Off the grid: 10 places to totally unplug

By Sarah Tuff

updated 10:56 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2009

If the last book you read was Facebook, the last palm you saw was a Treo or the last tweet you noticed was from Twitter, it's time to break the technological tethers and go on vacation.

Listen carefully: not a working holiday, but an actual get-away-from-it-all, totally unplugged vacation, without cell phones, Wi-Fi, or BlackBerries.

We've found ten top places — from a wireless-free zone on a Mexican beach to a solar-powered lodge in Africa to a tree house on Vancouver Island — that compel you to put away the electronics and hear yourself think.

Now, how's that for a status update?

1. Wisconsin
The hideout: Spider Lake Lodge, a lakeside, Adirondack-inspired B&B in the dense Wisconsin woods.

Low-tech lowdown: That's a sweet new iPhone you've got there. But unless it's made of kindling, it'll be kinda useless at a 1923 log cabin surrounded by the 858,400-acre Chequamegon National Forest — no EDGE network here!

What Spider Lake lacks in connectivity, it more than makes up for with rustic north-woods kitsch: Expect bearskin rugs, Hudson Bay blankets and old wicker fishing baskets in the seven knotty-pine rooms. Yes, you'll miss your TiVo and the latest episode of “Mad Men” — until you take a deep (uninterrupted) breath of pine-scented fresh air. Or curl up in front of the Great Room's massive stone fireplace to gaze at the gently falling snow.

Your new ‘to do’ list:

• Explore the Chequamegon by foot, mountain bike, snowshoes or cross-country skis
• Land a brag-worthy catch from Big Spider Lake — welcome to the “Muskie Capital of the World”
• Cheer on sawyers, choppers and log rollers at the Lumberjack World Championships (held each July)

The road less traveled: Fly to Duluth, Minn., then nose a 4WD vehicle — especially recommended in winter — 80 miles south to tiny Hayward (population: 2,000). Then keep driving nearly 13 more miles into the woods until it's you, the elk and Spider Lake Lodge.

Don't forget: Your wallet. Fancy an antler chandelier for your own home? Then you're in luck ... much of the art throughout Spider Lake Lodge is for sale.

Spider Lake Lodge
Tel: 715 462 3793
Doubles from $159

2. Alaska
The hideout: Ultima Thule Lodge, in a tiny village that's so far north, it's run by the Claus family. Really.

Low-tech lowdown: In 1960, John Claus (alas, no relation to the big guy) came to southeast Alaska as a bush pilot and was able to hold on to land even when his 13-million-acre backyard was turned into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Today, his children and grandchildren operate an adventure camp that sits in pure wilderness — 100 miles from the end of the road. “We make our own electricity, find our own water, build our own buildings,” says Donna Claus. “We are our own city.”

That is, if you consider eight cabins — each with two bedrooms, a sitting room and a bathroom — to be a city, and those snowcapped, 18,000-foot peaks to be skyscrapers.

Your new ‘to do’ list:

• Notch your own first ascent (or descent, on skis) of one of the nearby mountains
• Enjoy dinner and a show — wild Alaskan salmon and the northern lights
• Raft Class III rapids on the glacier-fed Chitina River

The road less traveled: Fly to Anchorage and connect on Alaska Airlines to Valdez, where Ultima Thule's charter plane will pick you up for the two-hour flight to the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Don't forget: Dramamine. The only way in or out of Ultima Thule is by bush plane.

Ultima Thule Lodge
Tel: 907 688 1200
$1,500 per person, per night (four nights, minimum); includes all meals and activities

3. Texas
The hideout: Cibolo Creek Ranch, a working longhorn ranch sprawled across the Chinati and Cienega mountains, near Big Bend National Park.

Low-tech lowdown: We're not sure why the concept of personal space has become so “last century,” but Cibolo Creek Ranch brings it back with nearly 47 square miles of luxurious ... nothingness. That's an area about the size of San Francisco, which a handful of privacy-seeking travelers share with only the cattle, buffalo, elk, antelope and camels that roam here.

Some things are new since the ranch was founded in 1857 — notably a hot tub, swimming pool and full spa — but there are plenty of things that haven't changed a bit.

The 32 guest quarters are divided among three historic forts and adjoining haciendas and come equipped with Saltillo-tiled floors and Mexican blankets — but no phones or radios. Instead, you can watch what the ranchers proudly call the “South Texas TV”: a campfire.

Your new ‘to do’ list:

• Go horseback riding, mountain biking, or skeet shooting
• Connect the dots between Cassiopeia, Andromeda and Pegasus; at night, the stars are piercingly bright against a velvet-black sky
• Consume heaping portions of beef tenderloin hand-rubbed with spices, green enchiladas, and tres leches cake

The road less traveled: File a flight plan to the ranch's 5,300-foot landing strip. Or, fly to El Paso and drive 214 miles southeast. The breathtaking West Texas mountains and Rio Grande will appear around the same time your cell stops working.

Don't forget: A digital SLR camera. Cibolo Creek regularly offers photography seminars to help you capture the crimson mesa and lavender skies — ensuring that your friends will be suitably jealous when you upload the pics to Facebook.

Cibolo Creek Ranch
Tel: 432 229 3737
Doubles from $475, including meals

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