7 of the Quietest Places on Earth

A field of purple hydrangeas in front of a green misty mountain with a small mountain chalet and evergreen trees — You might be shocked to find out that the hydrangea-filled Yangmingshan National Park is just a short car ride outside of Taipei.

For many travelers, the ultimate luxury isn’t butler service or caviar carts or sky-high thread-count sheets. It’s something much simpler: a little peace and quiet. The world is increasingly being damaged by encroaching noise pollution, which can damage health and wellness, but a nonprofit organization called Quiet Parks International (QPI), founded in 2018, is trying to fix that by celebrating some of the quietest places on earth. Think of it as a sonic response to the International Dark Sky Places movement in which freedom from human-made noise means you can enjoy the sounds of nature.

To decide which places to honor, QPI sends researchers with a GPS, omnidirectional microphones, digital recorders, and sound level meters to collect acoustic data over time, and it then has conversations with land managers to make a qualitative analysis about the land’s history and usage. Next, it hands out QPI Awards for public spaces like wilderness parks, urban parks, trails, conservation areas and, soon, marine parks, as well as QPI Certifications for private spaces, including hotels, residences, and communities.

Looking for a respite from modern life? Check out QPI’s map of designated quiet places, plus others that have been nominated. And if you’re looking for inspiration, we’ve chosen a few to kick off your next quiet vacation.

Yangmingshan National Park, Taiwan

Designated the world’s first urban quiet park in 2020, Yangmingshan National Park is a volcanically shaped landscape of hot springs, fumaroles, cliffs, meadows, lakes, and mountains. Despite the geological fireworks on offer here, it’s a serene place—which is even more surprising considering it’s about 10 miles north of Taipei, a metropolitan area with more than 7 million people (reachable by city bus). The best way to get on the park’s uniquely tranquil wavelength is to follow the seasons and immerse yourself in nature: Throughout the year, the cycle of blooms includes cherry blossoms, azaleas, calla lilies, hydrangeas, and flowering silvergrass.

A wide river under an orange sky at dawn — Set deep in the Nebraska countryside, the Niobrara National Scenic River is the perfect place to relax to the sound of gently rushing waters.

Niobrara National Scenic River, Nebraska

America’s first quiet trail, the Niobrara National Scenic River earned its status in October 2023, and it offers 76 miles of peaceful river running roughly parallel to Nebraska’s northern border through valleys, prairies, and forests. At about 300 miles from Omaha and 400 miles from Denver, this area is quite far removed from major population centers, which might explain its serenity. The best way to explore it is on the water, whether kayaking, canoeing, or simply floating on a tube, before retiring to one of the various private campgrounds in the vicinity. If you want a little more excitement, drive 15 minutes from the visitor center to Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, where the silence might be broken by the lowing and grunting of the 350-strong buffalo herd that lives here.

A shaman of the Cofán nationality sitting on a small wooden bench performing a healing ritual in the middle of the Amazon jungle — The coolest way to experience Ecuador’s Zabalo River and its surroundings is to spend a few days with members of the Cofán people.

Zabalo River, Ecuador

In 2019, QPI named this meandering waterway in the Ecuadorian Amazon region the world’s first wilderness quiet park, and its designation came in large part due to the efforts of the Indigenous Cofán community, who have been leading ecotourism experiences in the region since 1978. A trip to the area is all about following their leave-no-trace ethos and embracing the simple life in a village with a population of 206. On a typical five- to six-day trip (starting at $135 per person per day), you’ll sleep in thatched-roof huts, fish for piranhas with homemade nets, glide over the water in long canoes, and trek through the rainforest in search of wildlife like tapirs, otters, turtles, and even river dolphins.

A reservoir with a skyline and mountains in the background — Mt. Tabor Park encompasses an extinct volcano in the middle of Portland, Oregon.

