Connecting Aspen and Crested Butte, this rewarding trek is best in July, when wildflowers are at their peak. Abundant larkspurs, violets, blue columbines and white thimbleberries spray color along the 10-mile route, which also has some of the most dramatic views in the Rockies. It starts at the trailhead with views of Maroon Lake. From there the trail winds through a glacial valley and aspen groves in the White River National Forest, then climbs 3,000ft over Maroon Pass before a descent.

Two summits, rocky scrambles and crystal-clear ponds make this the most rewarding hike in Acadia National Park. The 5.4-mile loop starts and ends at Jordan Pond House, a civilized eatery that beckons with post-hike popovers, but is otherwise rugged. You’ll squeeze between boulders to scale Penobscot, dip down to Sargent Pond, then climb past the tree line to the 1,373-feet-high top of Sargent Mountain. With water on three sides, the panoramic view encompasses almost the entire Down East Coast.

Follow William Clark's tracks with this trail from the town of Seaside to Ecola State Park. The 6.3-mile trail climbs over 1,000ft through old-growth forest, with dramatic views of mountain ridges jutting into the Pacific. Keep an eye out for elk and eagles, plus migrating gray whales in winter and spring. As the trail descends toward Indian Beach, you’ll face Cannon Beach and its famous basalt rock formations misted in fog.

The Midwest’s most epic hike hugs the ridgeline of Lake Superior for 296 miles, from Duluth to the Canadian border. It climbs up bluffs 1,000ft above the lake and down into forested river valleys, with the chance of moose, bear and beaver sightings en route. Maples blaze in the fall and wild berries abound in the summer. The 18-mile stretch from Silver Bay to County Route 6 is a great sampler, passing several small lakes, birch groves and cliffs with panoramic Superior views.

Considered one of the most challenging hikes in the Grand Canyon, this route offers jaw-dropping rewards. Originally constructed by geologist J.W. Powell in the 1880s, it follows an old Native American path, plunging 6,000ft in 14 miles from the north rim to the Colorado River. It’s not for the faint of heart: you’ll switchback through sandstone cliffs, steep redwall limestone and sloping yellow shale down to Nankoweap Creek and the river. Alas, you then have to climb those 14 miles back.

Virginia’s highest peak rises 5,728ft in the southwestern Blue Ridge Mountains, near the North Carolina border. Starting at Massie Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park, it’s a 4½-mile hike to the top, partly following the Appalachian Trail. Most of it winds through rugged pastures, so you get wide-open views all the way—except at the summit, which is covered in dense spruce-fir forest. The best part is that wild ponies graze on mountaintop meadows throughout the route.

The most dramatic hike in Zion National Park is an eight-mile round trip that climbs 2,000ft from the canyon floor to an overlook on the rim. Carved into the sandstone wall, the trail switchbacks steeply along smooth rock, visits the narrow Echo Canyon and skirts the precipitous White Cliffs. At 6,508ft, Observation Point rewards the effort with a sweeping view of the canyon, including Red Arch Mountain, the Great White Throne and Angels Landing.

This breathtaking path provides the only land access to Kauai’s Nā Pali Coast, where fluted cliffs crash into the turquoise Pacific. As seen in Jurassic Park, it’s an otherworldly landscape of tropical valleys, waterfalls and mango trees. The 11-mile trail aims for Kalalau Beach, secluded between two lush volcanic ridges, where campers often linger for the full five nights allowed on the permit. It’s a seriously challenging hike, though, especially after it rains—which it does a lot.