Eco-conscious
Excellent Places to Visit with Kids BY ETHAN GELBER
Recent years of restricted movement have provided helpful clarity about what families love to do when they can travel away from home. One big priority is visiting places that value green spaces and emphasize humanity's role in preserving the environment, especially communities and cultures with strong connections to nature. Here's a handful of welcoming, familyfriendly North American destinations that take this to heart.
SOUTHERN MAINE New England is full of natural areas but Maine's long, island-spotted seaboard and hilly hinterlands – the Southern Coast, Portland, Midcoast and Down east – constitute one of the largest and most alluring. Acadia National Park is the crown jewel, with 158 miles of hiking trails, but outdoor land and water-based activities are encouraged everywhere, including the numerous family-ready preserves and state parks in many habitats. In towns, farm-to-table foods, regional crafts using recovered materials, sustainable local businesses, and environmentally aware hotels and tour operators abound.
Washington, dc In striking counterpoint to government gridlock over climate change policy, the District of Columbia is America's foremost sustainable city by many measures, not least its easy walkability, 7,800 acres of parkland (the most of the U.S.'s most populous cities), list-topping LEED-certified buildings, including hotels (DC is the world's first LEED Platinum city), and numerous locavore restaurants. There's no shortage of educational, socially responsible and diversity-focused sites along the National Mall, and, further afield, greenleaning cultural attractions such as the Woodlawn and Hillwood estates.
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville has firmly embraced responsible tourism. This should come as no surprise, given the small city's hip and progressive environmental sensibilities. In 2021, a local Action Leadership Forum convened to explore weaving equity and resiliency into sustainable tourism to reinforce it as a positive force for all. Visiting families are spoiled by the greater area's verdant beauty in the Western North Carolina Nature Center, North Carolina Arboretum, and many miles of nearby hiking trails. Farmers markets and farm-to-table restaurants round out the health-conscious offering.
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