41 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
More people are hurt here by heat and overconfidence than by anything else. Hiking down is optional and hiking back up is not: the canyon rim is at 2,100m, the inner canyon is 20C hotter, and rangers rescue people daily who went further than they planned. Never attempt rim to river and back in one day. Stay behind railings — the drop is unfenced in many places.
Comfortable: Grand Canyon Village · Tusayan · South Rim Trail
- Hiking below the rim in summer, when the inner canyon is 45°C and the rescue statistics are all afternoon
- The unfenced rim itself, which is where the falls happen — almost always while taking a photograph
- Descending further than you can climb back up, which takes twice as long
Very comfortable. The drink-driving law is the thing visitors get wrong — tasting rooms pour generously and the roads between them are policed. Wildfire season runs from late summer into the autumn and has closed the valley before; check before travelling then.
Comfortable: the valley towns · the Silverado Trail
- driving between tastings — the pours are generous and the roads are policed
- wildfire season — it has closed the valley before; check before you travel
Very comfortable. The heat is the whole hazard: 42°C in summer kills people who go hiking at the wrong hour, and the trails close when it is worst. The tram takes you from a desert to an alpine forest in ten minutes, and people arrive at the top in shorts.
Comfortable: downtown Palm Springs · the Movie Colony · Palm Desert
- hiking after nine in the morning in summer — 42°C; this is what kills people here
- the top of the tram in shorts — 20°C colder, and snow in winter
Comfortable, and the hazards are the island rather than the people: the surf on the north shore in winter is enormous and the beaches are unpatrolled outside the resorts, the Hana road is driven by people looking at waterfalls, and Haleakalā’s summit is near freezing before dawn in every month. The 2023 Lāhainā fire destroyed the old town; parts are rebuilding and visitors are asked to be careful where they go.
Comfortable: Kihei and Wailea · Pāʻia · the resort beaches
- the north-shore surf in winter — enormous, and the beaches are unpatrolled outside the resorts
- the Hana road — 600 bends driven by people watching waterfalls
- Haleakalā before dawn — 3,000 m and near freezing in any month
Comfortable. The volcano is monitored and the park closes what needs closing — follow it rather than the internet. Mauna Kea is 4,200 m: altitude sickness is common, the visitor centre asks for half an hour of acclimatisation, and the summit road is unpaved and 4x4 only. Lava fields are sharp and unstable, and the surf on unpatrolled beaches is the usual island hazard.
Comfortable: Kailua-Kona · Hilo · the national park
- the Mauna Kea summit road — 4,200 m, unpaved, and 4x4 only under most hire agreements
- lava fields off the marked trail — sharp, unstable and hot underneath
- unpatrolled beaches — the surf here has no lifeguard and no warning
Comfortable, with the island as the hazard again: the north-shore surf in winter kills swimmers most years and the beaches are unpatrolled, the Kalalau trail is genuinely dangerous in rain, and flash floods close the road at Hanalei. The one road means an accident can strand you for hours.
Comfortable: Poipu · Līhuʻe · Hanalei in summer
- the north shore in winter — the surf kills swimmers most years and nothing is patrolled
- the Kalalau trail in rain — a cliff path that people die on
- the Hanalei road after heavy rain — it floods and closes, and there is no other way round
Comfortable and relaxed. The cliffs at Torrey Pines and Sunset Cliffs are unfenced and crumble — people fall from them every year. The rip currents at the open beaches are real and the lifeguards flag them. Crossing to Tijuana on foot is routine; the queue back can be three hours.
Comfortable: La Jolla · North Park · Little Italy · Coronado
- the cliff edges at Torrey Pines and Sunset Cliffs — unfenced, crumbling, and people fall every year
- the open beaches — rip currents; swim where the lifeguard flags are
- the border queue back — up to three hours on a Sunday evening
Very comfortable and one of the easier American cities to walk. The heat and humidity in summer are real, the hurricane season closes things in the autumn, and the peninsula floods at king tides — which happens on clear days and surprises people. Nothing else.
