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Travel / US & Canada

The narrow-gauge Durango & Silverton train steams through history above the Animas River.

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2012

The 20 Best Small Towns in America of 2012

From the Berkshires to the Cascades, we’ve crunched the numbers and pulled a list some of the most interesting spots around the country

The Hawaiian islands, from left to right, Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and the Big Island.

Paul Theroux’s Quest to Define Hawaii

For this renowned travel writer, no place has proved harder to decipher than his home for the past 22 years

Gig Harbor was named one of the 20 best small towns in America

Long Live America’s Small Towns

The author of our May article about the country’s best small towns was pleased to find that lots of small towns are thriving

David Baggett, famed among noodlers, explodes from the water with a giant catfish in his hands.

Hand-Fishing for Swamp Monsters

“It’s the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done,” says filmmaker Bradley Beesley, whose documentaries have popularized the ancient art of noodling

Family-style dinner at the Noriega Hotel includes cabbage soup, pickled tongue and bowls of spicy Basque salsa.

Indulging in American Basque Cuisine

The Basques followed the sheep from Europe to the western United States and they brought with them their boardinghouse cuisine

Mahanoy Mountain shows the scars of strip mining.

A Short Trip to Coal Country

Louis Basque Corner is one of the rare restaurants in Nevada that serves Basque cuisine

Your Guide to Basquing in the Old West

What are the best restaurants for authentic Basque cuisine?

The flowers at Chelsea Market

It’s Always Springtime at the Flower Market

Exploring New York City’s mid-town bloom bazaar, a unusual burst of color and perfume amid the helter-skelter of the city

An ocotillo flower

Wildflower Hunting in the California Desert

March is the traditional time to view the fab flora in Joshua Tree National Park

People wait in line at the Kogi Korean BBQ truck in Los Angeles.

How America Became a Food Truck Nation

Our new food columnist traces the food truck revolution back to its Los Angeles roots

Washington, D.C.

The 20 Best Food Trucks in the United States

The food truck revolution is in full force as mobile restaurants around the country dish out tacos, BBQ and other great eats

The Acela trip between New York and Washington has many great scenic views.

What to Look for on the Train Ride From New York to Washington

Sure, the view along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor has its share of grime. But there are also sights that’ll make you want to put away your smart phone

Anna Matuschek, who works in Stuttgart for the German magazine Motor Klassik, rides on Route 66 outside Oatman, Arizona.

The Mystique of Route 66

Foreign tourists and local preservationists are bringing stretches of the storied roadway back to life

The view from the Dirt Mulholland

L.A.’s Answer to the Yellow Brick Road

A group including the actor Jack Nicholson has tried to get Dirt Mulholland on the National Register of Historic Places

The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles is the only active urban paleontological excavation site in the United States.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: La Brea Tar Pits, California

Just a short drive from the mansions of Beverly Hills lies a site where paleontologists have found over three million fossils

The Burgess Shale, a crumbling slope in Canada's Rocky Mountains, has provided our first good look at the rich variety of organisms that once flourished in the region.

Evolution World Tour: Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada

Located in the Canadian Rockies, the fossil-rich dig site provides clues to scientists investigating how animal life began

The Appalachian Trail crosses 14 states, six national parks and eight national forests.

Tales From the Appalachian Trail

The stories of ten hikers who have traveled the 2,000-mile-path through the eastern United States tell the history of the trail

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