Uncharted

The World’s Last Quiet Places

“Silence is the think tank of the soul,” according to Gordon Hempton, aka the Sound Tracker, co-founder of Quiet Parks International (QPI), a nonprofit devoted to identifying and preserving endangered quiet spaces around the world, saving not only our well-being, but our environment as well. Read all about how Hempton first tuned into his quiet quest in our interview with him, “When We Save Silence We Save Everything Else,” on page 46. And check out Hempton’s picks for where to listen to some of the rarest and disappearing soundscapes in the world on page 44—from the world’s first quiet wilderness park in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, to the first quiet urban park outside of Taipei in one of the most densely populated places on the planet, to “the quietest place on Earth,” Hawaii’s massive crater of Haleakala.

01 Haleakala National Park

Maui, Hawaii

01 Haleakala National Park

Maui, Hawaii

Rising nearly two miles into the sky, the massive crater of Haleakala is deemed “the quietest place on Earth.” You will be treated to the lowest ambient decibel level yet measured in an outdoor environment—expect to hear the pumping of your heart and the whine of your nervous system when standing still,” observes Hempton.

02 Hoh Rain Forest

Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Home to Hempton’s pioneering “One Square Inch of Silence” project in 2005, he describes this temperate North American rainforest in Olympic National Park as “drapes of soundabsorbing moss covering large areas in the world’s tallest forest with unique acoustics including the flute-like bugling of Roosevelt Elk.” Unfortunately, U.S. Navy military air practice over the site is currently preventing it from being awarded Quiet Park status, adds Hempton.

03 Grasslands National Park

Saskatchewan, Canada

One of the best “earth-listening destinations” in North America, according to Hempton. At Grasslands National Park you can hear the wind blowing through a vast, wide-open prairie.

04 American Prairie Reserve

Montana

“Surprisingly for north temperate locations, they have astonishing biodiversity and are seldom intruded upon by air traffic,” making this collaboratively managed prairie destination “a must-listen destination,” says Hempton. “It’s possible to hear bison grunts at dawn over miles distant with a remarkable spring dawn chorus of songbirds.”

05 Desert Mountain Trails

Scottsdale, Arizona

This 20-plus mile loop trail system north of Phoenix—built and maintained by a volunteer group, Desert Mountain Desperados—links civilization to the vast wilderness in the Sonoran Desert along the Tonto National Forest and introduces hikers to solitude and silence in the wide open spaces.

06 Zabalo River Wilderness Quiet Park

Ecuador

Awarded the very first Quiet Park designation by QPI in 2019, the Zabalo is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world and one of the least noise polluted. Visitors are guided by the Cofán, one of the oldest surviving Indigenous people in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, helping them to generate income to preserve their sacred place of silence.

07 Namibrand Nature Reserve

Namibia

This private nature reserve extending close to 495,000 acres is full of distinct ancient desert soundscapes and a “profound natural quiet with low ambient decibel levels,” explains Hempton. Low-impact tourism helps conserve the unique biodiversity of this area of the southwestern Namib Desert, which is also a designated Dark Sky Reserve.

08 Bialowieza Forest

Poland

A UNESCO World Heritage site on the border of Poland and Belarus, this is the largest ancient deciduous forest remaining in Europe and home to the continent’s largest bison population. As for the soundscapes, Hempton says, one can hope for “cathedral-like acoustics with wonderful songbirds in spring.”

09 Judarskogen Nature Preserve

Stockholm

At the beginning of the trail at the first and largest nature preserve in Stockholm, city traffic will sound like a small mountain stream in the distance. But as you walk deeper into the pine forest or to the lake in Judarskogen, you may hear nothing more than your own footsteps.

10 Yangmingshan National Park

Taiwan

The first urban quiet park designated by QPI and the Taiwanese government in 2020 can be found outside densely populated Taipei, with a total population of about seven million people. Listen to a symphony of frogs unique to Taiwan, along 43 square miles of mountain trails and bubbling hot springs that lead to isoetes, a rare aquatic fern.