Where Outside Editors Are Traveling This Summer

Published June 25, 2025 10:58AM

Outside editors know the importance of taking a break any time of the year, but summer trips hit different. Where are we traveling this summer? Some of us have plans to escape the heat waves in U.S. for winter in Cape Town, South Africa, which has no shortage of outdoor thrills within its city limits. Another editor is heading to one of Washington state’s most remote and quirky towns to cool off on alpine-lake trails. While others are taking a runcation through Chamonix’s glacier-dotted mountains, and exploring a sci-fi-themed desert outpost in Utah.

Haven’t dialed in your summer vacation yet? With our always-online days, it’s more important than ever to put your phone in airplane mode and get a dose of nature’s healing vibes. Even if it’s just for a few hours while you visit your closest national park (pro-tip: visit natural parks with swimming holes). As always, the most important thing is to simply get outside.

Chamonix, France

When I learned I’d be shipping off to Paris on assignment in late July—and that I’d have a few extra days to myself once the work was done—I immediately started making plans to visit Chamonix, which lies tucked amid glacier-encrusted peaks and serrated ridgelines in the heart of the French Alps. I’d always known Cham was a global climbing epicenter, but it wasn’t until last year that I learned it was a trail-running paradise, too. I was getting back into running at the time and stumbled upon this story from RUN about some of the best trails in the area. Now, I’m training for a 40-miler in Telluride this summer, and I can’t imagine a better place to sneak in some last-minute training. On the list: the Petits Balcons trails (I hear there’s a good ice cream shop along the way), and sections of the iconic Tour de Mont Blanc.

Exploring Around Utah

My home state of Utah never fails to amaze me. There are new destinations, trails, and campsites I’m constantly adding to my list and checking out for the first time. We’ve been ticking off a number of staycations, including finally visiting the new sci-fi themed OutpostX resort in the sagebrush country of Beryl, Utah.

Loosely inspired by Star Wars films, OutpostX lets guests travel endlessly around the desert landscape by sand cruiser (kind of like the landspeeders in the film, except they don’t hover or go fast). Beyond this headline amenity, we got to marvel at installation art plopped down in the middle of a dried lakebed, stay in a bohemian-styled Viking Tent, and watch the sunset from an onsite hot spring.

On the same trip, I also fulfilled a long-held dream of visiting Pando, an aspen clonal colony that’s considered the world’s largest living organism. Each tree in this 9,000-year-old aspen grove is genetically identical and connected by a massive root system. We camped amid Pando and mountain biked around nearby Fish Lake.

Later this summer, we’ll be spending a couple nights with friends up at Castle Peak Yurt in the Uinta Mountains. We’ll be SUPing at nearby high-alpine lakes, where I plan to attempt the SUP jumprope challenge, then unwind in the yurt’s cedar sauna.

Cape Town, South Africa

This summer I’m headed to Cape Town where it will be winter. I know escaping summer for winter sounds strange, but there will be fewer crowds and milder weather (and no heat waves). And I scored an incredible Trusted Housesitters stay so I can visit friends. Years ago, I was in South Africa on safari, but this is my first visit to its coastal capital where there’s no shortage of outdoor thrills within the city limits.

From Cape Town’s defining Table Mountain which dominates the skyline, to the two oceans that meet here, the Atlantic and the Indian, dramatic nature emerges in every direction. While this is a place known for shark diving, I’d rather do a mellow dive in Cape Town’s kelp forest, the dreamy undersea world where My Octopus Teacher was filmed. I plan to drive one of the most jaw-dropping coastal roads in the world, Chapman’s Peak, which is a bucket list for many cyclists to ride as well.

At the Cape Point Nature Preserve, I’ll try to spot an ostrich by the sea. And no trip to Cape Town is complete without seeing African penguins at Boulders and hiking up Table Mountain. While the sun sets here now before 6 pm, that doesn’t seem so bad if I can watch it from the top of Lion’s Head Peak, taking in the incredible view of the dazzling coast below.

Keystone, Colorado

Back in the mid-eighties, my father-in-law Tim bought a studio unit in one of the then-new condominium buildings at Colorado’s Keystone Resort. Nearly forty years later, the 500-square-foot space has become a godsend for my wife, my daughter, and me. It’s our sanctuary from the Mad Max-style driving chaos that occurs on Colorado’s Interstate 70 on most afternoons. We’re lucky—we don’t have to drive to and from Summit County every day, and can instead sleep overnight and wait for mellow periods to do our commute.

