Best Summer Drives in New England

Exchange the red leaves of fall foliage with red rocks and you arrive at Sedona, which cools down just enough in the autumn months to offer a handful of hikes with jaw-dropping views. The landscape is a blend of twisted rock formations where monoliths, mesas, some as high as 5,000 feet, hoodoos, hanging cliffs, and spires join serrated red mountain walls. The 3-mile path that weaves through Boynton Canyon is arguably Sedona’s most popular trail, and rightly so. Jagged sandstone walls line both sides of the narrow pass. Prehistoric Native American dwellings can be seen under cliff overhangs that jut out of the mountains to greet you. If you can somehow manage to turn away from the towering scenery, you might be able to spot several alligator bark juniper trees close to 2,000 years old. The tree gets its name from the thick scaly bark that resembles an alligator’s hide. On your return trip, stop for lunch or a drink at the first-rate Enchantment Resort, located at the entrance to Boynton Canyon. The glass encased dining room and lounge offer more exquisite views of the surroundings.   
 

Unlike the rest of the Caribbean, the attraction in Dominica is not the beach, but a lush mountainous interior ripe with every tropical fruit and vegetable imaginable and inundated with so much water that around every bend is another raging waterfall, a serene swimming hole nestled in the thick bush, or a hidden hot spring to rest your weary body after a day in the outdoors. Indeed, this island closest to Martinique has become an affordable haven for the active traveler who yearns to hike through a jungle-like forest. My guide for a week of treks into the interior was Kent Augiste of Ken’s Hinterland Adventure Tours. The highlight was a 7-hour round-trip hike inside Morne Trois Pitons National Park to the crater known as Boiling Lake. We hiked through a dense forest of tall gommier trees, staring at the iridescent purple-throated hummingbirds as they kept us company. Afterwards, we lounged in the natural hot spring at Papillote Wilderness Retreat. Owner Anne Jno Baptiste first came to the island from the States in 1961. Eight years later, she bought a 7-acre chunk of land enveloped by the rainforest that she would cultivate into a flower-rich botanical garden and one of the Caribbean’s first eco-resorts.