National Forests

Coastal temperate rainforests are systems of cedar, spruce and hemlock draped in moss and lichens: think constant rainfall and a lush understory. Fallen logs incubate new life, streams teem with salmon.

High-elevation forests are terrains shaped by wind, snowpack and short growing seasons. Stunted spruce and fir give way to meadows above the treeline, where glacial valleys, wildflowers and granite ridges are otherwordly.

High-altitude and arid pinyon-juniper woodlands where volcanic rock, sandstone and thin soils support trees that are resilient to very harsh climes. Wildlife adapts to intense heat, sparse water and intense diurnal temperature swings.

Eastern deciduous forests are dense with oak, maple, birch and beech that shift in rhythm with four distinct seasons. Rich leaf litter fuels spring ephemeral growth, summer canopy density and autumn color spectacles.

Long, hot growing seasons with high humidity and abundant rainfall are essential to the year-round foliage. Species-rich longleaf and slash pine ecosystems, live oak, palmetto and magnolia form layered canopies.

Find ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, incense cedar. Wet forests favor dense fir and hemlock; drier forests open into pine-dominated stands. These forests often straddle rain shadows, and small elevation gains can mean entirely different ecosystems, species, weather.

Stretching from the Connecticut River Basin into Maine, the White Mountain National Forest is the granite crown of the Northeast; a soaring, severe landscape that invites adventure but offers little mercy in weather or terrain. On a clear day, the great snowy monolith of Mount Washington stands visible from the Atlantic coast. If you find yourself up there on such a day, soak in views stretching across five states and into Canada. Hikers flock to the trails year-round in pursuit of the famed “New Hampshire 48,” a bruising checklist of 4,000-foot summits [record for completion: 4 days, 22 hours]. Come September, crowds arrive in their droves to see swathes of hardwood forests transform into a gilded tapestry. Kancamagus Highway is widely considered to be an essential New England foliage drive; Sabbaday Falls, Lower Falls, Rocky Gorge are key stops along the way.

Trail Recs:
Franconia Ridge
Blueberry Mountain
Presidential Traverse

The verdant, timbered hills that give Vermont its name reward slow travel. Lucky then, that the Green Mountain National Forest shares terrain with two world-class scenic trails. The Long Trail, Vermont’s historic “footpath in the wilderness,” converges with the Appalachian Trail for 100 miles along the forest’s rocky spine. Vibrant with hikers and migratory birds during the summer and fall, the snow-hushed winter months hold a particular magic for anyone bold enough to venture among its boreal heights, sugar maple slopes, and birch-bright groves. Come summer, swimming holes beckon: Lake Pleiad is a short hike off the Long Trail, and you’ll find deep creek pockets for cold dips along the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail. May through August, anyone driving on Route 125 will pass the Bread Loaf School of English campus, where Monarch butterflies mate annually in a meadow of milkweed.

Trail Recs:
The Long Trail
Lye Brook Falls
Pico Peak

Woods and waters singing with breeze and birdsong are the hallmark of an expansive wilderness just two hours from Pittsburgh. Salvaged from near environmental destruction in 1923–before this, it was logged for white pine and hemlock with few replanting efforts–today Allegheny National Forest stretches across a half-million acres of mixed hardwood forests high on the Allegheny Plateau. Waterways divide deep gorges and high ridgelines cloaked in second-growth oak and black cherry, with pockets of virgin white pine tucked deep within its borders. In 1965, the Kinzua Dam flooded Iroquois lands to create the Allegheny Reservoir, its 90-mile shoreline stretching from the northern throat into the belly of the forest. On foot, discover countless coves that make for secluded swim opportunities; the rolling terrain along low ridges and plateaus yields a leisurely hiking experience. Rimrock and Jakes Rock overlooks offer stunning gorge and canopy viewpoints.

