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As a well-traveled locum tenens doctor, you've most likely visited all the big national parks: the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Zion to name a few. They're stunning no doubt about it. Instead of heading to the same parks as everyone else this summer, find solitude in the following – equally beautiful – stretches of land.
Alaska – Wrangell – St. Elias National Park
At over 13 million acres, this national park is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite and Switzerland combined. It's an immense slice of wilderness filled with retreating glaciers, massive mountains (Mount St. Elias is the second highest peak in the United States) and copper mining ghost towns (Kennecott).
More travelers venture north to Denali than taking time to breathe in Wrangell's beauty. That means more blue sky and black spruce for you to appreciate in peace and quiet. For a striking introduction to the park, try the moderate Root Glacier hike that departs from Kennecott's main street (4 miles round-trip). Alaska is waiting.
California – Lassen Volcanic National Park
Think California and Lassen is probably not first to mind. But after you step one foot here, you'll never forget the views. Just under a three-hour drive north of Sacramento, it's a surreal, hydrothermal wonderland full of roaring fumaroles (volcanic gas vents), turquoise crater lakes and steaming mud pots. And surrounding all that smoldering terrain is nothing but verdant conifer forest for miles and miles. The Devil's Kitchen hike (4 miles round-trip) departs from the Warner Valley Trailhead. Take this trail for the best of both lavascape and treescape.
Texas – Big Bend National Park
Ah, Big Bend. It's huge (1,252 square miles to be exact). The stars are bright. And with the dramatic landscape of the Chisos Mountains, the Chihuahuan Desert and the Rio Grande, you're sure to encounter an abundance of flora and fauna unlike anywhere else in Texas. In fact, this place is a bird-watching paradise. There are over 450 species of birds, and if you're patient enough you might even catch a glimpse of the rare red-faced warbler or white-eared hummingbird.
Any fresh-faced visitor should be sure to stop by Chisos Basin to take in the vaulting views of Emory Peak. Best hike to start with? Trek the Boquillas Canyon Trail. It begins at the end of the Boquillas Canyon Spur Road.