12 Overlooked US Towns Worth Visiting
Each of these twelve small towns is next door to a destination far more famous than itself. Cottonwood sits about 20 miles from Sedona in Arizona's Verde Valley. Kanab is in southern Utah, under an hour from the east edge of Zion National Park. Lambertville is on the New Jersey bank of the Delaware River, one walkable bridge from New Hope. The famous neighbor works as a day trip, and the smaller town has enough of its own to fill the rest of the weekend. Most of those famous neighbors are within an hour's drive. Several of the smaller towns already have December holiday events on the calendar.
Southwest Harbor, Maine
Southwest Harbor is on the western side of Maine's Mount Desert Island, about 40 minutes by road from Bar Harbor. On Bar Harbor's side of Acadia National Park, most of the Park Loop Road closes to cars on December 1 and stays closed until mid-April, while the shoreline walks near Southwest Harbor start from roads that stay open. The Ship Harbor Trail is the one to time with a tide table, since low tide uncovers its tidepools. It is also one of the hikes the Park Service suggests for winter, when Acadia's trails often turn icy and packed with snow.
Nearby, the Seawall is a long cobble berm across the road from a picnic area, and the Acadia Mountain trailhead, just north of town, starts a climb steeper and longer than neighboring Flying Mountain's. In town, the Wendell Gilley Museum on Herrick Road is devoted to decorative bird carving, and a carving demonstration is usually under way. Its fall session runs on Fridays and Saturdays through December 12, with adult admission at $10 and children 12 and under free. Bass Harbor Head Light is in neighboring Tremont, and late afternoon is the time to reach its small parking lot.
Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol is a short drive from Newport, and its own mansion, Blithewold, sits on a 33-acre estate with 10 garden areas. Christmas at Blithewold opens there on November 24 and runs through January 3, with the decorated manor open Tuesday through Sunday until 7 p.m. Winter afternoon tea is served Tuesday through Friday until December 18, and the manor closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
Downtown has its biggest holiday weekend on December 5 and 6. The town tree is lit at 400 Hope Street on Saturday during the free 39th Grand Illumination, with live music and a visit from Santa, and a European-style Christmas market returns both days with rustic huts selling pastries and wine. Outside the holidays, Colt State Park covers 464 acres on Narragansett Bay with a beach and walking trails, and the mostly flat East Bay Bike Path, which crosses the park's access road, runs 14.5 miles to Providence.
Lambertville, New Jersey
A walk across the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge from Pennsylvania covers 1,053 feet and ends on Bridge Street in Lambertville, New Jersey. Bridge Street Antiques and Full Moon, which serves breakfast all day, are a short walk up the street, and Lambertville Station has river views at dinner and a basement Wine Cellar. Up North Union Street are Cross Pollination Gallery and the People's Store, an antiques co-op spread over several floors. The bigger antiques hunt is out on River Road at the Golden Nugget Antique Flea Market, a decades-old market open year-round on Wednesdays and weekends. About 200 vendors sell there, at stalls indoors and outdoors.
Lewes, Delaware
Rehoboth Beach is seven miles from Lewes, about a 12- to 15-minute drive. Lewes has its own ocean beaches inside Cape Henlopen State Park, where entry costs $10 per car with Delaware plates and $20 from out of state through November 30, and is free in December, January, and February. The park has a three-mile paved loop trail and the WWII Observation Tower, which has 360-degree views, and the Seaside Nature Center keeps winter hours Wednesday through Sunday.
The historic district, inns, restaurants, and shops of Lewes all sit within about half a square mile, so the town is easy to cover on foot. Second Street is the shopping street, and Lewes Beach is quieter than the ocean beaches nearby. On Saturday, December 5, the Historic Lewes Annual Holiday House Tour runs 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
German Street is the main shopping street of Shepherdstown, a West Virginia college town about a 20-minute drive from Harpers Ferry. Four Seasons Books stocks West Virginia titles, and Admiral's Analog Audio Assortment sells vinyl. O'Hurley's General Store sells old-fashioned goods, with shelves of glassware, cookware, tools, and toys, and the galleries, studios, and artisan shops along the street carry original work.
The C&O Canal towpath is about a mile from the center of town, reached by an access ramp at Canal Mile 72.7, and Shepherdstown Pedal & Paddle rents bikes and kayaks and runs a shuttle. Dinner at the Bavarian Inn comes with river views, and French-style cooking is on the menu at Bistro 112.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Junior hockey is on at 1st Summit Arena in Johnstown, a western Pennsylvania city less than an hour's drive from the Flight 93 National Memorial. The Johnstown Tomahawks play their North American Hockey League home games there, with Friday and Saturday games against the Maryland Black Bears on November 20 and 21, and they close out the year against the Northeast Generals on December 30 and 31. Before the puck drops, Stonebridge Brewing & the Wine Loft is downtown on Franklin Street.
By day, the Heritage Discovery Center and the Johnstown Flood Museum share a $16 adult combination ticket good for both within five days, and December through April both close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Johnstown Inclined Plane remains closed for rehabilitation, with no reopening date set. The Jim Mayer Riverswalk follows the Stonycreek River for 3.1 nearly level miles on a groomed surface for walking or biking, and Stackhouse Park has more than 8.5 miles of hiking trails for every skill level.
