Search results for

For cross-country skiers, one winter destination rises above the rest: humble Hayward, Wisconsin, where, for a glorious weekend, their obscure sport is king.

In a square mile of West Texas, Chris Colin finds family and traces his roots back to a wilder America.

An aspiring bluegrass fiddler from London discovers much more than music on a trip to North Carolina.

How can you go wrong when you’re surrounded by spectacular hills, crashing waterfalls, shaded paths, glinting mountain lakes, winding highways with dramatic overlooks, and all of it within reach of Dollywood? Come to the Smokies and have some natural fun.

Far above the plains where lions roam, there’s another Kenya, where life moves slowly and the people run fast. Writer Matt Gross tries to keep up.

With idyllic landscapes and quality highways, one the best ways to experience Ireland is by driving it. The uncrowded roads of Counties Cork and Kerry offer beautiful views of the rugged Irish countryside and coast. After passing through Cork’s small towns and kissing (or not kissing) the Blarney Stone, end the trip with a drive around the famous Ring of Kerry.

Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada is a place where elk still wander through town and bears are often spotted along the highway—and the locals prefer it that way. This is a place where residents prefer cabins to condos, and believe 5-star ratings pale in comparison to the 5 million stars in the night sky. Glacier walks and mountain hikes, scenic cruises and epic road trips, Jasper is the largest park in the Canadian Rockies and it’s got the diversity of wildlife, wild views, and adventures to prove it.

Born free, today’s post-apartheid generation asks, what’s next?

AFAR chose a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sent comedian Jorma Taccone on a spontaneous journey to Nairobi, Kenya.

What could an Alaska local ever discover on a voyage through the Inside Passage? Just the essence of the place he thought he knew.

On the northern edge of Tucson, you can drive through a condensed version of western North America’s ecosystem in about half an hour. On the way up the Mount Lemmon Highway (also known as “Catalina Highway” or “Sky Island Scenic Byway”), you traverse almost all of the different life zones you would encounter if you were to actually drive from Mexico to Canada: starting with the saguaro-studded Sonoran desert, up through grassland, junipers and oaks, pines, and finally a mixed-conifer forest with stands of aspen. You begin at about 2500 ft. and end up at almost 9100 ft. above sea level (about 760 to 2770 meters). In the summer, especially, southern Arizonans love this road: “thirty miles, thirty degrees cooler,” as the saying goes. When it’s 105 degrees down in the city, it’s a perfect 75 up on the mountain. In the winter, you can go skiing in the southernmost ski resort in the U.S.

One of the best day-hikes from Tucson is just north of town, on the ‘back side’ of the Santa Catalina Mountains: Romero Canyon. Drive up to Catalina State Park for the trailhead, and you’ll begin trekking through mesquite woods and towering saguaros before beginning to climb the rocky foothills into this mountain range. Then you’ll scramble down into the canyon itself, with a flowing stream at its heart. Most years, even in the early summer dry season, you can still find pools to cool off in--it’s a popular trail for Tucsonans. (Just get an early--dawn--start.) Continue past the pools and you can hike all the way up to Romero Pass, in the heart of the Pusch Ridge Wiliderness, where naturalists are trying to re-introduce a herd of mountain bighorn sheep. Late fall through early spring are perfect here... “Desert oasis” might be a hackneyed phrase when describing places like this, but desert-dwellers don’t take them for granted. Fortunately, when you’re in southern Arizona, seek and ye shall find...

Set tight in the jungles around Hotel Casa Chameleon, at Las Catalinas, the restaurant Sentido Norte is 45 minutes from the Guanacaste provincial capital, Liberia. A hilltop restaurant helmed by Costa Rican chef José López, it showcases a mix of local tastes and other modern classics, from sunrise until sunset daily. French toast with plantains, and ceviche punta penca (shrimp, octopus, and avocado) are current top orders; don’t miss the liquid enchantment on offer at the bar, perfect for sunsets, and aguas de sapo, a sweet, spiky pop made with guaro aguardiente.

The foothills around Tucson are home to some of the best spa-golf-resorts in the U.S. and you don’t have to go far for a taste of the wilderness before you turn in. Just behind the Loews Ventana Canyon resort on the edge of the city, an unspoiled trail awaits. This lush riparian canyon takes you into the heart of the Santa Catalina Mountains, studded with saguaros. Deer, bobcats, javelinas, and the occasional mountain lion might cross your path. About 2 1/2 miles in, you’ll come across seasonal water; The Maiden Pools. If you’re an experienced hiker seeking a challenge, keep on going and you’ll reach The Window, a natural rock arch about 7000 ft high.

This used to be the old highway to get from the leeward to the windward side of the island. It was literally built into the side of a mountain and was barely hanging on. It’s now been replaced with a proper 4 lane highway complete with a tunnel, but parts of the old highway are still there to hike on. To get there you have to go through tourists. They are there for the lookout and the spectacular view – but you can go much deeper than that! From the lookout, go down to the right and go past the ‘closed’ sign, away from the tourists at the lookout snapping photos.

Take the old Pali Highway through dense jungle growing along the side of this lush mountain. We also picked fresh guava off the trees and snacked on them along the way down. We hiked about 45 minutes down and then slowly turned around and came back up. You can hike all the way through to the end though.