Sometimes the buzz and the hubbub of the city can be too much. All of us have felt the urge to “get away” at one time or another, and a change of scenery is a perfect way to rest, renew, recharge, and get “back to you”. North America is home to plenty of charming rural escapes that are breathtakingly gorgeous and scenic. Let me guide you through the most popular rural escapes throughout the U.S. and Canada, and I’ll even introduce you to some lesser-known spots. One thing all of these rural escapes have in common is that they are perfect for your next getaway, which you can easily book with us at Tripmasters!
Let’s start in one of the most beautiful places in North America for a rural getaway: Of course I’m talking about picturesque New England. Maine is home to many gorgeous seaside towns and villages, such as Boothbay Harbor and Bar Harbor, where you can stay right on the water and “become one” with the relaxing sounds of the sea. For other seaside getaways, Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts is highly recommended. (You can’t get more secluded than an island where the only connection to the mainland is by ferry!) Farther north in New England, the mountains and verdant forests here are breathtaking; you can see this gorgeous splendor by visiting White Mountain National Park in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont (pictured), and Lake Champlain (also in Vermont). If you visit the White Mountains, be sure to stop in on such beautiful towns and villages as Franconia, Jackson, Lincoln, and North Conway. Farther south, you have the rolling hills and resplendent foliage of Berkshire County in western Massachusetts, which you can see in such towns and villages as Great Barrington, Lenox, Stockbridge, and Sheffield. Finally, no rural New England vacation is complete without visiting Middlesex County, Connecticut, which can be a day trip from New York City, Boston, or Providence.
The Mid-Atlantic states of New York and Pennsylvania are home to a number of rural retreats. The Finger Lakes of New York have had enduring popularity with tourists for over two centuries, and are well-known for their water sports and their delicious wines. Canandaigua (pictured), Geneva, and Skaneateles are well-known for their wines, and history meets the great outdoors in such towns as Watkins Glen, Seneca Falls, and Auburn. In the east and southeastern parts of the state, the Adirondacks and Catskills are very popular rural retreats, where you can stay in luxury cabins in peaceful and secluded surroundings. To the south, in Pennsylvania, the Poconos have been a vacation mecca for generations. West of the Poconos and adjacent to Susquehannock State Forest we have the charming town of Wellsboro, home to Pine Creek Gorge, the “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania”. For pastoral scenes, head south to Gettysburg, and to experience authentic Amish country, drive east to Strasburg, where you’ll be sharing the roads with horses and buggies!
The South has seen a big population transition from rural to urban over the past few generations, but there are still many beautiful rural escapes to explore here. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee (pictured) might be the two most popular rural retreats in the region, followed closely behind by such areas as Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia and Lake Lure southeast of Asheville in North Carolina. Eclectic rural towns offer beautiful surroundings and quirky and lovable ambience, and you’ll find unique ambience in Blacksburg, Virginia (a college town); Eureka Springs, Arkansas (a mountain town known for its spas and progressive attitudes); Clarksdale, Mississippi (a Delta town known for its place in blues music history); and Charles Town and Harpers Ferry (these West Virginia towns played important roles in 18th and 19th century history and are open-air museums today). Texas, one of the most populous states, offers one awe-inducing rural escape in the towns of the Hill Country, located within a few hours’ drive of both San Antonio and Austin. Finally, those of you who love Kentucky bourbon must visit the small towns along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, situated in a triangle between Elizabethtown, Louisville, and Lexington.
The Great Plains and the upper Mississippi River valley are some of the most heavily-touristed parts of the United States, with millions flocking to this region each year for a blissful and enjoyable rural vacation. Cabin rentals or small bed-and-breakfasts are the order of the day in much of the region, especially if you’re going out on a summer trip to popular lakes like Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock Lake in Missouri, and Okoboji Lake in Iowa. Seaside summer retreats are also popular along the sparsely-populated Lake Superior Shore on the north coast of Wisconsin. When it comes to popularity, however, South Dakota has all of these states beat. People come to South Dakota to experience gorgeous and varied scenery, all in a rural setting. Mount Rushmore is the state’s most popular tourist attraction, and nearby Keystone is a small town with many accommodation options, from hotels to cabins and vacation rentals. The Black Hills National Forest (pictured) is just as beautiful as Mount Rushmore, if not more so; it’s South Dakota’s second most-popular tourist attraction.
The Midwest is America’s heartland, and there are many wonderful rural retreats that are perfect for a winter or summer getaway. In Wisconsin, Lake Geneva and Door County are two of the most popular vacation spots in the state, because it is so easy to have your own space and enjoy life at your own pace. The Great River Road is similarly popular with tourists, because you get to pick and choose which towns you want to visit as you drive south from Minnesota into Wisconsin, and eventually south into Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. If you prefer bed-and-breakfast stays in your rural getaway, you can’t go wrong with the postcard-perfect towns and villages along the Mackinac Straits separating the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Similar in feeling and ambience, also with similar Victorian architecture, are the towns on the western side of Sandusky Bay in northern Ohio. We can’t discuss the Midwest without mentioning Brown County, Indiana; it is a true all-star destination, as it offers a great deal to the traveler in all four seasons.
