A traveler who has road-tripped through 33 states shares her 6 favorite hidden-gem destinations for summer adventures

Anderson said one of the most underrated trips they've ever taken was to South Dakota in the summer of 2022, where they spent the Fourth of July camping at Custer State Park.

"We were able to get a last-minute camping spot, and it wasn't crowded," she said. "You could spend a week there because it's so beautiful, and there's so much hiking."

It was a sunny 75 degrees Fahrenheit — perfect for hiking, Anderson said. During her hikes, Anderson appreciated the park's unique geographic features.

"Custer Park is known for having these rock spires. I've never seen anything like it," she said. "You get a really good reflection of the rock formations on Sylvan Lake."

The park is also full of grasslands and wildlife, from donkeys to bison, she added.

"You can drive from Custer to Badlands National Park, and you can also stop by Mount Rushmore," Anderson said. "So you can easily make a whole road trip there."

In July 2023, Anderson explored hidden gems in eastern Idaho.

"Grand Teton National Park is really popular, but on the other side of the Tetons, the Idaho Teton Valley isn't very popular," Anderson said. "They have amazing wildflower hikes, mountains, and waterfalls."

Anderson said she also explored sand dunes nearby.

"No one was there when we went except for a few people on ATVs," she said. "But for sunset, we had the sand dunes completely to ourselves."

"Sedona, Arizona, is obviously a really popular destination, but a lot of people don't visit during the summer because it's really hot," Anderson said. But when she went in late August 2024, temperatures had cooled down a bit, and there were still no crowds.

"It would be a good destination for people who don't mind getting up early to hike and or like hiking at sunset," she said. "We hiked at sunrise and sunset to beat the heat, and we had a lot of the trails to ourselves."

Anderson recommends staying at Ambiente Sedona, an adults-only hotel, and spending the hottest hours of the day at the pool.

"In South Carolina, everybody goes to Charleston, but we went to this place called Carolina Heritage Outfitters in the Edisto River area of South Carolina," Anderson said.

Carolina Heritage Outfitters is a tour company that offers treehouse camping by canoe. Anderson told BI that her tour guide said it's a popular activity among locals.

"You canoe downstream a very easy 10 miles to a treehouse, stay overnight, and then canoe 10 miles back to the tour company," Anderson said. "That was one of the coolest things that we've done. We travel all the time, and we've never done anything like that."

Anderson said she's been to Wyoming many times.

"I think, in general, it's underrated as a state to visit for tourism. It is obviously popular because of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park," she said. "But you don't really hear about people going other than that."

South of the Tetons in Wyoming, the Wind River Range offers a similar experience and is far less crowded, Anderson said. For maximum privacy, Anderson recommends pitching a tent at the free campsites in the Green River Lakes area, as she did in July 2024.

"You do have to prepare because it is remote, there's no service, and we took a 20-mile dirt road to get there," she said. "But there's nobody else around. You can go swimming, and the landscapes are so beautiful."

Medicine Bow National Forest is another underrated destination in southern Wyoming.

"We went there in the summer of 2023, and they have amazing lakes and mountain peaks that made me surprised that it's not more popular," Anderson said.

"Mammoth Lakes in California is really popular during the winter because it has great skiing," Anderson said. "Fewer people go during the summer, but it's one of the best hiking destinations we've been to."

Anderson went in 2022 and hiked through mountains, swam and kayaked in the lakes, and marveled at waterfalls.

"It's like a quintessential summer experience," she said.