Trail Recs:
Jakes Rocks
Minister Creek
Hearts Content

On the backbone ridge between Seneca and Cayuga, the largest of eleven ancient lakes gouged by glacial retreat like a big-cat scratch into the earth, the Finger Lakes National Forest is a diminutive, wooded oasis in upstate New York. Rather than the rugged wilds of its Northeastern cousins, the Finger Lakes embody a peaceful, pastoral landscape. Pastures of grazing cattle blend into successive shrublands that teem with rare songbirds and wildflowers during the summer. Long hillsides of hardwoods are laced with thirty miles of trails, gentle enough for horse and bike traffic. The placid, blue bodies of the lakes aren’t the only waterways to explore [opt for a guided canoe trip]; among the wooded glens, streams cut deep gorges into the earth, where waterfalls ribbon down rockface. If that wasn’t enough, the surrounding region is ripe with local wineries. This environment favors cold-hardy varietals, most notably Riesling, which thrives in the region’s bright acidity and slow ripening conditions

Trail Recs:
Interloken Trail
Backbone Trail
Fossenvue Trail

This cluster of neighboring national forests in eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and northeast Georgia, respectively—along with Sumter National Forest’s small sliver in the South Carolina foothills—covers over 2.5 million acres along the southern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Trail. Nantahala and Pisgah, both temperate rainforests, feature mild temperatures and lush vegetation year-round–with thick areas of thriving moss, ferns and wildflowers covering the forest floor as old-growth Loblolly pines, white oaks, and Carolina hemlocks provide shade. Hike to the top of Mount Pisgah, or take an exhilarating ride down Sliding Rock, a 60-foot, natural rock waterslide into a cool pond. In Nantahala, pick world-class whitewater rafting or hike in Panthertown Valley. In Chattahoochee, see almost-4,000-year-old rock carvings believed to be made by Cherokee people at Track Rock Gap Petroglyph Site.

Trail Recs:

John Rock
Wesser Creek
Clemmer Trailhead

In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt established Florida's Ocala National Forest just north of Orlando to protect the world’s largest sand pine scrub–over 380,000 breathtaking acres of ancient dunes, with a unique species of evergreen pines that thrive in coastal soils due to their shallow roots. But what really makes Ocala special is the wide array of swimming holes, with over 600 lakes, rivers, and springs to dip in and cool down. Abundant natural springs are filled with crystal clear, 72-degree water year-round, thanks to their underground sources. Alexander Springs, with its 300-foot-wide basin and gentle slope, is perfect for an afternoon of snorkeling or diving, while manatees frequent Silver Glen Springs in late winter and early spring. Miles of hiking trails are equally temperate, thanks to dense stands of shady oaks and cabbage palms forming a cool canopy (“Ocala” roughly translates to “Big Hammock” in Timucua, describing this ecological propensity.) Look for wild rhesus macaque monkeys, and stay alert for black bears–Ocala is home to Florida’s largest population–and alligators.

Trail Recs:

Florida Trail
Lake Eaton
Davenport Landing

Spanning over 708,000 acres in 21 counties across southern and eastern Kentucky, the Daniel Boone National Forest is a craggy treasure–home to the largest concentration of rock shelters and arches east of the Rocky Mountains. On the north end, sandstone cliffs in the Red River Gorge offer world-class climbs and views from isolated ridges; look down, and you might find some elusive white-haired goldenrod springing from the stone’s cracks. (It’s the only place this plant is found in the world, thriving in the sandy soil.) Virginia big-eared bats make their homes high above the cliffs, and elk are spotted, especially in the fall during their mating season. Stroll along the Sheltowee Connector to reach the gorge’s “Jump Rock,” a popular, roughly 20-foot cliff where you can catapult into deep, cool waters. Towards the South, Yahoo Falls is the tallest in the state at 113 feet. With over 600 miles of trails, options are endless, including the Sheltowee Trace, which runs the length of the park from Tennessee almost to Ohio.

Trail Recs:
Sky Bridge Trail
Rock Bridge
Auxier Ridge

For an escapade down the road less traveled, look to Mississippi’s De Soto National Forest–an underrated gem that’s just a short drive from the Gulf Coast. Spanning half a million acres, it’s Mississippi’s largest natural area. The 21-mile Black Creek, which runs through the forest, is the state’s only designated National Wild and Scenic River. (The famous Mississippi River is considered too engineered.) Rent a canoe to leisurely drift through the signature tea-colored waters or hike along the stream’s trail for about 40 miles through rolling hills and across dozens of bridges and boardwalks. Backpacking is also popular on the Tuxachanie, a trail that follows an abandoned logging railroad and takes you through wildflower fields, wetlands, and sandy longleaf pine woods. If you hear snoring while you walk, it might just be the dusky gopher frog, on the brink of extinction, but living in the deeper forest ponds. Look out for another “keystone species”—vital to an ecosystem’s survival–the gopher tortoise.

