Top 9 Places to Trip in America

The usual advice when it comes to enjoying a psychedelic trip is to always do it in a safe, secure, and comfortable place. This means being surrounded by friends in the warmth of your living room or somewhere equally protective and discrete. 

However, some of the best trips that you can have aren’t going to be in your living room — they are going to be somewhere magical, and there are so many of these places in North America.

The USA is home to some of the most psychedelic places out there, both environmentally and just visually, and so many of them would make for the perfect place to experience a psychedelic trip.

Here are some of the very best places to trip in the United States of America.

First & Foremost: How to Use Psychedelics Responsibly

Before you can go off exploring and experiencing different locations throughout the USA, you need to make sure that you’re familiar with what responsible psychedelics looks like — regardless of where you go.

How To Stay Safe Legally

The big thing to keep in mind is that if you are planning on trekking across state borders, you could potentially be in a lot more trouble than if you just tripped at home.

Unless you happen to live in Oregon, currently the only state in the USA that has decriminalized drugs of any kind, you could be in legal danger if you get caught with any drugs on your person throughout the USA.

Some municipalities have decriminalized or deprioritized psychedelics as well, such as Denver (CO), Grand Rapids, Detroit, Ann Arbor (MI), Santa Cruz, Arcata, Oakland (CA), Sommerville, Cambridge, Easthampton, Northampton (MA), Seattle (WA), and Vancouver (Canada). 

Related: Decriminalization Status of Psychedelics in the United States.

How To Stay Physically Safe

Tripping should really be done in the company of a trusted friend, so if you want to take a journey to explore some of these great places, see if you can bring along a like-minded friend so as to keep each other safe.

Tripping might be a fantastic experience, but it often doesn’t leave you in the most mentally aware state. This could make you vulnerable to being taken advantage of or leave you in dangerous situations.

For this reason, it’s wise to avoid activities that can become dangerous if you’re not fully aware. 

Always make sure you plan accordingly in advance and have a backup should something go wrong. Regardless of whether you travel with a friend or alone, someone should know where you’re going and what you plan on doing. 

1. The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is always at the top of the list when it comes to places to visit in the USA, and for a good reason.

The majestic crevasse within Arizona isn’t just an amazing place to visit on vacation — it’s also an incredible place to have a psychedelic experience.

Don’t be one of those obnoxious tourists that try and hike down the side of the canyon and then need rescuing by State Troopers after a few hours, though.

Instead, take some psychedelics and walk on the glass walkway, strolling up and down the giant canyon that cuts across America and seeing the awesome effects of water and time on a desert landscape.

The walkway will keep you safe and ensure that you don’t wander off into danger unnecessarily. You can waste hours just standing there, staring into the canyon, so get a group of friends together (along with a sober trip sitter) and enjoy.  

2. Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is perhaps the best piece of natural beauty left in the USA. Filled with insane geothermal geysers and unique landscapes, Yellowstone is a wonderful base to take a hike but an even better place to take a psychedelic trip.

This is definitely one of those places where you should bring along plenty of equipment and friends to make a weekend of it.

You want to pick somewhere exclusive and quiet, ideally without any physical dangers around you. There is tons of wildlife and plenty of reclusive spots throughout the park to experience all kinds of psychedelic trips, and there are over 12,000 specific campsites across the entirety of the National Park, so pick one that feels safe and enjoy!

3. Grand Prismatic Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring is actually within the Yellowstone National Park but is so worth it to experience on its own that it deserves its own spot on this list.

Ranked as the largest natural hot spring in the US, this strikingly colored hot spring is not only beautiful but makes for an amazing place to take a psychedelic trip.

The waters are mineral-rich, and the microbial mats that skirt the edges of the water produce all of the colors of the rainbow, so that seen from a distance, it is like a rainbow breaking out from underneath the soil, topped with pure blue water.

Experiencing a psychedelic trip near a large body of water isn’t particularly a good idea, though, so the best way to enjoy the Grand Prismatic Spring is to camp a safe distance from the spring itself, ideally from one of the many outlooks nearby. That way, you can look down at the colors and striations and experience all of the colors of the rainbow safely.