Comfortable: the historic peninsula · the Battery · Upper King
- the peninsula at a king tide — it floods on clear days, and the water is deeper than it looks
- the afternoon in summer — 33°C and humid enough to matter
Comfortable and cheerful. Duval Street at night is a drinking street; the sun and the drink together are what actually spoil days. Hurricane season is taken seriously here and evacuation orders are not advisory. The reef is protected — standing on coral is both illegal and the end of it.
Comfortable: Old Town · Duval Street · the seaport
- Duval Street late — a drinking street, and the sun has already done half the work
- hurricane season — evacuation orders here are orders
Comfortable, with altitude and cold the things people underestimate: 2,500 m makes the walk back up harder than the walk down, and the rim is below freezing at night for most of the year. Ice on the trails into autumn and from early spring; the drops are unfenced at the viewpoints.
Comfortable: the rim trail · the main viewpoints
- the climb back out — 2,500 m, and everything here starts by going downhill
- the trails in ice — from autumn into late spring, and the drops are unfenced
Comfortable. The trails are busy, hot and exposed, and the car parks fill early enough that the shuttle exists; the monsoon brings lightning to ridges in the afternoons; and Oak Creek floods fast. The vortex industry is harmless; the dehydration is not.
Comfortable: Uptown · West Sedona · the marked trails
- the ridges on a monsoon afternoon — lightning, most days in late summer
- Oak Creek in a storm — it floods fast and has taken people
- any trail without water — exposed rock and no shade at all
Bear country — both black and grizzly — with the same rules as Glacier: spray, noise, distance, and food stored properly. The wildlife is the other hazard: people are hurt every year by getting close to bison and moose for a photograph. The altitude is 2,000 m and the weather turns fast.
Comfortable: Jackson · the park road and the lake trails
- approaching bison or moose — people are hurt here every year taking photographs
- the trails without bear spray — black and grizzly bear country both
Comfortable. The altitude is 1,900 m and visitors feel it, especially with alcohol; the lake is cold enough year-round to cause cold shock; and the mountain roads need chains in winter, which the highway patrol checks. Summer weekends bring traffic that turns a half-hour drive into two.
Comfortable: the lakeside villages · the resorts · Sand Harbor
- the lake water — cold enough year-round for cold shock
- the mountain roads in winter — chains are required and checked
- the first day at 1,900 m — altitude, and it compounds with a drink
Very comfortable. The altitude is 2,100 m and visitors from sea level feel it on the first day; the sun at that height burns quickly; and the summer thunderstorms arrive in the afternoon with lightning that closes the trails. Winter nights are well below freezing.
Comfortable: the plaza · Canyon Road · the Railyard
- the first day at 2,100 m — altitude, and the sun with it
- the trails on a summer afternoon — thunderstorms with lightning, most days
Bison injure more visitors here than bears, wolves and everything else combined, and every case is somebody who got close for a photograph. Twenty-five metres from bison and elk, a hundred from bears. Stay on the boardwalks: the ground around a hot spring is a crust and people have died going through it. Carry bear spray on any trail and know how to use it.
Comfortable: Yellowstone National Park · Gardiner · West Yellowstone
- Bison, which injure more visitors here than everything else combined, and every case is somebody who got close for a photograph — 25 metres is the rule
- Stepping off the boardwalk at a hot spring, where the ground is a crust and people have died going through it
- Bears on any trail — carry spray and know how to use it, which is not the same as owning it
- Winter road closures, which shut most of the park from November to April
A safe, small town where the hazards are entirely natural: bears on the trails, unpredictable coastal weather, and cold water that will incapacitate in minutes. The Mendenhall river valley floods from a glacier-dammed lake most summers, sometimes seriously. Cruise days are the other thing to plan around — five ships and up to 16,000 passengers can land in a day, with a 12,000 cap on Saturdays, so Saturday is the calmest day downtown.
Comfortable: Downtown Juneau · Mendenhall Valley · Douglas Island
- Mendenhall Glacier — the ice caves, which collapse and which are officially discouraged
- Bears on the Perseverance and Mount Roberts trails
- The rain, which is 230 days a year and which turns the trails to mud
Safe, with car break-ins at trailheads and beach car parks as the one real and constant problem — leave nothing, and leave the car unlocked if it is empty, which is what locals do. The ocean is the serious risk: the North Shore in winter has waves that kill experienced surfers, and Hanauma and Sandy Beach both have a bad record.
