This 'Quiet Park' in California Is One of the Country's Best Destinations for a Mental Reset

"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."

"Daily life in my corner of Los Angeles is nonstop noise. There's the expected road traffic and leaf blowers, plus the rumble of helicopters and fire trucks. On top of that, I often walk around my neighborhood wearing headphones and listening to music, replacing the background racket with the sounds I prefer. No wonder I've found myself craving silence. I imagined a visit to a quiet park being a form of self-care."

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park offers profound quiet where internal bodily sounds and subtle wildlife become audible. A visitor lying atop red boulders noticed coffee sloshing in the stomach, blood whooshing in the skull, and a hummingbird hovering three feet away, its wings comically loud. The park spans over 600,000 acres, allowing days of exploration without encountering other people, and received a Quiet Conservation Area award from Quiet Parks International in September 2024. Persistent urban noise in Southern California — traffic, leaf blowers, helicopters, emergency vehicles — and habitual headphone use intensify craving for silence and motivate visits to remote quiet spaces.

Read at Travel + Leisure