Hidden Travel Gems in the United States: From the Sandhills to the Ozarks

So maybe you’ve been from the redwood forests to the New York islands and think you know all there is to know about places to see in the United States.

Think again. No matter how well-traveled you are, you’ve barely scratched the surface.

To prove it, here are six hidden gems across the country worth checking out. No prize if you’ve been to them all, because there are plenty more where these came from.

The Arrowhead

Look at a U.S. map, and a couple of things become clear: South Florida is way south, and northern Minnesota and Maine are way north.

Northern Maine is an entity unto itself, but no more so than the part of Minnesota north of Duluth, known as the Arrowhead.

The Arrowhead is lots of things, including:

A former iron-mining region, with vestiges of its past scattered around
A resort area, with a generous portion of those 10,000 lakes you’ve heard about, and summer cottages on many of them
A destination for cross-country and downhill skiers from the Upper Midwest
Host to a major chunk of the Lake Superior shore, dotted with lighthouses like Split Rock
Home to the Boundary Waters, the world’s greatest canoeing destination
Home to International Falls, pretty much guaranteed to be the coldest spot in the Lower 48 on any given winter morning

As you can tell, if outdoor pursuits are your jam, the Arrowhead is a great place to pursue them – and we haven’t even talked about water-skiing, ATVing, snowmobiling, kayaking, fishing, hunting, or biking.

The Arrowhead is a long way from most places that aren’t named Fargo, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, or St. Paul. That shouldn’t stop you from checking it out.

The Sandhills

We’ve got to be honest: the western Great Plains are not for the faint of heart. If you’re looking for scenery you’ve come to the wrong place – also, if you’re looking for quaint small towns, burbling streams, windless days, or any wildlife except cows.

There is an exception, though. Nebraska’s Sandhills are definitely worth a visit.

So, to be clear, the Sandhills are made of sand, though the sand isn’t always visible. And the hills are hills in the sense that you’d feel it if you were biking, but you wouldn’t have to walk your bike or anything.

Instead, the Sandhills are a sort of catchall for a greener, waterier, artsier, foodier, and winier region of the Great Plains with more organized activities like biking, tubing, and fishing.

If you’re making a road trip west, reserve some time for the Sandhills. It’s a pleasant diversion.

Also read: Best Travel Apps for Finding Things to Do on Vacation

The Katmai National Park and Preserve

If one of the premises of hidden gems is that they’re hard to find because they’re hard to get to, the Katmai qualifies.

The Katmai is in a remote part of southern Alaska, accessible only by plane or water (or foot, if you’re exceedingly ambitious and foolish).

The region is known as the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, in reference to its volcanic origin. However, it’s quite lush country, cut through with roiling rivers teeming with salmon and trout.

That combination is one of the Katmai’s main attractions … to bears. In case you’ve been in a self-imposed media blackout, the Katmai is home to the bears of Fat Bear Week, that internet sensation that only trails Love Is Blind for will-he/won’t-she drama.

Like much of protected Alaska, the Katmai is an incredible place to explore, but also a dangerous place to go too far off the beaten path.

A trip to Katmai will show you the real Alaska. The thing is most folks aren’t ready for the real Alaska.

Cajun Country

Louisiana is a world unto itself, and that’s true whether you’re talking about the North Louisiana highlands or the swamp country – the swamps being where the Cajuns historically hung out.

Cajuns are Louisianans of French descent. Many migrated to the state from northeastern Canada, which is about as big a cultural and climate shock as you might imagine.

In the Cajun country around Lafayette, many Cajuns still live off the swamps, fishing and hunting alligator. French accordion music is still heard, and the two-step is still danced, though most often these days in cultural centers.

Aggressively spiced crawfish is still a delicacy, as is king cake, the mega-donut popular around Fat Tuesday.

The best way to approach Cajun country is to visit the cultural center in Lafayette, get some travel and route suggestions from the staff, and start exploring.

It’s a very different part of the country. You might not be prepared for how different it can be.

Also read: The Slow Travel Trend

The Oklahoma Ozarks

Most people rightly associate the Ozarks with Arkansas. However, a portion of the mountains extend into Oklahoma, giving a slightly different twang to the hill country.

Grove is the place to start exploring. It’s on the Grand Lake of the Cherokees, a body of water that’s actually the Dammed-Up River of the Cherokees, but water’s water in this part of the country.

Whatever it is, the bass fishing is great, as are all the other popular forms of watery recreation – water-skiing, tubing, swimming, or just cruising around in a pontoon boat.

Probably the hardest adjustment people used to northern lakes have to make is the size of the docks attached to the homes (and in some cases, the size of the homes). If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to walk the length of the freight train, a stroll on a covered dock in Grove will give you that feeling.

Few people on the coasts or in the northern tier would think of going to a lake in Oklahoma, but the natives like it that way. Hidden gem? Right ear, man.

Also read: How to Weave Wellness Travel into Any Trip

Lake Erie shores and Islands

Those of us with long memories can remember when a body of water in Cleveland caught fire and Randy Newman wrote a song about it. This is about Cleveland’s other body of water.

It’s okay, though. For a long time, Lake Erie had many harmful chemicals. That’s changed, and Lake Erie is actually worth visiting, and boating around, and fishing in, and maybe even swimming in (but pick your spots).

Best of all, Lake Erie has islands – and not islands off the coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that are habitable four or five hours a year. No sirree. These are islands you can hang out on comfortably six to eight months of the year.

The islands on the American side are South Bass, Middle Bass, Catawba, Isle St. George, and Kelleys Island. All are inhabited, but some are more inhabited than others.

Since Catawba Island is really an extension of the Marblehead Peninsula, it’s the most built-up. For seasonal fun, though, it’s hard to beat South Bass Island and the town of Put-In-Bay.

Put-In-Bay has a reputation as a party island that goes back at least a century, but there are more than the requisite number of candy and gift shops and quiet, pastoral places inland. There’s even a national monument to Oliver Hazard Perry, the naval commander credited with winning the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.

Ferries go to Put-In Bay all the time, but it’s worth staying on the mainland one day to check out the community of Lakeside and its classic Chautauqua. While it only runs in the summer, it brings some big-name entertainment with an old-time feel to the “shore” part of the shores and islands.

Just one more reason to visit, actually.

This just scratches the surface of United States hidden gems, which means there’s even more of the country you need to explore. When you do, take along travel protection with assistance services from Generali Global Assistance. Our plans help cover your travels.

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