The Sunset Travel Awards celebrate the best in travel in the West. These destinations are the 2025 winners of the Where to Go: Nature Getaways category. Check out the complete list of winners here. For our definitive and searchable travel directory to help you plan your next trip in the West, click here.
Grand Junction
Visit Grand Junction
With more than one million acres of public lands offering uncrowded access to epic mountain biking, hiking, water sports, and ATV adventures amid stunning canyons, mesas, and rivers, Grand Junction is a nature lover’s best-kept secret. Beyond the adrenaline-pumping activities, this vibrant Western Colorado destination captivates with farm-fresh cuisine, craft beer and cocktails, and a thriving arts scene—in other words, all the trappings for an epic trip, no matter the type of traveler.
Snohomish County (Three National Parks, One Basecamp)
Elise Giordano
This Pacific Northwest county is perfectly situated to give easy access to three national parks: North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and Olympic National Park. It’s also a craft beverage, farm-to-table, mountain-to-seas wonderland that gives all visitors an outdoorsy experience with culinary and cultural highlights to round out a perfect getaway.
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, International Dark Sky Park
Visit Grants Pass
Dark sky tourism is definitely having its moment, and in Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains, you’ll find the perfect spot to do it. This International Dark Sky Park offers stargazing programs all summer long under some of the clearest skies in the West. By day, visitors can explore marble caves and old-growth forests; by night, they’re treated to a cosmic show that celebrates the park’s commitment to preserving natural darkness that’s dwindling by the day due to development.
Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
Visit Coeur d’Alene
With its stunning lakefront and charming downtown, Coeur D’Alene is an ideal spot for an idyllic getaway that perfectly balances relaxation and excitement with summer water sports, skiing and snowboarding in the winter, as well as hiking, biking, and eagle-watching amid beautiful fall foliage, all complemented by unique festivals.
Greater Palm Springs
Visit Greater Palm Springs
The easy-to-go desert wonderland keeps getting better with more top spas, resorts, world-class modernist architecture, spectacular hikes, music and culture festivals, breathtaking landscape, natural hot springs, and all those Southern California treasures.