Trail Recs:
Tuxchanie National Hiking Trail
Big Foot Horse Trail
Black Creek

The Upper Midwest at its wildest. Stretching across three million acres—the largest national forest east of the Mississippi—the Superior National Forest is where Minnesota leans into its northern character. This is the southern edge of the vast boreal forest, a rugged landscape of rocky ridges, spruce, pine and more than 2,000 crisp, clear lakes and streams. Iconic large mammals move through here; moose wade in marshes, gray wolves slip through the timber and black bears roam the berry thickets. At the heart lies the legendary one-million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a labyrinth of lakes and portages beloved by paddlers for thousands of years. Recreation abounds—from developed campgrounds to backcountry campsites where solitude is the main amenity. Cast for walleye, northern pike, or smallmouth bass, hike for an afternoon or a week, or simply drift between sky and water.

Trail Recs:
Superior Hiking Trail
Border Route Trail
Kekekabic Trail

The Hiawatha National Forest spreads across over 800,000 acres of sandy shoreline, inland lakes, cedar swamps and pine forest across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The forest is divided between eastern and western units, but the throughline remains: water, woods and space to wander. Nearly 100 miles of combined shoreline along Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron frame the forest, shaping its windswept dunes, rocky cliffs and that venerable Upper Peninsula maritime climate. The forest is teeming with wildlife and opportunities to explore. Loons echo across remote lakes, black bears roam the woods and paddlers and campers can still find quiet corners of the Northwoods. Whether snapping photos of the lighthouse-studded shores, hiking through jack pine barrens, or casting a line into clear inland lakes, Hiawatha offers a classic Upper Peninsula mix of wilderness and water.

Trail Recs:
North Country Trail
Bruno's Run Trail
Grand Island Trail

Spanning over 1.5 million acres across northern Wisconsin, the Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest is a landscape shaped by water, ice and time. Named for two historic forests that were later combined into one, it’s filled with quiet lakes, winding rivers, hardwood ridges and stands of towering red and white pine. This is classic Northwoods country—where loons call, paddlers slip through tannin-dark rivers and wildlife still moves easily through the connected corridors. Northern conifers blend with hardwood forests of maple, birch and aspen. Wisconsin’s vast pine forests helped build cities across the Midwest, and today the forest has returned as a place of recreation and refuge, offering thousands of lakes and miles of trails for hiking, paddling, camping and simply disappearing into the quiet rhythm of the Northwoods.

Trail Recs:
Ice Age National Scenic Trail
Porcupine Lake Wilderness Trail
Morgan Falls and St. Peter's Dome Recreation Area

Covering the beautifully craggy hills of southern Missouri, Mark Twain National Forest protects more than 1.5 million acres of the Ozarks’ rolling hardwood forests, clear streams and rocky ridges. Named for Missouri’s most famous writer, the forest spans a patchwork of public lands that emulate the wild character of the Ozark Highlands. Oak and hickory forests blanket ancient hills, while cold springs and rivers carve through limestone bluffs and shaded hollows. Over the past century the land has recovered from logging, returning as diverse woodlands rich with wildlife, waterfalls and spring-fed rivers. Hikers, paddlers, campers and horseback riders can explore hundreds of miles of trails and waterways across the one-of-a-kind Ozark wilderness.

Trail Recs:
Ozark Trail
Bell Mountain Wilderness Trail
Devil's Backbone Wilderness Trail

In 1919, Forest Service’s Arthur Carhart hiked to Colorado’s Trappers Lake to survey the shoreline for development. Instead, he wrote a memo that, upon sharing with his boss, Aldo Leopold, became the intellectual foundation of the wilderness concept. Considered the “Cradle of Wilderness,” the jagged peaks, glacial basins, and aspen groves of the Colorado Rockies are what many North Americans imagine when they picture a mountain escape. As its surrounds get more populous and the highways teem with all manner of outdoorspeople, White River National Forest remains a reminder of the wilderness on an epic scale: Ten peaks over 14,000 feet–Grays and Torreys, Quandary, Castle, and Collegiate, to name a few–eight wilderness areas, and eleven ski resorts play their parts in making White River’s 2.3 million acres the most visited National Forest in the country.

