Outdoors

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Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

For those looking for an off-the-beaten-path excursion in New Zealand, I’d recommend visiting Lake Tekapo, in the center of the country's South Island. The small town is a cluster of homes and motels at the ...

Gila, Geronimo and More in New Mexico

Visit for the Gila River Festival, 9/13-16.

Along the Gila River built into five interconnected caves high in a canyon wall, in the 2.7-million-acre Gila National Forest and Wilderness Area, is a 700-year-old Mogollon pueblo designated as the Gila Cliff Dwellings National ...

Deep into Denali

With six million acres of wilderness, Denali National Park in Alaska is one of the largest national parks in the country. If you enjoy seeing wildlife in their native habitat, your time here can be ...

A Week on a New Hampshire Lake

Summer is a great time to visit New Hampshire. In the spring, there are a lot of biting flies and it rains all the time. But once the warm, dry months of July and August ...

Spectacular Mono Lake

See the Eastern Sierra's great salt lake, just east of Yosemite.

Highway 89 south out of Lake Tahoe to Route 395 has got to be one of THE most pleasurable rides in a stick shift. It’s definitely a road reserved for the unfettered. The steep switchbacks ...

At the World’s End: Ghost Mountain, Anza-Borrego

The majestic Anza-Borrego Desert never ceases to surprise me. It is an alien environment of ghostly, pale rocks and unforgiving heat. Ocotillo plants sprout like underwater coral from the barren sands that hide translucent scorpions ...

Go Hiking in Hong Kong

The breathtaking skyline of Hong Kong ranks in the top five of the world's most stunning cityscapes. Hop onto a 23-minute train ride from the airport to Hong Kong station, and from there take a ...

A Different Kind of Honeymoon

volcano trekking on the island of Java

After spending a week running around the island of Borneo, including stops in traditional villages of Sabah, Malaysia, and the primary rainforests of Brunei, we arrived in the capital of Indonesia at 3 a.m. Waking, ...

California's Active Volcanoes

A tour from the Mojave to Mono Lake

There are more than 550 active volcanoes in the world, five of which are in California. It's to be expected from a state sitting on the eastern edge of the Ring of Fire. Between Barstow ...

King's River Rafting: Not Your Average Family Vacation

Originating high in the mountains of central California near Sequoia National Park, the Kings River boasts the largest watershed of any river in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Last year I took the family on ...

Three Days in Santa Cruz

A hidden gem along the Californian coast, Santa Cruz offers lush natural parks, eateries with local charm and the traditional boardwalk. It has a relaxed feel like most beach towns, and the locals prize natural ...