experiencelifemag.com

Print › | Back ›

More Town & Country

SAN FRANCISCO
About town: Trek the Bay City’s famous hills. San Francisco City Guides offers free daily, informative walking tours (www.sfcityguides.org). Or explore San Francisco Bay in a kayak (www.citykayak.com). For city info check out www.sfvisitor.org. Got a car? A short, 12-mile drive will get you to Muir Woods, where you can hike for miles through the Bay Area’s last surviving primordial redwood forest (www.visitmuirwoods.com). Staying in the East Bay? Try Redwood Regional Park in Oakland (www.ebparks.org/parks/redwood.htm).

Add-on adventures: Yosemite National Park (four to five hours away) is a rock-climbing mecca. Learn new climbing skills with Yosemite Mountaineering School (www.yosemitepark.com). Bicycle tranquil country roads past lush vineyards (one-and-a-half hours away). For guided bike tours check www.winecountrybikes.com or read Wine Country Bike Rides by Lena Emmery (Chronicle Books, 1997).

BOSTON
About town: How about some history with your hike? The 2.5-mile Freedom Trail takes you past American Revolution sites (www.thefreedomtrail.org), while the Charles River Reservation bustles with runners, skaters and cyclists (www.bostonusa.com). Or sail Boston Harbor, famous for its historic tea party (www.bostonsailingcenter.com).

Add-on adventures: Cape Cod National Seashore is a beachy getaway for water sports and whale watching (www.nps.gov/caco). Boat out to Monomoy Island for bird watching. Golfers are in heaven on the Cape’s 40 courses. (www.golfcapecod.com).

DENVER
About town: Rent a bike or inline skates in the Mile High City and get your heart pumping along the 15-mile Cherry Creek Bike Trail, which you can access at various entry points downtown (www.denver.org). Or fly high above this elevated city on an early-morning balloon ride (www.rockymountainhotair.com).

Add-on adventures: Get into the mountains (a one- to two-hour drive) for world-class downhill and cross-country skiing or snowshoeing (www.coloradoski.com). In summer, take a mountain bike up the lift and single-track down the slopes.

MIAMI
About town: Go directly to the beach! Charter a sailboat, snorkel Biscayne National Park (www.nps.gov/bisc) or learn Miami’s daredevil sport, kiteboarding — like windsurfing with a kite (www.miamikiteboarding.com). Or dive the underwater Wreck Trek of sunken ships (www.southbeachdivers.com).

Add-on adventures: Trade in a round of cocktails for a date with crocodiles in Everglades National Park (35 miles away), where you can paddle through mangroves and swamps in search of manatees and alligators, or camp on chickees — raised platforms accessible only by water. A permit and 24-hour notice are required. Call 305-242-7700, or visit www.nps.gov/ever.