In case you missed it, and in case you need some help setting your travel goals for the year, Southern Living recently weighed in on the 20 most beautiful places in Alabama.

Thanks to its eclectic approach, the “20 Most Beautiful Places In Alabama, According To A Native Alabamian” is likely to provide some food for thought even for people who’ve explored much of what the state has to offer.

Sure, it includes some easy, obvious natural features among its picks: Gulf State Park, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dauphin Island, the beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Noccalula Falls. There are a couple of lakes and one river (sorry if it’s not yours).

But Tara Massouleh McCay also mixed in a couple of caves; three picturesque towns, only two of which are in Baldwin County; a couple of destinations for fans of botanical marvels; and a greenspace in the heart of a major city. She also included the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, a one-of-a-kind landscape that was the life’s work of a monk at St. Bernard Abbey.

“As one of the country’s top five most biodiverse states, Alabama’s great outdoors offer not only a breath of fresh air and beautiful views aplenty, but also a chance to get acquainted with a huge range of biomes and species,” writes McCay. “With more than 50,000 square miles to explore, you could spend years crisscrossing the state and still have more to see.”

She makes a good case for giving it a shot. The entire list can be found at www.southernliving.com.