Comfortable: Waikiki · Kailua · Hawaii Kai · Manoa · Haleiwa
- Car break-ins at every trailhead and beach car park, which are constant — leave nothing at all
- Banzai Pipeline — and the North Shore in winter, where the waves kill experienced surfers
- Sandy Beach — and Makapuu, which have Hawaii’s worst spinal-injury record from shorebreak
- Chinatown, Honolulu — after dark
The park is safe and the park is the hazard. Rivers in spring run fast and cold and drown people who wade in; the Mist Trail’s granite is slick; Half Dome’s cables kill someone most years; bears will open a car for a crisp packet and food must go in the lockers. Book the entry reservation and the accommodation months ahead.
Comfortable: the valley floor · the shuttle route · Wawona
- the rivers in spring — fast, cold, and they drown people who wade in
- the Half Dome cables — someone dies on them most years
- food left in a car — bears open cars; use the lockers
One of the safer large American cities and comfortable to walk. Drivers here have a national reputation and it is deserved — pedestrian crossings are treated as suggestions. Winter ice on brick pavements in Beacon Hill sends more visitors to hospital than anything else.
Comfortable: Back Bay · Beacon Hill · North End · Cambridge · Seaport
- Drivers, who have a national reputation and deserve it — crossings are treated as suggestions
- Ice on the brick pavements of Beacon Hill in winter, which is the actual injury statistic
- Downtown Crossing — and the blocks around it late at night
Generally safe, with a visible and severe homelessness and drug crisis concentrated in parts of downtown, Pioneer Square and along Third Avenue. Car break-ins at trailheads and park-and-rides are constant. The mountains are the other risk: Rainier weather changes fast and people go missing on it every year.
Comfortable: Ballard · Queen Anne · Capitol Hill · Fremont · West Seattle
- Pioneer Square — and Third Avenue downtown, which have a visible and severe drug crisis
- Car break-ins at trailheads and park-and-rides, which are constant
- Mount Rainier weather, which changes fast and where people go missing every year
Downtown and the tourist areas are busy and policed. Broadway at closing time is loud, very drunk, and the pedal taverns are a menace rather than a danger. Away from the core, Nashville is a car city with poor pedestrian infrastructure, and crossing a six-lane road on foot is the actual hazard.
Comfortable: The Gulch · Germantown · 12 South · East Nashville · Broadway, Nashville
- Broadway, Nashville — at closing time, which is loud and very drunk
- Crossing six-lane roads on foot, which is the real hazard in a car city with poor pedestrian infrastructure
- Pedal taverns, which are a menace rather than a danger
The desert is the hazard: no shade, no water on the trails, and 38°C in summer — the rangers pull people off the Delicate Arch trail every year. Flash floods fill the slot canyons in the monsoon months. The 4x4 routes are for vehicles and drivers that can do them, with no phone signal for most of it.
Comfortable: the town · the park roads and marked trails
- the Delicate Arch trail in summer — no shade, 38°C, and people are pulled off it every year
- slot canyons in the monsoon — flash floods, arriving from rain you cannot see
- the 4x4 routes — no signal, and a wrong vehicle strands you
Comfortable in the areas visitors use, and a city with real inequality a few blocks either side of them. The Mall, Georgetown, Capitol Hill and Dupont are busy and fine; the south-east quadrant is residential and not a tourist route. Ordinary American city care: phones on tables, and the metro late at night.
Comfortable: the National Mall · Georgetown · Dupont Circle · Capitol Hill
- the south-east quadrant — residential, and not a visitor’s route
- the metro after midnight — thin crowds and long platforms
The park has no water, no petrol and almost no phone signal, and people get into trouble by treating it like a visit rather than a desert. Carry four litres a person, tell someone the plan, and do not walk in the middle of a summer day. The cholla cactus embeds in skin and is genuinely difficult to remove.
Comfortable: the park road and the marked trails · Joshua Tree village
- the park in summer — 40°C, no water and almost no signal
- the cholla garden — the cactus embeds in skin and is hard to get out
- leaving the trail — people get lost within sight of the road here
Grizzly country, and the rules are not decoration: carry bear spray and know how to use it, make noise on the trails, never walk at dawn or dusk alone, and store food properly. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is narrow with drops and no barrier in places. Snow closes it without much notice in either shoulder month.
