Mexico
Laguna de Miramar
Jade water lies dead still inside unbroken forest, without an engine within earshot.
The walk in earns the first sight of it: jade-green water lying still inside unbroken forest, with limestone islets offshore and no engine noise anywhere. Miramar gives nothing to passers-by, because there are none.
Laguna Miramar lies deep in the Lacandon forest, reached through community-managed access from Emiliano Zapata, whose cooperative has hosted visitors with simple cabins since 1999. The route needs advance planning, a local guide and a substantial walk, and it repays all three with camping, paddling and forest quiet. Staying puts income directly with the families who keep this lake as it is.
Solo
Plan ahead, walk in behind a local guide and camp a full night at the lake.
Friends
Share the trek and a paddle on jade water none of you will ever have to yourselves again.
- Laguna Miramar lies within the Lacandon forest, reached through community-managed access from Emiliano Zapata.
- The route requires advance planning, a local guide and a substantial walk rather than a casual stop.
- Camping, paddling and forest interpretation make it a deep visit when local conditions permit.
The ejido's lakeside restaurant serves the included meals of a stay: beans, rice, eggs and handmade tortillas.
Ocosingo, the gateway municipality, makes queso bola, a cream-hearted cheese aged inside its own hard crust.
Iriomote
Japan
A jungle island where the wildcat skulks, rivers run through mangroves and no road crosses inland.
Jomblang Cave
Indonesia
A sixty-metre rope descent reaches a sinkhole forest lit by one shaft of sun.
Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve
Sweden
One of Europe's largest protected areas — Arctic fox country wider than small nations.
Padjelanta National Park
Sweden
Sweden's largest national park — turquoise lakes and reindeer trails older than borders.
Nevado de Toluca
Mexico
Cold crater paths circle two high lakes beneath Mexico's shifting mountain weather.
Copper Canyon
Mexico
The Chepe rides through canyon country that runs deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Cañón del Pegüis
Mexico
The Río Conchos cuts striped desert rock into a remote Chihuahua gorge.
Basaseachi Falls
Mexico
Seasonal water plunges into a pine-lined canyon in Chihuahua's Sierra Madre.