Higher ground, wide open.61 mountain destinations across the Rockies, the Sierra, the Appalachians, and beyond.

Four mountains, one historic mining town, and a dinner reservation worth the drive

Vail Resorts' 1980-built sister mountain at 8,100 feet — 2,082 skiable acres, the Birds of Prey World Cup downhill course, the Vilar Performing Arts Center, and the famous 3 p.m. chocolate-chip cookie hour at the lift bases

An 1859 mining town under the highest chairlift in North America

The Athlete's Mountain — three villages, naturally divided terrain, 75 minutes from Denver

Colorado's wildflower capital, the Headwall steep skiing on Mt. Crested Butte, and a Victorian downtown three miles below the resort base

A Summit County lakeside town on a 3,233-acre reservoir at 9,017 feet — fifteen minutes from Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Arapahoe Basin

The Vail Valley's luxury village base — Arrowhead and Cordillera communities, ten minutes west of Beaver Creek and twenty minutes from Vail

The eastern gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park at 7,522 feet — Trail Ridge Road's 12,183-foot summit, the Stanley Hotel that inspired The Shining, and Lake Estes at the base of Long's Peak's 14,259-foot face

Grand County's lakeside hub at 7,935 feet — the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, with Granby Ranch ski-and-bike resort in town and Winter Park twenty minutes south

Grand County's no-village ski resort — 406 acres, 41 runs, a 1,406-foot vertical, lift-served downhill bike park in summer, and the cheapest big-mountain Colorado lift ticket

Colorado's Western Slope hub at the foot of the Colorado National Monument and the 11,000-foot Grand Mesa — Palisade wine country fifteen minutes east, Lunch Loops mountain biking five minutes south, and Moab two hours west

A 3,000-acre Summit County resort with the largest snow fort in the world and three connected mountains lit for night skiing

The 9,540-foot Telluride Ski Resort base across the canyon from downtown Telluride — connected by the free 13-minute Mountain Village Gondola and the only North American public-transit gondola system

Summit County's value-tier resort hub at 9,035 feet — within 30 minutes of Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Arapahoe Basin, with the Outlets at Silverthorne and the Dillon Reservoir as the in-town anchors

Aspen Snowmass's largest mountain at 8,104 feet — 3,362 skiable acres, the 4,406-foot lift-served vertical drop (the largest in the U.S. for 40 years), the Cirque headwall at 12,510 feet, and the longest-running summer rodeo in Colorado

Ski Town USA at 6,732 feet in the Yampa Valley — Steamboat Resort's 3,741 skiable acres, the Wild Blue Gondola (the longest in North America), Howelsen Hill (the oldest continuously-operated ski hill on the continent, 1915), and the Strawberry Park natural hot springs

A box-canyon mining town at 8,750 feet — Bridal Veil Falls at the canyon head, the free Mountain Village Gondola, and one of the densest festival calendars in the Rockies

5,317 acres, seven Back Bowls, and a Bavarian-themed pedestrian village in the Gore Range

Colorado's longest-running ski resort — Mary Jane's bumps, the Denver-to-Winter-Park ski train, and Berthoud Pass at 11,307 feet over the Continental Divide

An 8,495-foot Central Sierra ski mountain off Highway 4 with 359 inches of snow and a Mokelumne Wilderness backyard

An alpine lake town ninety minutes from Los Angeles

A 1849 Gold Rush town on Highway 120 with the Iron Door Saloon, Pine Mountain Lake, and the Big Oak Flat entrance to Yosemite 25 miles up the road

A 800,000-acre national park where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet — Joshua trees, monzogranite boulders, and the darkest International Dark-Sky Park within a 3-hour drive of Los Angeles

California's highest ski-base resort at 7,800 feet on the Carson Pass — the driest in-bounds powder in California, 35 miles south of South Lake Tahoe

An alpine lake at 6,225 feet — Emerald Bay's Vikingsholm castle, the Heavenly Gondola from South Lake village, and the West Shore's bike trail past Sugar Pine Point

An 11,053-foot Eastern Sierra ski mountain with five alpine lakes and Yosemite out the back door

The south-shore Tahoe city — Heavenly Mountain's 8-passenger gondola, Stateline's casino strip, Tahoe Keys lagoon homes, and Emerald Bay five miles west

An alpine town where the Sierra opens wide

Park City's value-tier Heber Valley neighbor — Jordanelle Reservoir, Deer Valley East access, and a year-round Wasatch Back base

Zion's quiet east-side gateway — Canaan Mountain backcountry, Water Canyon's slot waterfall, and the Arizona-Strip horizon

The Heber Valley's Swiss-Alpine village — Soldier Hollow Olympic Nordic, the Homestead Crater geothermal soak, and a 25-minute Park City crossover