Mt. Tabor Park, Portland, Oregon

This hushed retreat in the middle of Oregon’s largest city is home to forests, open reservoirs, an outdoor amphitheater, and an off-leash dog park, but its relative calm belies its explosive history: The 191-acre park—America’s first to achieve urban quiet park status—sits atop a 636-foot extinct volcano. Portland is one of only six U.S. cities with an extinct volcano within its borders, and volcanic cinders were used to pave the park’s hiking and biking trails. Portlanders really use this park, playing on its basketball and tennis courts, squealing with glee on its playground, even cheering on friends in the Portland Adult Soapbox Derby, which might make you shocked to see it on a list of quiet places. But when you go a bit deeper and strike out on your own in the middle of a Douglas fir forest or a fern grove, it’s possible to feel like you’re miles away from civilization in some Pacific Northwest paradise.

A flooded forest with trees and grasses reflected in the water — Judarskogen Nature Reserve is one of five designated quiet parks in the Stockholm area that has made the Swedish capital a favorite among serenity seekers.

Various parks, Stockholm, Sweden

If there’s one city in the world that is currently wearing the quiet crown, it’s Stockholm, which is already home to five urban quiet parks, each with a unique appeal: Judarskogen Nature Reserve, which is centered around a glass-calm lake populated by frogs and newts; Hansta Nature Reserve, where mushroom-foraging is popular in the autumn and wildflowers carpet the forest floor in the spring; Älvsjöskogen Nature Reserve, a biodiverse area beloved by birders; Sätraskogen Nature Reserve, where you can go swimming at the beach under soaring sea eagles and ospreys; and Kyrkhamn Nature Reserve, a new reserve with woodland hiking trails that open up onto watery panoramas.

A mountain lake surrounded by evergreen trees — It’s easy to get away from the crowds in a national park that’s bigger than an entire U.S. state.

Glacier National Park, Montana

Nicknamed “The Crown of the Continent,” Glacier National Park attracted 2.93 million visitors last year, meaning that it ranked in the top 15 most-visited national parks in the United States. But this is still a place where you can get away from the crowds and find a bit of blissful quietude—which might be one reason it was named the country’s first wilderness quiet park in 2022. At 1,583 square miles, the park is more expansive than the state of Rhode Island, filled with 762 lakes, 563 streams, 175 mountains, and 26 glaciers, meaning it’s very possible to find room to roam away from the camera-toting road trippers who come here to check the Going-to-the-Sun Road off their national parks bucket list. For a truly remote experience, consider visiting Goat Haunt, which sits on the southern end of Upper Waterton Lake and is accessed by foot or by boat from Canada’s Waterton Lake National Park (remember to bring your passport!). The park was joined in March 2023 by another U.S. wilderness quiet park along the Canadian border, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, just a few states to the east in Minnesota.

A road leading into a medieval mountain village with terracotta — The so-called Empty Mountains are filled with medieval villages like the scenic Albarracín.

Montañas Vacías Bikepacking Trail, Spain

One of the newest entries to make the list is Spain’s first quiet trail, Montañas Vacías (or the Serranía Celtibérica), which earned its status in May 2024. The region makes up about 13 percent of the total area of Spain, but it remains widely under the radar for most visitors. Its name means “empty mountains” in Spanish, and you’ll see why when you visit: It’s one of the least populated areas in Europe, with an average of less than one person per square kilometer in certain parts, and it’s even been called “Spanish Lapland” because it has a similarly rugged and remote reputation. A landscape of pine forests and high plateaus, the 422-mile trail is a magnet for cyclists who come to explore stops like the medieval village of Albarracín and swimming points along the Tajo River. The only thing piercing the silence? Your shrieks when you enter the bracingly cold waters.

Nicholas DeRenzo

Nicholas DeRenzo is a freelance travel and culture writer based in Brooklyn. A graduate of NYU’s Cultural Reporting and Criticism program, he worked as an editor at Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel and, most recently, as executive editor at Hemispheres, the in-flight magazine of United Airlines. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, New York, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Sunset, Wine Enthusiast, and more.

Shhh! These Are Some of the Quietest Places on Earth

Quiet Parks International has selected parks, trails, and wilderness where you can escape noise pollution and finally find that ultimate luxury: some good old-fashioned silence.