Trips Top Ten Summer Sports Meccas Launch Yourself Into Adventure From the United States' Best Gateway Towns
Map by Steve Walkowiak
Twenty years ago, Houghton, Michigan, was a scenic Upper Peninsula town slumbering through the demise of its once vibrant copper industry. Hood River, Oregon, had only fruit growing and pulp and paper on its mind. Fayetteville, West Virginia, was a blue-collar mining burg.
Then, as action sports swept the nation, outfitters, gear suppliers, and adventurers hungry for thrills right out their own front doors relocated to these and other places with primo locations in the outback. Now these communities are base camps for the great outdoors—jumping-off points for wilderness fun.
To help you maximize your next trip, we've rounded up our ten favorite adrenaline outposts. Some are familiar destinations, others are still largely undiscovered gems. Some even turn up on lists of America's most livable towns.
They all offer a warm welcome, good places to bunk and heft a fork, friendly hangouts where you can mix with the locals, and—most important—enough outdoor activities within an adventure zone of a hundred miles [161 kilometers] or so to make for an unforgettable summer escape.
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