Trail Recs:
Crater Lake via Maroon Bells
Shriner Ridge
Arthur H. Carhart

Sprawling across 3.4 million acres of western Wyoming, the Bridger-Teton National Forest anchors the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—the world’s largest intact temperate ecosystem—serving as wild connective tissue between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. In the high basins of the Wind River Range, dawn sets fire to granite towers above lonesome alpine lakes. In the cool shallows of crystalline creeks, grizzlie fish for cutthroat trout. At dusk, elk move through sagebrush meadows in unfathomable numbers. Wolves follow in silent pursuit; as of 2024, there are an estimated six packs of gray wolves with home ranges across Bridger-Teton. The mule deer herd that winters near Rock Springs travels more than 150 miles to summer range in the Hoback Basin–crossing much of the forest and traversing harrowing pinch points. The ancient wheel of life spins on as it should.

Trail Recs:
Cache Creek Trailhead
Green River Lakes Trailhead
Holmes Cave

Tucked away in the rugged east-central Idaho wilderness, the free-flowing Salmon River, coined the “River Of No Return,” defines the 4.3 million acres of Salmon-Challis National Forest. Geologically, the river carved a gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon. Ecologically, it is part of a ribbon of life that connects the Pacific Ocean to Idaho’s interior forests. Chinook salmon swim two thousand miles to spawn, the longest inland migration on the continent. Their carcasses provide essential marine nitrogen, nourishing Douglas fir and lodgepole pine forests. To the east, Idaho’s highest mountain, Borah Peak, rises from the vast and surprising Lost River Range.

Trail Recs:
Lower Cedar Creek Falls
Shower Bath Hot Springs
Borah Peak

Just south of the Canadian border, Flathead National Forest covers 2.4 million acres in Northwest Montana. This land is rich with gem-tones. Turquoise creeks twist through marsh and meadow. Ruby huckleberries hang low from shrubs. Alpine lakes are jades scattered across glacial basins. Autumn turns emerald evergreens into golden larches, their turmeric boughs alight in alpenglow. The traditional hunting grounds of the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreille tribes, the forest is home to over 250 species of wildlife, including grizzly bears, wolves, wolverines, and Canadian lynx. Above the treeline, sure-footed white mountain goats tap dance across impossible terrain.

Trail Recs:
Stanton Lake
Strawberry Lake
Mount Aneas

As wild as it gets. At 17 million acres (larger than all of West Virginia), the Tongass National Forest spans most of Southeast Alaska, the thousands of emerald islands that make up the Inside Passage. Mountains rise from tidewater. Humpbacks, the so-called ballerinas of the sea, leap through glacier-carved fjords. The annual salmon run brings out thousands of bears; you’ll find a heck of a scene at Anan Wildlife Observatory in July and August. At sea level, it’s verdant temperate rainforest: massive western hemlock and Sitka spruce carpeted in moss, a riot of ferns, an understory of salal and huckleberry. On the peaks: frigid winds, hardy sedges. Travel is by ferry, sea kayak, and float plane. Waterproof hiking boots are a must; if you make the journey here, you’ll want to take glacier-looping trails and steep switchback treks along deep-carved waterways.

Trail Recs:
Mendenhall Glacier
Punchbowl Cove
Deer Mountain

Running along the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains from the Canadian border to Mount Rainier National Park, the 1.7 million-acre Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest boasts some of the most ruggedly scenic country in the lower 48–and, with its proximity to Seattle and Vancouver, an abundance of visitors. Be mindful as you move among its glories: dense woods, craggy mountains, hundreds of jewel-like alpine lakes, two towering volcanoes (recreation hub Mount Baker and much more remote Glacier Peak), and first-rate hiking, mountaineering, and skiing. Keep an eye out: notable high-country wildlife include mountain goats, often seen scaling jagged cliffs, and hoary marmots, often seen belly-down on warm rocks. An exceptional array of bird life haunts the canopy and shoreline here, too—listen for the rare northern spotted owl in mature and old-growth stands.

