Best places (in lower 48) you haven't hiked?

I've hiked extensively east of the Mississippi plus Missouri and Arkansas, but further west the best places I haven't hiked are too numerous to list.

Much easier to list where I've been: Yosemite Vernal & Nevada Falls; southern Utah including 5 national parks; RMNP; Lost Creek Wilderness; Black Hills; Badlands (a few hours), and visited the N&S Rims of Grand Canyon. Did the tour in Carlsbad Caverns.

Distance from Chicagoland is a bit of a factor, and I have difficulty acclimating to higher elevations. A weeklong vacation (9 days) is too short when it involves 4 days of driving and 3 or more days acclimation.

Yosemite & Carlsbad were part of a monthlong driving tour in 1986. My first trip to Utah was the only time I flew for hiking, and the other two involved softball tournaments in Vegas with more than a week vacation.

I plan to retire in a few years, and if my body holds up I'd like to explore more of the mountain west.

cweston, I appreciate the suggestions. In my post I thought about asking for Mountain West destinations which offered great scenery at lower elevations. I'm fine with viewing peaks without bagging them.

My foray into Lost Creek Wilderness 10 years ago was short lived. At the end of a 15 hour drive my hiking buddy and I stayed at a motel nearly 9800 elevation, then the next day we entered LCW from the west and camped at 10,800. I barely slept either night, and the next day's climb was too much for both of us. After nearly summiting Bison Peak, we had to retreat.

Obviously foolish to go so high so soon, but our planned 5 day trek in LCW was hard to sandwich into a week of vacation with a long drive both ways.

Flying is not out of the question, and I will definitely look into your suggestions.

I haven't done much traveling of late but in decades past did a fair amount of hiking and some backpacking from the Gila to Yellowstone, but obviously missed quite a bit. Nowadays I'm pretty much just boondocking and dayhiking the southern half of Greater Yellowstone.

I am more than happy with my options here and occasional trips back to Colorado and SE Utah. Places I would however like to see or see more of would include the Northern Pacific Coast, portions of the Hayduke Trail, Bob Marshall and Anaconda-Pintler Wildernesses, complete Uinta Hi-Line.. so many smiles across too many miles.

Driftwoody,

Many of my 11,000'+ peaks of the Southern Absaroka can often be ascended as easy/moderate dayhikes. Dubois is under 7,000' and I can share some great boondocking around 8,000'. You could take your time acclimating with some lower, well graded hikes and move on to others, maybe do a classic overnight loop. If you have more than just one week the Bechler in Yellowstone never gets very high and has easier grades and is a world class backpack. All kinds of magnificent trails at lower elevations in the Teton Wilderness too. Happy to share pics, bearspray, etc. if you want

CW,

Let me know if you're coming to the GYE and maybe I can shuttle you or help you out in other ways.

I've benefited from living in many places: Ky, Tn, Wy, NH, Ha, Or, and Fl. My willingness to drive great distances has also aided in my pursuit of backpacking locations. So far, I have yet to suffer from altitude, to my knowledge. Looking at the lists others have posted, I've either hiked them, or they don't have a draw for me. Maybe I just haven't done the research to see what those new places have to offer. I keep returning to the Grand Canyon and the Sierra Mts. Plenty there for me, and then some. When I lived in Cody, Wy, I hiked Y'stone extensively, and returning there this Summer is something I look forward to.

How do I know it's the best if I haven't hiked there? What is the best? The most alpine? The most remote?

Me, 90% of my time in the wilderness has been above treeline in the sierra. The Frank Church calls to me, as do the Beartooths. These days remote speaks to me more than the "spectacular".

There is backcountry camping permitted *IN* GTNP that is not in mandatory camping zones but you have to talk to the right folks. There are also several sites just over Park Boundaries in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. If you have a day's flexibility walk up permits usually work out magnificently. 

The Tetons North of Mt. Moran is likely one of the most exquisite backpacking destinations in the world that almost everyone overlooks. 

I've hiked the AT from the CT River to Katahdin and done some of the highlights of the Long Trail. I just never got terribly enthralled with Vermont beyond the Camels Hump. NH's Moosilaukee is my favorite Eastern Summit.