This 'Quiet Park' Is One of the Best Destinations for a Mental Reset in the U.S.

"At the top, I lay down on my back, in what felt like complete silence. A few minutes later, I began to notice the sounds emanating from my own body. A cup of coffee sloshing around my stomach. The whoosh of blood circulating around my skull. After 15 minutes, what sounded like a helicopter flew over my shoulder. It turned out to be a hummingbird, which began hovering three feet from my face, the sound of its wings almost comically loud."

"Anza-Borrego is the largest state park in California, covering more than 600,000 acres. And while it's not exactly off the grid, its sheer size makes it possible to explore for days without seeing another visitor. In September 2024, it was granted a Quiet Conservation Area award by Quiet Parks International, a nonprofit dedicated to identifying and preserving the world's least noisy corners."

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, spanning over 600,000 acres in Southern California, offers vast, seldom-visited landscapes where profound quiet is possible. In the predawn stillness atop desert boulders, internal bodily sounds became audible — stomach sloshing, blood whooshing near the skull — and a hovering hummingbird's wings sounded like a helicopter. The park's size permits days of solitude away from traffic and urban noise. In September 2024, the park received a Quiet Conservation Area award from Quiet Parks International, recognizing its exceptionally low ambient sound levels and suitability for preservation of acoustic quiet.

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