Trail Recs:
Huntoon Point via Artist Ridge
Chain Lakes
Granite Mountain

At the western boundary of central Oregon’s 1.6-million-acre Deschutes National Forest are the Doug fir-dotted slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Travel east and watch the scenery dry out, with slender ponderosa and lodgepole pines giving way to the gnarled juniper and pungent sagebrush of the high desert. Clark’s nutcrackers love these pine swaths and their seeds; they’re known to store tens of thousands of seeds in scattered sites, later recovering many of them by memory–a mutual relationship at its finest. The area’s volcanoes and rivers provide year-round recreational opportunities, from whitewater rafting to mountain biking to horseback riding to alpine and cross-country skiing. Newberry National Volcanic Monument, meanwhile, gives a crash course in volcanic geology, with cinder cones, obsidian flows, lava tubes, and a lava-cast forest.

Trail Recs:
Big Obsidian Flow
Tumalo Mountain
South Sister

It’s all in the name: the colossal trees are the main draw to California's Sequoia National Forest on the western slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada. (Not to be confused with the much smaller Sequoia National Park, which it borders.) One of three species of redwoods, giant sequoias are, by bulk, the largest trees on earth—not just tall (often 250 feet or more) but thick, with massive bases wider than many city streets. They form distinct groves, like majestic cathedrals, 33 of which are found in this forest’s Giant Sequoia National Monument. Beyond the profound experience of deep time in these noble stands, expect a backdrop of dramatic granite spires, access to the Pacific Crest Trail, and pack stations offering guided wilderness horseback trips.

Trail Recs:
Trail of 100 Giants
Boole Tree
Slate Mountain

Encompassing a sizable swath of west-central New Mexico, the Gila National Forest embodies in both its physical form and its vibes the National Forest System’s early ideals: namely that wild country is good not only for ecological health, but for the human soul. It was the groundbreaking wildlife conservationist–and early-day forest ranger—Aldo Leopold who first proposed setting aside designated wilderness areas here; later, the idea spread nationwide. Though the landscape he saw has been buffeted by livestock grazing, invasive species, wildfires, and climate-induced drought, it retains a wild and expansive character, best experienced on two feet, or four.

Trail Recs:
Catwalk/Whitewater
Little Bear Canyon
Black Range Crest

In the Great Basin, the skin of the Earth puckered, and the wood-grown parts high enough to kiss heaven became Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest—the largest designation of its kind in the lower 48. That singular word “forest” is a bit notional, because the green swaths that constitute it stretch along high mountain ranges clear across the state, separated from one another by sagebrush basins. Isolation bred unique species of plants and insects, and plant communities, that distinguish one range from another. Travelers here should expect to be self-sufficient, whether on foot or on wheels. Their rewards are clear air, astonishingly dark skies at night, and a sense of spaciousness that harks back to earlier times.

Trail Recs:
Mount Charleston
Dollar/Lamoille Lakes
Toiyabe Crest

From the depths of redrock canyons to the snows and tundra of Arizona’s highest mountains, the Coconino National Forest can satisfy pretty much any visitor’s needs for wild-country recreation, in any season, against a truly iconic backdrop. Hiking, skiing, canyoneering, mountain biking: it’s all here, often in the welcome shade of high-country spruce and aspen, mid-elevation ponderosa pine, or riparian gallery forests of sycamore, alder, and cottonwood. Traces of the rip-roaring lumberjack-and-cowboy past remain in the form of old logging railbeds, barbed-wire corrals, and historic cowboy trails. But these days, it’s a much more tranquil scene. Now, most of what gets extracted from the forest is memories, sore muscles, and jealousy-inducing Instagram posts.

Trail Recs:
Kachina Trail
Bell Trail
Wilson Mountain

In April 1935 a “black blizzard” engulfed the southern Great Plains, ripping up so much loose soil that clouds of dust reached the Atlantic. The Dust Bowl shaped American history–and the plains landscape, for one outcome was the creation of public “national grasslands” in parallel with national forests. Spread over northeast New Mexico, far north Texas, and western Oklahoma, the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands (managed by the Cibola National Forest district) are case studies in how the land is still healing. Their wide-open vistas support cattle grazing—but not row crops–and prescribed fires that are critical in restoring land health. The beneficiaries include prairie wildflowers, pronghorn, such grassland-reliant birds as ferruginous hawks and burrowing owls—and human spirits, lifted by big skies and the time-honored gush of wind through waving grasses.

Trail Recs:
Santa Fe Trail
Mills Canyon
Sabinoso Wilderness