The Best Public Lands Destinations You've Never Heard Of: Volume 1

We've been to a lot of places that have really surprised us over the years

Somewhere beyond the traffic jams at Zion, beyond the tour buses at Yellowstone, beyond the Instagram-famous overlooks that now require a six-months-out reservation just to think about, there is another America.

It is wilder. Quieter. Often emptier. It is stitched together by public lands no one bothers to put on a billboard. Lands where you can hear the wind before you hear another human being. Places still held in trust for everyone, but visited by almost no one.

This series is about them.

The Best Public Lands Destinations You've Never Heard Of: Volume 1 is the first in a new series for paid subscribers. Each volume will spotlight a handful of public lands you probably have not heard about – no catchphrases, no clickbait, just real places that remind you why public lands matter in the first place. Places you can still experience without booking an online permit, mortgaging your house, or stepping over crowds at a scenic overlook.

This is our answer to the reservation apps, the $800 lodge rooms, and the steady privatization creep. These are places that still feel like a birthright, not a business model.

Volume 1 is live now. Thanks for being here – and for helping keep the spirit of the wild alive.