(Minnesota and Wisconsin)
(Minnesota and Wisconsin)
The Northern Rockies, stretching through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, are home to so many different landscapes and geographical formations, making it easy for people who want a “sampler” of various experiences on their rural getaway. Many of these areas are located west of Denver, in Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, and Gunnison National Forest. There are the exclusive ski resort towns, like Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, Dillon, and Winter Park; the even more secluded towns of Ouray and Hot Sulphur Springs; canyons and mountains in Glenwood Springs and Crested Butte; sandstone formations at the Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs; and even undulating mounds of desert sand at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Wyoming and Montana are known for their federally protected rural areas, such as Yellowstone National Park (home to such mountain towns as Gardiner and West Yellowstone), Big Sky Country, and Glacier National Park. Teton Village in Wyoming is great for those who like to ski and partake in other winter sports. If you’re looking for pure 100% no-people-around rural, you’ll definitely find it in Point of Rocks, Wyoming, situated on I-80 halfway between Cheyenne and Salt Lake City.
The southern and western Rockies and the Southwest offer an even wider variety of geographical landscapes to “sample” from when you embark on your rural getaway. Beautiful mountains and gorges have made New Mexico towns like Taos and Ruidoso famous. In Arizona, millions of tourists each year marvel at the wide open spaces and mammoth rock formations found at the Grand Canyon, in the Petrified Forest, and at Lake Powell (pictured: Glen Canyon). Southern Utah is similar geographically to Arizona, and offers even more geological wonders for you to see while you’re in this part of the country, namely Monument Valley and Bryce Canyon. Taking I-15 from Utah into Idaho, you should take some time to explore the small towns in and around Indian Rocks State Park, located less than a half-hour from Pocatello. Nevada‘s landscapes are quite diverse, ranging from canyons and black sand at Black Rock Desert in the northwestern part of the state, to sprawling cave systems at Great Basin National Park in the east.
The film industry moved to California in the 1910s because it was said that all climates and landscapes could be found within a few hours of Los Angeles, making it easy to film any movie with any weather or scenery producers wished. They were quite right, and there are many rural escapes in the Golden State that offer fun and relaxing times whether you’re visiting in warm or cool months. Want to visit the desert? Head to Borrego Springs. The mountains? The San Bernardino Mountains are just a short drive from L.A. Rural coastal retreats? California has you covered from Ferndale and Trinidad in northern California down to the Mendocino Coast north of San Francisco, Big Sur (pictured, south of Monterey and Carmel), and then finally Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, and the coastline of the Santa Maria Valley (all northwest of Santa Barbara). Much of interior California is federally protected and you can see everything here from forests with massive trees in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, to snow-capped mountains with skiers in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes and even an Old West village in Nevada City.
The Pacific coast states of Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii offer some of the best-kept secrets as far as rural escapes are concerned. Mountain getaways are in abundance here. These getaways are tucked away across the region, from Sisters, Umatilla National Forest, and The Dalles (pictured) in Oregon, to Bavarian-style towns like Leavenworth, Washington, to dormant and active volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii. Oregon is of course world-renowned for its small oceanside towns and villages, and there might be no better rural escape than driving up the Oregon coast, visiting towns like Bandon, Cannon Beach, Gold Beach, and Yachats (home to the geological marvel called Thor’s Well). La Conner is a quaint fishing town in Washington state that is a must-see for any rural getaway that brings you to the Northwest. With that being said, one of the most perfect rural vacation spots is over in Olympic National Park in western Washington. Home to three distinct climates and biospheres, few places in North America can claim completely different vacation experiences all within a few minutes’ drive or hike from one another.
(The Big Island)
Now that I’ve talked about the great rural escapes in the United States, let’s look now to the Great White North, Canada. In Eastern Canada, you can find gorgeous rural getaways in both the Maritime provinces, such as Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, as well as in Ontario and Québec. If it’s remote you’re after, Thunder Bay in western Ontario is the only decently-sized town for miles, making it very easy to stake claim to your own wide-open space. Charming fishing and farming villages dot the Maritimes, and a rural getaway can be had just outside the major population centers like Charlottetown and St. John’s. Val-David (pictured), north of Montréal, is one of the most charming Francophone tourist towns in Canada, and the lakes and forests of North Hatley, close to the Vermont border, are divine to see and experience up-close. If you want to “be one” with nature, hike, and watch the local fauna, you will absolutely love the charming Québec town of Saint-Alexis-des-Monts. Eastern Canada is full of surprises and you will get to experience all of those when you head out to the country on your rural vacation.
The Canadian West was explored and settled decades after the U.S. West, so it is very easy to find wide swaths of land that are still uninhabited to this day. The remote city of Prince Albert in central Saskatchewan is the largest population center in a 50-mile radius, and is a great gateway to base yourself as you explore Prince Albert National Park. If you want true remoteness, head on up to the Yukon in the summertime and explore the areas in and around its largest population center, Whitehorse. Even though the Canadian West can get bitterly cold, it is also home to quite a few rural getaways that are best explored during the summer. Waterton Lake in Alberta and the coastal enclaves of Tofino and Ucluelet in British Columbia are popular summer vacation destinations, as Canadians and foreign travelers bask in those fleetingly warm temperatures and precious hours of sunlight. In the winter, the Canadian Rockies are the place to be, where you can rent a cabin or chalet in such gorgeous locales as Jasper, Banff, and Lake Louise (pictured) in Alberta, and Whistler in British Columbia.
(That’s vacances exquises dans le Nord in French!)
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