If you haven’t visited yet, chances are Vail—Colorado’s quintessential mountain town—is high on your bucket list. Its walkable villages, cobblestone streets, and old-world Tyrolean alpine architecture add to its sweeping Rocky Mountain views. 　　But what keeps mountain-loving visitors coming back again and again? Unbeatable access to world-class hiking, biking, and a wide range of family-friendly outdoor adventures—all just steps from...

　　West Virginia’s famed country roads offer an open invitation. Weaving across rugged terrain and through spirited small towns to uncrowded gems and world-class outdoor adventures alike, the roads form a latticework of endless possibilities for road trip itineraries. Five customized Mountain Rides can help connect activities that range from lakeside paddling to whitewater thrills, with prime camping, biking, and fishing...

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　　The National Park Service recently released their annual visitation data, reporting the most guests in the system’s history, with almost 332 million people exploring our parks, preserves, recreation areas, and historic sites in 2024. 　　Unfortunately, this surge in popularity is coinciding with a staffing crisis within the park service, as the Trump Administration has dictated the organization cut 1,000 employees....

　　It’s going to be harder than ever to pitch your tent inside a national park this summer. Scoring a campsite at our popular parks is difficult during any stretch of warmer months, when parks see a surge in visitation. And the Trump-mandated National Park Service layoffs are adding an extra wrinkle to many summer travel plans. Some park units have...

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　　Dreams of exploring Utah’s spectacular red rock country quickly turn dystopic if you do it wrong. The tourist traps which you can easily fall into are as myriad as arches in Utah’s second most popular national park. 　　Blame our state’s overwhelmingly successful “Mighty Five” campaign, launched in 2013, which aimed to bring more visitors to Utah’s five national parks: Zion,...

　　The recently opened Populus hotel cleverly channels the feel of walking through an aspen grove from its forest floor-inspired lobby all the way to its “canopy”-level rooftop bar. Located across from Civic Center Park, the 13-story building’s curvy, white-washed facade is reminiscent of the work embraced by Antoni Gaudí, the Catalan architect and early adopter of biomimicry, a design practice...

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　　I wasn’t introduced to the pleasures of lake life until my early 30s. Born and raised on the Jersey Shore, I was ocean obsessed. If the water didn’t have waves and leave me salt-kissed, I wasn’t interested. When I moved to Colorado 15 years ago, I was gripped by land-locked panic and started road-tripping to any body of water I...

　　A smoking silver thurible swooped through the gothic arches overhead, richly scented incense pouring from its sides. Eight priests in heavy robes acted as the counterweight, controlling a rope as thick as my forearm. I shuddered to think what might happen if the cord snapped, spilling 175 pounds of heated metal and 90 pounds of coal onto the crowd below...