Comfortable: the lodges and the village areas · the shuttle route
- the trails without bear spray — this is grizzly country and the park says carry it
- dawn and dusk alone — when bears move, and when people meet them
- the Going-to-the-Sun Road in poor weather — narrow, with drops and no barrier
The road is the hazard: one lane each way, blind curves, cyclists, and landslides that close it for months at a time without warning. Check Caltrans before driving. There is little phone signal, few petrol stations, and the beaches have rip currents and cold water rather than swimming.
Comfortable: the state parks · the pull-outs along the highway
- Highway 1 itself — blind curves, cyclists, and landslides that close it for months
- the beaches — rip currents and cold water; this is not a swimming coast
- a low tank — the petrol stations are few and the prices are famous
Comfortable. Sixth Street late at night is a drinking street with a drinking street’s problems; the rest of downtown is fine. The heat in summer is the genuine hazard — 38°C with humidity, and the barbecue queue is outdoors. Flash floods after heavy rain close low roads.
Comfortable: South Congress · downtown · Zilker and Barton Springs
- Sixth Street late — a drinking street, with what that brings
- the afternoon in summer — 38°C, and most of the queueing is outdoors
The historic district is busy and comfortable, and the city has higher crime a few blocks beyond it — west and south of the squares is residential and not a tourist route, especially at night. Open containers are legal downtown, which makes River Street rowdy at weekends. The heat and the mosquitoes in summer are the other two.
Comfortable: the historic district · Forsyth Park · River Street
- west and south of the historic district at night — residential, with the city’s crime concentrated there
- River Street at weekends — open containers are legal and it gets rowdy
Denali Reasonably safe
Grizzly and black bears, moose with calves in spring, and terrain with no trails, no signal and no shelter. The park rules are strict for good reason: keep 300 metres from bears and 25 from moose, carry food in the containers provided, and tell someone your route. Weather changes in minutes, snow falls in any month, and rescue is hours away by helicopter if it can fly at all.
Comfortable: Denali National Park · Healy
- Leaving the bus and walking off alone, which is permitted here and is a real decision
- Bears and moose at any distance under 300 metres, which is the park rule
- The weather, which closes the road and cancels flightseeing for days
Ordinary urban caution downtown, and then a completely different list once you leave it: moose are the animal that actually injures people here and they do it in city parks, bears are on the trails within the city limits, and the tide on Turnagain Arm comes in as a bore over quicksand-like mud that has killed people. Carry bear spray on trails, give moose a very wide berth, and never walk out onto the mud flats.
Comfortable: Downtown Anchorage · Tony Knowles Coastal Trail · Girdwood
- Downtown Anchorage — east of Gambell after dark
- Moose on the trails, which injure more people in Alaska than bears do
- Turnagain Arm mudflats, which are quicksand and have killed people
Zion Reasonably safe
Two hazards, both serious. Angels Landing is a chain-assisted ridge with drops on both sides and needs a permit won in a lottery; people have died from it. The Narrows is a slot canyon and a flash flood in it is not survivable — the forecast is checked every morning at the visitor centre and closures are absolute. The summer heat does the rest.
Comfortable: the canyon floor and the shuttle route · Springdale
- the Narrows in any flood risk — a slot canyon in a flash flood is not survivable
- Angels Landing — a chained ridge with drops on both sides, and a permit for a reason
- the canyon at midday in summer — 38°C between two walls that hold it
This is the one place in these guides where the weather can kill you in an afternoon. Summer air temperatures pass 50°C and ground temperatures are far higher; the park tells people not to walk after ten in the morning and means it. Carry far more water than seems sensible, keep the tank full, and expect no phone signal. Cars overheat here in numbers.
Comfortable: Furnace Creek · the paved park roads in winter
- walking after ten in the morning in summer — over 50°C, and the park says so because people have died
- a half-empty tank — the distances are long and the petrol is scarce
- relying on a phone — there is almost no signal in the park
Comfortable in the areas visitors use. The city has a visible homelessness and drug problem downtown that surprises people and is not aimed at them; Old Town after dark is the part to walk round rather than through. Property crime, especially from cars, is high — leave nothing visible.
