pacific Ocean, particularly during the summer months, but you’re trekking in a temperate coastal rainforest, too. You’ll cross mossy bridges, shade yourself among old-growth firs and cedars, and—if you’re lucky—spot bald eagles soaring above the treetops as you hike.