10 summer escapes off the beaten track

— -- Leave your watch at home and turn off that phone. Tear up your itinerary and forget the bucket list. Now you're ready to get lost, to surrender to the meandering spirit of exploration. Take a dozen roads less traveled in the Laurentians. Listen to the songs of sand dunes in California. Have an ancient city all to yourself in Mexico.

Ready to get lost? Here are 10 destinations to help.

Northern California's Lost Coast

Call it the end of the road. Northern California's Lost Coast starts where Highway 1—the intrepid highway that fights its way over crumbling cliffs and curving shores for almost 700 miles of Pacific coast—finally gives up, defeated by mountains that rise nearly straight out of the water. In this secluded corner of the nation's most populous state, black-sand beaches greet the wild Pacific and giant redwoods wrap themselves in blankets of fog. The rugged terrain protecting this stretch from development also shields it from mass tourism: The best of the Lost Coast is tucked away on hiking and mountain biking trails. King Range National Conservation Area's website is a great place to begin planning your escape from it all.

Laurentians, Quebec

Forget the city lights—Montreal's backyard offers a thousand ways to get lost. Neighboring the metropolis, the Laurentians region, named after the mountain range guarding its northern border, offers three unique paths to leisurely exploration. The Laurentian Gateway, a short hop from Montreal, is a haven of farm trails and country roads. A bit farther north, the Heartland offers unplugged sophistication, with a contemporary art museum, golf courses, hotels, and restaurants in a natural setting. And with its mountain backdrop and thousands of lakes and rivers, the rugged Upper Laurentians delivers simple pleasures like long walks and swims in lakes where the only sounds are the birds and your splashing.

Florida's Forgotten Coast

What better place to get lost than off the beaten path? Florida's Forgotten Coast stretches languidly over 200 miles of mostly undeveloped Gulf of Mexico coastline. It's a piece of lost Florida, of white-sand beaches with nary a high rise in sight. Just about 80 miles from Tallahassee, lose yourself in quaint small towns and fishing villages, protected forests, scenic byways, and, of course, miles of pristine beaches. Start your search for the Forgotten Coast by checking for deals in the communities of Apalachicola, St. George Island, and Eastpoint.

Calakmul, Mexico

Here's a find: a lost Maya city that's still largely undiscovered. Calakmul, located in a remote part of Campeche in Mexico, once rivaled Guatemala's Tikal in size and importance, but today it is virtually unknown. Only a fraction of the ancient city has been excavated; the rest of the 39-square-mile metropolis sits undisturbed under dense rainforest. Even so, there's plenty to explore, and while visitors to better-known Maya ruins are battling crowds to climb pyramids and photograph temples, you'll have entire plazas to yourself at Calakmul. Well, mostly to yourself: Parrots, toucans, spider monkeys, and hundreds of other animals are now the only permanent residents of this once-great city.

Texas Hill Country