Whether you’re brimming with a newfound, New-Year’s-resolution-fueled energy or are dealing with the winter blues (and perhaps a bit of a holiday hangover), January is a window of opportunity to get out there and explore. Fascinating wildlife is out to play in the wintery valleys of Wyoming and you can count on the Southern states for some sun and warmth.

Start the year off strong traveling to one of our top destination recommendations to visit in the USA for the month of January:

Southern California in January

For those looking to escape the cold, sun-kissed Southern California is the place to be. Not only is the weather temperate, the summer crowds are gone and you’ll have more of the scenery to yourself.

The excitement of the cities and beautiful beaches of the coastal regions, like Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Laguna Beach, are great winter options, but we’d also suggest a trip out to the desert. January is a beautiful time of year to take a road trip through glamorous Palm Springs and two of our favorite California national parks, Joshua Tree and Death Valley. You can explore the rugged landscapes of these two national parks by hiking throughout the day– unlike other times in the year when you’d have to be out of the sweltering sun once midday hit.

Plus, stargazing is renowned in Joshua Tree and Death Valley during any month of the year, but the darker, longer January nights elevate the experience from memorable to unforgettable.

Southern California Weather in January

Expect mid-60’s near the coast and even warmer 70’s in the Southern Californian desert.
January weather along the California coast is temperate, although winter storms can bring rain. In the desert, expect warm days and crisp nights, with rainfall a much rarer occurrence.

Yellowstone in January

Don’t let the cold scare you away! Winter is a wonderful time to visit Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park. It’s an active season in the Rocky Mountains for some huge wildlife, including bison, moose, wolves and many more.

Lamar Valley on the Northern Range of the park is even fondly nicknamed “America’s Serengeti” for its excellent winter safari opportunities. The lack of trees on the valley floor provide the ideal wolf-watching environment.

There’s an abundance of top-notch ranches in the area that will provide a cozy home base for other outdoor activities as well– think cross country skiing, snowshoeing and sleigh rides. Luxury options, like the wonderful Amangani, also abound in Jackson Hole and some of the best downhill skiing in the country is on your doorstep. If you’re open to traveling by snowcoach, Jackson can combine well with Yellowstone.

Yellowstone Weather in January:

It’s definitely deep winter in the Yellowstone National Park area and the weather can be extreme. Expect plenty of snow and temperatures can range from 0 to 20 degrees throughout the day.

Arizona in January

Need a restorative getaway to start the New Year off strong? Or maybe you’re looking to spend time in the great outdoors without freezing your toes off in the month of January? Arizona is the place to be.

In southern Arizona near Tucson and Scottsdale, the desert climate means mild temperatures and some nice winter sun– perfect for outdoor activities. You can get the full American dude ranch experience at places like Tanque Verde and White Stallion, where the wide range of experiences include horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing and hiking. Outside of Tucson, Saguaro National Park is a wonderland of giant cacti and scenic mountain views. Because of the variety in elevation throughout the park, there is a wide diversity of flora and fauna to be found there.

For a winter vacation that’s less action-packed and more relaxed, head north to the red rocks of Sedona. This tranquil area of Arizona– a place that has long been sacred in Native American culture– is now known for its spas and wellness resorts. Many even claim the area is a “vortex,” a mysterious center of energy conducive to healing and meditation. So if you happen to feel a tingling sensation on one of your hikes through Sedona’s red rock cathedrals, now you know why.

For those that don’t mind the cold, the higher elevation Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona, which will be in the depths of winter, can be magical under a blanket of snow. The South Rim’s roads will be open and drivable, except in inclement weather.

Arizona Weather in January:

The temperatures in Southern Arizona (including Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, etc.) typically range from the 50’s to 60’s with the sun shining. A little further north near Sedona, temps usually stick to the 50’s.

South Carolina and Georgia in January

The Lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia is a place of underrated beauty and January is an underrated time to soak it all in without dealing with the crowds of peak season or the humidity of summer.  Sought after reservations at Charleston’s top restaurants are easier to come by, Middleton Plantation’s camellias are in full bloom and the Lowcountry Oyster Festival, the world’s largest of its kind, is taking place.

Charleston and Savannah Weather in January

Brisk but quite pleasant. Usually around 50 to 60 degrees.

