25 overlooked destinations worth a visit | CNN

overlooked destinations25 places

1. 1Matanuska Valley, Alaska9PMX+4M Point MacKenzie, AK, USAJust an hour’s drive from Anchorage, this long river valley offers the sort of outdoor encounters that usually require a lot more time and…
2. 2Kaʻū District, Hawaii6F6G+PM Pahala, HI, USALikely the first place that Polynesians stepped ashore in the Hawaiian Islands more than 1,000 years ago, Kaʻū is the southern end of the b…
3. 3San Luis Obispo, CaliforniaDavidson Music Building, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, USAPoised halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on California’s scenic Highway 101, San Luis Obispo has only recently emerged as a bon…
4. 4Channel Islands National Park, California8562267X+X8A throwback to old California, the five-island park preserves paleolithic digs, frontier-era ranches and relics of Spanish exploration. Wha…
5. 5Tacoma, Washington591 S 11th St, Tacoma, WA 98405, USASeattle may get the lion’s share of ink (and visitors), but Tacoma can hold its own when it comes to outstanding attractions thanks to the…
6. 6Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah859CFC64+97The largest national monument in the Lower 48 states, Grand Staircase-Escalante (GSE) sprawls across almost 1.9 million acres of largely ro…
7. 7West Texas120 N Roberts St, West, TX 76691, USAIn frontier days, Texas west of the Pecos River was the epitome of the Wild West. An image that was later bolstered by classic movies like…
8. 8Flagstaff, Arizona122 US-180, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USAEven though it’s Arizona’s third-largest metro area, Flagstaff tends to be a place that travelers pass through on their way to the Grand Ca…
9. 9White Sands National Park, New Mexico854MQMPF+VPLike something created for a sci-fi movie rather than a quirk of nature, White Sands feels like visiting an alien planet. That’s how strang…
10. 10North Park, ColoradoVMXR+XC Cowdrey, CO, USAThanks to the irreverent TV show, just about everyone’s heard of South Park. But did you know that there’s a North Park in Colorado?