Ski trips to the Keystone condo are a breeze in the winter, but the place is even more magical in the summer. I’ll admit, the condo has dulled my old desires for roughing it-style backcountry adventures. And no, a trip up to Keystone is hardly exotic or adventuresome. But traveling there with a young child takes a lot of the headache and stress out of a vacation. The hiking and biking trails start right out the back. The blue-green water of the Snake River is just a five-minute walk down the path. And yeah, there’s a pool and a hot tub. My wife has fond memories of family outings to the condo, and our five-year-old daughter is already making her own. This summer we are planning on a two-week trip to the condo in late July. I can’t wait for the trip to arrive.

Nantucket, Massachusetts

This summer, I’m swapping my usual multi-day backpacking grind for something a little softer: a first-time trip to Nantucket (one of Outside‘s Best Summer Weekend Trips for 2025). I’ll be staying on the west end where I plan to spend slow mornings biking the island’s 35+ miles of paved paths, walking into town for a decaf coffee, and down to the beach with a towel slung over my shoulder. I’m hoping for daily ocean swims (maybe watching the surfers at Miacomet) and afternoons spent fishing.

There’s no summit to reach here, and that’s exactly the point. Lately, I’ve been reminding myself that getting outside doesn’t have to mean high mileage goals or big objectives. Sometimes it just means following the coastline on two wheels, letting my phone battery go dead, and watching the sunset while eating oysters in the sand. I’ll always love the mountains (and will spend as many summer weekends in them as possible), but this trip, I’m chasing a different kind of reset—and letting Nantucket show me how good the mellow can be.

Chanhassen, Minnesota

I’m planning to visit Paisley Park, located in Chanhassen, Minnesota, with my twin sister. While we’re both fans of Prince, she is a superfan. We’ve (read: she’s) always wanted to check out his massive home and studio which is nearly 65,000 square feet and rests on about nine acres of land. I’m excited to explore his “creative sanctuary.” I’ve also never been to Minnesota before, and I’m more than ready to explore a new state that feels totally foreign to me.

We also want to check out Hidden Falls Regional Park in Saint Paul. I’m the outdoorsy twin, so this one is for me. The park is about a 30-minute-ish drive from Prince’s estate. There’s a scenic waterfall tucked away on the trails. The last waterfall I saw was near a cenote in Mexico in 2016. Before that, sometime in the early 2000s, I swam in a lagoon under a massive waterfall in Curaçao. I’d say I’m due for another waterfall.

Since we plan on renting a car, I’m more than happy to drive two hours south of Chanhassen to visit the Spam Museum. I’ve never eaten Spam because the look of it repulses me, but I need to know why it’s so loved. Plus, I want to see how it’s made. Maybe, I’ll taste some. But probably not.

Stehekin, Washington

I’ll be heading to one of Washington State’s most remote towns: Stehekin. Nestled in the heart of the North Cascades, this mountain community is full of retired hippies, magic makers, and wanderers. With a permanent population of barely a 100 residents, there are no roads in, so outsiders (like me) must take the ferry to reach town. I’ll first drive to Fields Point Landing in Chelan, then ferry across the lake to the middle of Stehekin where I’ll begin my trek to Purple Point Campground where I’ll camp.

On my first day, I’l explore all the quirky things that make Stehekin unique. On day two, I’ll climb up McGregor Mountain, an iconic spot that looms over the valley. It’s 8-miles to the top, but I’ll stop at the 7-mile mark where the trail ends since I have zero experience in rock climbing to make the summit.

Day three I’ll hike Purple Creek Trail near the campground. It reaches out to just about 10 miles, but I’ll stop at the 8-mile mark at Purple Pass. I’ll bed down for the night and make the trek back the next day. Once back from my second day hike, I’ll pack up my gear, grab a beer with friends, and hit the road back to Spokane.

Southern Oregon

While my big adventure in Japan is coming this fall, summer will find me dipping in Oregon’s enchanting rivers which are, truthfully, a major reason why I moved here.

Cedar Bloom, a campground and farm in Cave Junction, has become an annual jaunt, and for good reason. With 60 campsites spread over 100 acres along the Illinois River, the land is the ultimate spot for a river rat respite (it’s also the top-rated Hipcamp in Oregon). Each year, Cedar Bloom plays host to the Spirit Weavers Gathering, but the opportunity to spend a few nights on this stretch of land sans thousands of other people is pretty special. Private beaches and swimming holes abound—and not to get all woo-woo, but the energy is awesome.

Whether on the drive there or back (or both), I’ll be pulling off I-5 to swim in the Umpqua, McKenzie, and Willamette Rivers. An explorer’s mindset is key here: pull up a map, trace the tributaries, keep your eyes open, and expect to find some of the most unreal swimming holes you’ve ever seen or swam.