4. Kaatskill Kaleidoscope

An odd entry on this list, the Kaatskill Kaleidoscope is, as the name implies, a giant kaleidoscope.

Those weird, trippy-looking toys that went out of fashion even before the 1990s, kaleidoscopes are still popular among certain communities for helping to enhance psychedelic trips.

This one, though, is something else entirely.

Ranked as the world’s largest kaleidoscope, this trippy structure was specifically built for the purpose of taking psychedelics inside it.

Step inside, look up, and find your entire worldview shaken to its core as you explore the dazzling and changing colors in the kaleidoscope.

It isn’t a particularly popular tourist attraction these days, as it is still owned privately, but rumor has it that you can still organize to take a psychedelic trip inside it if you ask nicely.

5. The Rocks At Moab

Famous for appearing in basically every Western cowboy movie since the dawn of time, the rocks at Moab, Utah, are worth visiting whether you are a fan of Spaghetti Westerns or not.

While the city of Moab itself is a perfectly fine place to visit, the real reason to go is to gaze at the majestic sandstone arches dotted around the Arches National Park.

The whole park is this desert landscape filled with these almost alien-looking arches. Made of red sandstone, walking around the Arches can make you feel like you are walking on the surface of Mars.

Take a few friends, some camping gear, and plenty of water, and enjoy a trip in the Arches National Park to experience a psychedelic journey to Mars.

6. Omega Mart

The Omega Mart is less of a supermarket and more of an experimental art project. This is definitely one of the trippiest places you can go regardless of what you’ve taken.

Hidden doors leading to secret pathways connecting to slides, hallucinatory art pieces, and a whole bunch of absurdism make this place weird even when sober.

Try and take it slow and experience everything over an hour or two, or you might find yourself feeling overwhelmed.

Also, make sure that you don’t plan on taking anything too strong when going in here, or you might find yourself pretty terrified, thanks to all of the immersive interactivity.

7. One World Observatory

One World Observatory is the observatory station at the top of the new One World Trade Center, and it offers views incomparable to anywhere else in the world.

Easy to book and super easy to get to, being right at the bottom of Manhattan, One World Observatory is worth a trip in its own right.

Take your psychedelics a little bit ahead of time before your booking, and then right the elevator up to experience the delights of the New York City skyline.

A great tip is to book for an afternoon slot, maybe 14:00, and then wait there until the sunset. The observatory definitely gets pretty packed around sunset, but if you get there early, you can just sit there for a few hours and enjoy your trip undisturbed, as there is no maximum duration on your stay!

With plenty of safe lookout spots and loads of room to trip quietly and peacefully, anyone that enjoys psychedelics and lives near New York City needs to experience this observatory.

8. Venice Beach

Venice Beach isn’t that interesting when you look at it objectively — a long boardwalk dotted with random street sellers and handball courts, plus some gym equipment scattered on a beach.

However, Venice Beach is separate from all of the other items on this list because its main quality is something you can only really understand if you experience it.

It has a vibe.

There is just something about the energy and feeling of walking down Venice Beach that is incomparable to anywhere else in America.

The movement, the street vendors, the chilled atmosphere — it is just the perfect environment to experience a psychedelic trip.

Stay in a group, though, to avoid any predatory behavior from some of the more nefarious people on the boardwalk, and you should be fine.

9. Music & Arts Festivals

There are many music festivals in the United States that are well-known for their psychedelic-friendliness. 

Some of the most popular include Coachella, Cosmic Fields, Tlālōcān, Xibalba, Esthetic Evolution Reunion, Sacred Earth, Treefort Music Fest, or Burning Man. 

The energy and ambiance of these festivals will make you feel like you’re in another world entirely. 

Related: Psychedelic-Friendly Events & Music Festivals Around the World.

Final Thoughts: Tripping in the USA

While most of the time, the best place to take psychedelic is in the comfort of your own home or in nature, we understand the sentiment of wanting to get out to somewhere truly spectacular. 

As long as you’re familiar with the essentials of using psychedelics responsibly, including having a trusted, responsible, and sober trip sitter along for the journey, there are plenty of excellent places to visit while using psychedelic substances. 

If you have any suggestions we should add to this list, please reach out to feedback@tripsitter.com.