U.S. Events in January 2023

Jan 1 – New Year’s Day
Jan 5-16 – Palm Springs International Film Festival 
Jan 13-16 – Napa Truffle Festival
Jan 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Jan 19-29 – Sundance Film Festival
Jan 29 – Lowcountry Oyster Festival

Check Out The Other Posts in Our Series Below:

• Best Places to Visit in the USA – Month by Month
• June
• October
• November

The post Best Places in the USA to Visit in January appeared first on All Roads North.

Having spent several weeks traveling through Wyoming and Montana, one issue that consistently came up when I spoke to people was the wolves and the impact of their reintroduction. Do you come down on either side of the debate?

I come at this from several different angles. I make my living as a wildlife guide and obviously seeing wolves is a really important part of that. That’s looking at it selfishly. But from a more practical point of view, wolves are a vital part of the ecosystem and they were brought back with a lot of vision and foresight. However it is certainly not without its problems. As well as being a wildlife guide, I am also an avid archery hunter. I kill and butcher all my own food. It has taught me how to harvest animals to sustain myself. I would say that most hunters, and of course ranchers, are 100% anti wolf. I’m not that way but I understand there needs to be a balance.

I think wolves are now an essential part of a balanced ecosystem, they help cull the herds and strengthen the gene pool by removing the sick and the weak. They were first reintroduced in northern Yellowstone. I can’t remember how many, 30 perhaps, but it was a small number and very quickly they started to re-populate. One of the reasons they were brought back in the first place was to control the elk herds, which were over abundant. Hunters may disagree but that was the opinion of most biologists. They were over-grazing, over-consuming and negatively impacting the ecosystem. While the elk population was initially slowly depleted it was actually another species, coyotes, that was impacted first. They hadn’t lived alongside wolves for 70 years and their population plummeted. As this happened, the population of another animals, the antelope-like pronghorn, rebounded. Adult pronghorn are too fast for coyotes but they do prey on the calves, so the relationship started to come back into balance.

The next thing that happened was that the elk population began to drop and as it dropped something really interesting happened. A lot of the vegetation that they had been consuming started to grow back and one of the first, or most significant, was willow, a riparian plant that grows near water. As the willow came back, songbirds, which had been gone from Yellowstone for decades, reappeared. The beaver population, which relies on willow to build their dams and lodges, started to recover. The fishing also improved, as willow flanks the river, cools the water and provides a habitat for the aquatic insects that trout feed on.

So I think the reintroduction of wolves has had a lot of positive impacts but it still requires management. You can’t introduce a top predator without having a control mechanism. After a decade of population growth the government relinquished their control and put the management in the hands of the individual states: Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. That’s where a lot of the conflict lies and each state has a different strategy. Today Montana and Idaho are going ahead with some limited wolf hunts. They have been very controversial but I think they are very important. Wyoming has gained and lost control of its wolf population several times. Most recently control has been handed back to the government. Ultimately I think this came down to bad management strategy. We listed too much of the state as a predator zone, areas where wolves could be shot on sight. The strategy is now being restructured, so that wolves can be controlled as a predator in areas where ranching is the dominant industry but are given greater protection in areas where tourism is more prevalent. The bottom line is that wolves are here to stay and the approach needs to be one of compromise.

It’s a fascinating debate and one that is starting to rear its head in the UK with the prospect of reintroducing wolves in Scotland.

It also seems that the wildfires are also another environmental hot potato.

To a lesser extent. We could talk about a fires, a changing climate, and water is of course always a big issue. We’re lucky here being at the head of the water system but it’s a huge issue throughout the West.

Down here (near Jackson) we have been relatively lucky with wildfires but the event that really changed things was the huge 1988 fire that swept through Yellowstone. Prior to this the approach had been to suppress even the smallest fires in an attempt to minimise the impact on tourism, but the whistle was really blown in 1988. They will now let the smaller fires burn naturally, which helps thin out the forest and hopefully prevent a much bigger fire from taking hold. Interestingly many of the tree species have what’s called a serotenous cone. They only release their seeds under the application of extreme heat. So fire is an essential part of the ecosystem.

It’s not really a question but on the subject of water, I was amazed that you can stand in Yellowstone next to two streams, one flows west to the Pacific and the other empties into The Gulf of Mexico.

Yes, it’s the Continental Divide. Guests are often surprised that it runs through Yellowstone, thinking that it marks the middle of the country rather than the divide between the two watersheds. You can drop a popsicle in two nearby streams and they will end up thousands of miles apart. The Yellowstone River actually runs north before joining the Missouri and then the Mississippi. The Snake River, near Jackson, runs West before joining the Columbia and emptying into the Pacific. It confuses people.

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