In no particular order, here are a few lesser known places in North America that I enjoyed more than I expected:
Congaree National Park in South Carolina. It's a small park of lowland forest, often swampy with some boardwalk trails. There are some very impressive old growth trees scattered throughout the park.
Chiricahua Nat. Monument in SE Arizona. There are hoodoos similar to Bryce Canyon (though not quite as stunning as Bryce) with few visitors.
Badlands Nat. Park in S. Dakota. Unusual and striking badlands landscape. Very hot in the summer.
Mammoth Site & Museum in Hot Springs, SD (Black Hills area). Impressive mammoth fossils.
Waimea Canyon in SW Kauai, and Na Pali coast on the north side of Kauai. The latter is one of the prettiest places I've seen anywhere. Access only by foot, boat, or helicopter. I was on foot.
Smith Rock State Park a bit north of Bend, Oregon. Very pretty rock formations and excellent hiking. Very hot in the summer.
Petersen Rock Garden, a bit west of Smith Rock State Park. Totally bizarre and kitchy rock sculptures created by a Danish immigrant (with apparently too much time on his hands) decades ago.
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2962
Carhenge near Alliance, Nebraska. An absurd re-creation of Stonehenge done with old junk cars placed vertically in the ground, surrounded by a corn field. I've been to the real Stonehenge, but if I'm being honest, Carhenge is more memorable for me. There wasn't another soul at Carhenge when we visited.
Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine (Magdalen Islands) in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Part of Quebec province, but geographically closer to Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island. There's a 4 hour long ferry connecting the Magdalens and PEI. A very pretty archipelago.
Eastern Sierra, California. There are many very interesting places to visit in this region east of Yosemite & Sequoia-Kings Canyon Nat. Parks. These include the Bristlecone Pine forest high up at nearly 10,000 ft in a reserve above Bishop, CA. There's a good paved road going up there. Possibly the oldest plants in the world, yet dwarf size due to the harsh climate & poor soil. Also in the region are the interesting formations at Mono Lake, the ghost town at Bodie State Historical Park, an obsidian dome hidden away south of Mono Lake, and a good museum at Manzanar Nat. Historical Site (WWII Japanese-American internment camp location).
There are several lesser-known places in SE Utah which are worthwhile. Natural Bridges Nat. Monument has few visitors and is very nice. A bit south, Gooseneck State Park has a stunning overlook of a double buckle in the San Juan River, and it's nearly empty compared to the similar landscape at Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona. And a bit further south from Gooseneck SP going to Monument Valley, is Moki Dugway, a crazy descent on an unpaved road with a bunch of switchbacks and grades up to 11%. 5 mph speed limit. Fortunately, traffic is minimal. Scarier if you're on the passenger side.
Gumby: decades later, I still recall the outstanding mid-size sea scallops I had in Digby, NS, and the outstanding Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck on Cape Breton Island. The only other place I ate scallops that were as delicious was across the Bay of Fundy in rural coastal Maine. In both cases, the scallops were smaller (no more than 1" across) than the jumbo ones typically found in restaurants and grocery stores, but much sweeter. I assume the fishermen sell the big ones because they can get more money, but the medium size scallops taste better IMO.