Comfortable: the Pearl District · Alberta and Mississippi · Hawthorne · Washington Park
- Old Town after dark — the drug problem is concentrated there
- anything left visible in a car — break-ins are the city’s commonest crime
Comfortable in the areas visitors use — Center City, Old City, University City and Fishtown are busy and fine. Philadelphia has a serious gun-violence problem concentrated in neighbourhoods that are not on any visitor’s route, and Kensington has an open drug market that people should simply not visit. Ordinary care with phones and bags.
Comfortable: Center City · Old City · Fishtown · University City
- Kensington — an open drug market; not a place to visit
- North Philadelphia at night — residential, and not a visitor’s route
Generally safe but stay aware in the subway late at night. Keep phones secure. Avoid walking with headphones in both ears.
Comfortable: Manhattan · Park Slope · Brooklyn Heights · Long Island City
- Empty subway cars at night — walk to a busier one
- End-of-line stations after midnight
- Times Square — the costume characters, who demand a fee for the photograph
The Strip and Fremont are heavily policed and busy at all hours; the blocks between them, and the streets a little east and north, are not somewhere to wander. The real hazards are the ones nobody warns about: 39°C in July with no shade, alcohol at that temperature, and how far it is between two casinos that look adjacent. Carry water, and take a taxi rather than walking back at 3am.
Comfortable: Las Vegas Strip · Fremont Street Experience · Summerlin
- The blocks between the Strip and Fremont on foot
- Anyone offering a free show ticket or a timeshare tour
- Heat in July and August, which kills hikers at Red Rock every year
The honest version: violent crime is concentrated and avoidable, property crime is not. Car break-ins are close to a certainty if anything is visible in a parked car, rental or not — locals leave the glovebox open and empty to show there is nothing to take. The Tenderloin and parts of Sixth Street are grim and best skirted, especially at night. The rest of the city is fine, and the fog in July is colder than visitors expect.
Comfortable: Marina District · Hayes Valley · Noe Valley · North Beach
- Tenderloin — and mid-Market, day or night
- Car break-ins, which are epidemic — leave nothing at all in the car, including an empty bag
- 16th Street Mission BART — at night
Miami Reasonably safe
Tourist areas are generally fine but Miami has significant car break-in and scam activity. Watch for inflated bills on Ocean Drive. Hurricane season runs June to November, peaking September — travel insurance matters. Rip currents are common; heed beach flags.
Comfortable: South Beach · Brickell · Coral Gables · Wynwood
- Wynwood — and Overtown, late at night on foot
- Ocean Drive — restaurant bills, which is the commonest complaint here
- Rip currents on unguarded beaches
Chicago Reasonably safe
The tourist areas — the Loop, River North, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Hyde Park — are safe and busy. Chicago's violence is real and is concentrated in specific South and West Side neighbourhoods that no visitor has reason to be in. The practical risks downtown are phone snatching and car break-ins.
Comfortable: The Loop · River North · Lincoln Park · Wicker Park · Hyde Park
- Phone snatching downtown and on the Red Line late at night
- Car break-ins, particularly near the lakefront trailheads
- The wind and the cold in January, which is -6°C before the wind chill and is a genuine hazard
New Orleans has a genuine violent-crime problem and a tourist zone that is largely insulated from it, and the honest advice is to respect the boundary. The Quarter, Marigny, the Garden District and the streetcar line are fine and busy; the blocks north of Rampart Street and east of the Marigny are not somewhere to walk at night. Take a car home after dark rather than walking, keep the drink in your hand rather than on the bar, and be aware that hurricane season runs June to November.
Comfortable: French Quarter · Garden District · Marigny
- Bourbon Street — after two in the morning
- Rampart Street — and the blocks north of it
- Walking home rather than taking a car, which is the local advice and is meant
Safe in most visitor areas but varies sharply block to block. Do not leave anything visible in a parked car — smash-and-grab theft is very common. Skid Row downtown is best avoided. Traffic is the real time cost: plan around rush hours.
Comfortable: Santa Monica · West Hollywood · Pasadena · Culver City
- Skid Row — and the blocks east of Downtown
- Hollywood Boulevard — after dark
- Leaving anything visible in a parked car, anywhere, ever
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
