Sometimes the best adventures are off the beaten path. Certainly you can look in any travel guide for the top sightseeing spots, but we have dug a little deeper to find the hidden gems that maybe aren't so obvious. Check out our handful of Regional Road trips throughout the different parts of the US. Maybe you'll discover something new right in your own back yard!
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Wheat fields and wildflowers, mountains and volcanoes, oceans and glaciers…and
that’s just the tip of what the West has to offer!
California
Love to cook with garlic? Ever wish you could mingle with a bunch of garlic-loving
folks? Well, you can…in Gilroy, home to the Annual Garlic Festival. 2008
marks the 30th year so the festival promises to be even more spectacular. Hop
on US 101and join thousands feasting on garlic-laced food. Then kick back and
listen to musical entertainment, or peruse and purchase arts and crafts, or watch
the Great Garlic Cook-Off and celebrity cooking demonstrations, or just munch
and soak up the sun.
Take the kids to Gilroy Gardens featuring over 40 rides and attractions, such the Monarch Garden—a greenhouse so large that a train, a monorail, and a river runs through it; and the "Quicksilver Express" mine coaster.
Don’t forget to tour the wineries of Santa Clara Valley, too!
Links:
www.gilroygarlicfestival.com
www.gilroygardens.org
www.gilroyvisitor.org/wineries/home
Hawaii
Kauai: From sea and river kayaking to mountain biking to a zipline fly over a waterfall, Kauai a perfect destination for the adventure traveler.
www.kauaidiscovery.com
Maui: A 62-mile loop circles the West Maui Mountains. You can travel either direction, driving north from Lahaina or beginning and ending in Kahului. Attractions include: Iao Needle, Olowalu petroglyphs, Kahakuloa town—a small isolated community on West Maui’s rugged north shore. Plan a sunrise trip to Haleakala.
Links:
www.haleakala.national-park.com
www.gohawaii.com/maui
Oahu: Of all the islands, this is the most developed and offers numerous tourist attractions. So if you have to choose one, visit Iolani Palace, the official residence of the Hawaiian Kingdom's last two monarchs--King Kalakaua, and his sister and successor, Queen Lili`uokalani. Iolani Palace is located at the corner of King and Richards Streets at 364 South King Street.
Links:
http://www.gohawaii.com/oahu
http://www.iolanipalace.org
Hawaii (The Big Island): A 120-mile drive circling the southern half of Mauna Loa, passes through Kona Coffee country and macadamia nut orchards, crosses Mauna Loa's massive southwest lava flows, visits windy and historic South Point, and ending at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Links:
www.nps.gov/havo
Nevada
Lake Tahoe, Reno, and, of course, Las Vegas…that’s Nevada to most folks. But if you need a break from the ringing and dinging of the slots, take a ride on Nevada State Highway 375, The 98 mile stretch crosses three large high desert valleys, a couple of ranches, and the town of Rachel—the only settlement along the way. Population: Humans 98, Aliens Unknown.
Actually, the officially name for HWY 3735 is the Extraterrestrial Highway, where UFO sightings abound and Area 51, a super-secret Air Force test facility, is nearby. If you get hungry, you can grab a bite at the Little A'Le'Inn (in Rachel, of course).
Alaska
The Dalton Highway is the only overland route into the Arctic from Alaska's highway network. Its rough and rugged terrain–414 miles of mostly gravel road—requires a really good set of all-terrain wheels, 4-wheel drive, a CB radio, extra fuel, food, tires, and a trunk filled with supplies. This is grizzly country, so exercise extreme care if camping!
Now why would you want to try this? Dalton Highway, also known as Haul Road, is regarded as “one of the last great adventure roads” in the US. Plus you’ll be able to boast to your less adventurous friends that you journeyed to the Arctic Ocean!
Links:
www.aaroads.com/high-priority/corr24.html
www.byways.org/explore/byways/12400
www.prudhoebay.com/Dalton_home.htm
fairbanks-alaska.com/dalton-highway.htm
Idaho
What moves 1,600 people per hour at 1,000 feet per minute for 3.1 miles, and is the longest, single stage people carrier in the world? The gondola at Silver Mountain in Kellogg. The former mining town has been transformed into an upscale ski resort at Silver Mountain. With an average snowfall of 300 inches per year, the resort has over 2,200 vertical feet of skiing and snowboarding. The terrain park has a slope-style flow and features an array of jibs -- from the "little dude" line to an advanced expert rider's line know as the "ripper's line."
Go from snowboarding to surfboarding in the indoor waterpark, scheduled to open in this spring. The first of its kind, the waterpark has swirl pools, body and tube slides, family raft slide, and the FlowRider Surf Wave—where 10,000 gallons of surging water is released into the FlowRider’s wave box in just 10 seconds!
Links:
www.kellogg-idaho.com
www.silvermt.com
Oregon
Have a passion for covered bridges? Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges in the West, and Cottage Grove, the “Covered Bridge Capital of Oregon,” is home to six of them. Dating from 1925 to 1987, these wooden historic treasures can be toured over a few hours time or as part of weekend sojourn that includes visits to local art galleries, antique shops, and area wineries.
Plan another trip to Crater Lake, aka Deep Blue Lake, because of the intensity of its color. Surrounded by lava cliffs rising 2,000 feet above the lake surface, and the lake’s two picturesque islands, it is no wonder Oregonians proclaim: “Crater Lake - Like No Place Else on Earth.”
Links:
www.el.com/to/cottagegrove
www.nps.gov/crla
www.crater.lake.national-park.com
Washington
The Palouse region in the southeastern part of the state offers superb scenic photo possibilities, with its picturesque hills, prairies, barns, fields of wheat and peas, wildflowers, flowering canola, barns and grain silos, and waterfalls.
Snoqualmie Valley, in the western foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, is roughly 30 miles east of Seattle and includes the cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie, and the communities of Fall City, Preston, and Snoqualmie Pass.
Snoqualmie Pass is home to the Summit at Snoqualmie, the largest ski resort area in the state. Snoqualmie Falls, 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls, is easily accessible from Highway 202.
In the summer and fall, paragliders and hang gliders can be seen flying above the valley; hundreds of bicyclists participate in the Annual Snoqualmie Valley Tour de Peaks.
Links:
www.palousescenicbyway.com
www.tourdepeaks.org
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