Rural regions and their communities are principal locations for a range of crucial planning issues, yet the practice of rural planning has remained at the margins. In response to growing interest, we explored the current state and future possibilities of rural planning by conducting interviews with ten highly experienced US and Canadian rural specialists. Inductive analysis of their responses, which we supplemented with relevant literature, yielded contemporary definitions of "rural" and "rural planning and development." The study highlights the major rural planning challenges, and opportunities in terms of "context-appropriate" practices attuned to rural communities and regions, globalization, and multilevel governance.