Douglas, Michigan
Saugatuck's Chain Ferry runs only between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and its dune rides stop in mid-October. Douglas sits directly across the Kalamazoo River, and the Interurban bus connects the two towns for $1 each way. Saugatuck Brewing Company is in Douglas despite its name. Its taproom on Blue Star Highway, the town's oldest craft brewery, pours from 16 taps and serves pub food. Everyday People Café and Wild Dog both serve dinner, and downtown has galleries including Button Gallery and LaFontsee Galleries. The two-mile Beach to Bayou Trail runs through downtown, and Wade's Bayou Memorial Park overlooks the river with spots for fishing and wildlife watching.
Hot Springs, South Dakota
A day in Hot Springs, at the southern end of the Black Hills, can start in the spring-fed water of Evans Plunge, which stays naturally warm for swimming all year. The Mammoth Site, also in town, is an active dig and one of the largest concentrations of mammoth remains in the world, with more than 60 mammoths found so far. Through February, it is open 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., closing on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Later in the day, the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary runs tours across 11,000 acres of prairie where hundreds of wild mustangs roam free, year-round when the weather allows.
Wind Cave National Park, just north on US 385, is the plan for a second day. The cave can be seen only on tours from the visitor center, and the Garden of Eden tour, about an hour with 150 stairs, is the one that runs year-round. From Wind Cave, SD 87 heads north into Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore is 41 miles, about an hour, from the visitor center.
Ridgway, Colorado
Yurts at Ridgway State Park are open for overnight stays all year, and the park sits outside Ridgway, a town 15 miles from Ouray. Winter visitors use more than 14 miles of routes for hiking, snowshoeing, and sledding, and the park is also open for birding and wildlife viewing through the cold months. Top of the Pines has 4 miles of groomed trail for cross-country skiing.
Kate's Place serves breakfast every day, and Colorado Boy pours local ales with artisan pizzas. The Ridgway Railroad Museum's rail yard, beside the old depot, displays Galloping Goose motor cars, and Dennis Weaver Memorial Park is a 60-acre wildlife preserve with a picnic area and sculptures. The Sherbino books musicals, concerts, documentaries, and game nights, and Telluride is about 39 miles away, roughly an hour's drive.
Kanab, Utah
Springdale, Zion's gateway town, is about 43 miles from Kanab, and Kanab has a slot canyon of its own much closer by. Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon, about 9 miles north, sits at the end of a deep-sand route that takes a high-clearance 4WD or an ATV, so most visitors go with a guided tour. Visit Utah calls it "Antelope Canyon without the crowds."
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, just outside town on Highway 89, bills itself as the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals, and its guided tours leave every 90 minutes daily. Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park stays quiet in winter, and the Toadstools hike, 44.5 miles east on Highway 89 in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, is a 1.6-mile round trip. The Little Hollywood Museum keeps old movie sets free to tour in Kanab.
Cottonwood, Arizona
The Verde Canyon Railroad's Magical Christmas Journey leaves from Clarkdale, the town beside Cottonwood, between November 27 and December 24. The hour-long round trip stops at the North Pole, where Santa boards and hands each child a gift.
Old Town Cottonwood, about 20 miles southwest of Sedona, has more than 60 businesses, several of them tasting rooms. Arizona Stronghold pours daily from noon with indoor seats and a garden patio, Pillsbury Wine Company serves its estate-grown wines by reservation, and the patio bar at Pizzeria Bocce is set around an outdoor fire pit. Dead Horse Ranch State Park is open year-round, with fishing ponds under giant cottonwood trees and lagoon loops under a mile long, and across the water, Tuzigoot National Monument preserves a 110-room hilltop pueblo.
Cashmere, Washington
Free samples come with the tour at the Aplets & Cotlets Candy Kitchen in Cashmere, a town 15 minutes from Leavenworth. The candies take their names from their main fruits, apples for aplets and apricots for cotlets. The tour of the little factory and candy store lasts about 15 minutes, and the kitchen is open every day, though the line may not be making candy on a given visit.
A walking-tour brochure for the Cottage Avenue Historic District is kept in the lobby of the Cashmere Chamber of Commerce, and Icicle Ridge Winery is among the tasting rooms in the area. Each December, Christmas in Cashmere brings Santa photos and live entertainment to Cottage Avenue.
Basing a trip in the smaller town turns the famous neighbor into the side trip. From Douglas, Saugatuck is a $1 bus ride across the Kalamazoo River, and New Hope is a walk over one bridge from Lambertville. The arrangement holds up into winter, when several of the best-known attractions run reduced schedules or close. Most of Acadia's Park Loop Road is shut to cars after December 1, and the Ship Harbor Trail near Southwest Harbor still starts from an open road. A December weekend in Bristol can pair Blithewold's decorated manor and the Grand Illumination with an afternoon in Newport. Out West, a night in a Ridgway State Park yurt puts Ouray 15 miles away and Telluride about an hour off, close enough for a day in either town before the drive back to the park.