A Sundance silver-mining town that became the Wasatch's quietest big resort

Utah's capital between the Wasatch peaks and the Great Salt Lake — Temple Square, the Delta Center, City Creek Center, and a 35-minute drive to Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude in the Cottonwood Canyons

Big Cottonwood Canyon's quietest big resort — 1,200 acres, the Honeycomb Canyon double-black corridor, and the easiest 35-minute Salt Lake airport transfer in the Wasatch

Central Oregon's high-desert basecamp on the Deschutes River — Mt. Bachelor 22 miles west, Drake Park and the Old Mill District downtown, the 19-mile Deschutes River Trail, and the Bend Ale Trail's 20-plus breweries

The wind-and-orchard town at the entrance to the Columbia River Gorge — Mt. Hood 35 miles south, the Fruit Loop's 35-mile orchard-and-cider drive, the Hood River Event Site windsurf launch, the Mt. Hood Railroad scenic train, and pFriem and Full Sail anchoring the brewery row

Central Oregon's high-desert airport hub on the Deschutes Plateau — Roberts Field (RDM) the closest commercial airport, Smith Rock State Park 10 miles east, the Eagle Crest Resort and three 18-hole courses 7 miles west, and Bend 16 miles south

The 3,300-acre Sunriver Resort planned community 17 miles south of Bend — three championship golf courses (Crosswater, Meadows, Woodlands), the SHARC family aquatic center, 40 miles of paved bike-and-pedestrian path, and Mt. Bachelor 15 miles west

Lake Tahoe's upscale Nevada north shore — Diamond Peak's locally-owned ski mountain, two championship golf courses, and the Hyatt Regency lakefront

The Nevada side of Heavenly — Zalanta and the gondola plaza, the South Tahoe Events Center, and the casino strip from Hard Rock to Harveys

Lake Tahoe's Nevada east-shore strip — Skyland lakefront, Cave Rock State Park, and the MS Dixie II paddlewheel out of Zephyr Cove Marina

The gateway to the most-visited national park in America

Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain hometown — Dollywood, the Old Mill, and a Parkway lit up like a holiday

The third Smokies town — Wears Valley back-entrance into Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tanger Outlets at Highway 66, and the densest hot-tub-cabin inventory in the Tennessee market

The Beast of the East — six interconnected peaks, 155 trails, and the largest ski resort east of the Rockies

Okemo Mountain Resort and the Black River Valley — 121 trails on Okemo's 3,344-foot summit, Lake Rescue and Echo Lake on the town's edge, and Calvin Coolidge's Plymouth Notch homestead ten minutes north

Sugarbush Resort and the Mad River Valley — Lincoln Peak's 4,083-foot summit, Mad River Glen's single chair on Route 17, and Warren Falls swimming hole on the Mad River

Two active volcanoes, four climate zones, and 266 miles of coast on a single island

The Garden Isle — Na Pali sea cliffs, the Waimea Canyon, and Hanalei Bay on a single island circuit

Quartz Crystal Capital of the World on Lake Ouachita's western shore — Mountain Harbor Resort, the Crystal Loop scenic byway, and the cleanest large lake in North America at the edge of the Ouachita National Forest

America's first destination ski resort (1936) at the foot of Bald Mountain in Idaho's Wood River Valley — Hemingway's adopted hometown and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area's southern gateway

Brown County's hill-country art town — Nashville, the Little Smokies state park, and Hard Truth's distillery valley

Garrett County's Deep Creek Lake resort village — Maryland's only ski mountain at Wisp Resort, the 3,900-acre Deep Creek Lake, the Lodge at Wisp 169-room year-round base, the Swallow Falls 53-foot waterfall, and the ASCI Olympic-spec whitewater course

5,850 skiable acres on Lone Mountain, the 15-passenger Lone Peak Tram to 11,166 feet, and the Gallatin Canyon as a backyard

Gore Mountain's 2,537-foot vertical, the Hudson River Gorge whitewater, and the Adirondack Park hamlet where Theodore Roosevelt became President

Home of Seven Springs — Pennsylvania's largest ski resort, the Laurel Highlands, and an hour from Pittsburgh through the Allegheny ridge

A Bavarian-themed Cascade alpine village on the Wenatchee River — Front Street's gingerbread storefronts, Icicle Creek's swimming holes, and Stevens Pass skiing 35 minutes west

The Mid-Atlantic's largest ski resort — 60 trails across Snowshoe Basin, Western Territory, and Silver Creek on Cheat Mountain's 4,848-foot Thorny Flat

The valley between the Tetons and the Gros Ventres — a 1900s frontier town gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone

The Pitons UNESCO twin peaks above Soufrière, the drive-in Sulphur Springs volcano, and 49+ private-pool villas from Cap Estate to Marigot Bay

4,400 skiable acres across Tod, Sundance, and Morrisey — Canada's second-largest ski area, 45 minutes from Kamloops