Get Out, Get Active

Where Better to Bond as a Family Than in a Cave or on a Glacier?

Ah, yes, the weekend escape. There is perhaps no better panacea for big city hassles, so wave goodbye in your rear view mirror and head off for a few days of adventure, solitude and invigoration. 

Spelunking

The word "spelunking" just sounds cool. Tell your kids they're going spelunking for the weekend and they'll be excited even if they don't know that the word means "caving."

North America is riddled with caverns, but the most amazing is arguably Kentucky's Mammoth Cave. And mammoth it is. With 348 miles of recorded passageways -- a world record -- the cave is both a national park and a World Heritage Site.

The National Park Service runs a variety of inexpensive cave tours where spelunkers can marvel over the narrow passageways, enormous caverns, gypsum crystal, stalagmites, stalactites, underground rivers and eerie creatures residing in the darkness. If that isn't enough to whet adventurous appetites, cave explorers can also crawl, wiggle and squeeze though such creatively named landmarks as the Bottomless Pit, Fat Man's Misery, Mummy Ledge and Giant's Coffin. In addition, a 2.5-hour Trog Tour -- designed especially for kids aged 8-12 -- will ensure every child is entertained. Mammoth Cave National Park is located just 90 miles from Louisville, Ky.

Visitors can stay in campgrounds throughout the park or at the Mammoth Cave Hotel, conveniently located just outside the park.

Falling Waters Adventure Resort

The perfect adventure resort is one which offers a variety of adventures rather than just focusing on one or two. Falling Waters Adventure Resort does just that. Located in the mountains of North Carolina, the resort is blessed with a confluence of world-class natural phenomena. Opportunities include hiking the nearby Appalachian Trail, horseback riding in the Smokey Mountains and mountain biking along 39 miles of trails in the Tsali Recreation Area.

In addition, nearby Fontana Lake and the Ocoee River (site of the 1996 Olympic kayak events) provide excellent fishing, kayaking and rafting opportunities. Across the street from the resort, Wildwater Rafting offers a variety of excursions down the adjacent Nantahala Gorge. A four-hour trip through Class I, II and III rapids is $36 per person. (Minimum age is 7 years).

The unique accommodations at Falling Waters reflect the adventurous lifestyle of the resort. Guests stay in Mongolian-style yurts which are the nomadic equivalent to the teepee. The 16-foot circular tents ($74 double) have been modernized with hardwood floors, canvas walls, French doors and electricity. They do not, however, include bathrooms or showers. This is, after all, an adventure resort.

Joshua Tree National Park

There is a good reason why Joshua Tree National Park is called "the Wonderland of Rocks." Just a few hours drive from busy Los Angeles in the high desert above Palm Springs, enormous boulders lie scattered and piled atop each other as though a handful of them were cast haphazardly from the sky.

Joshua Tree is unique among premier rock climbing destinations due to its plethora of user-friendly boulders for inexperienced climbers. Climbing surfaces run the gamut from purely horizontal to perfectly vertical and every thing between. In fact, so much of it is so easily tackled that novices greatly outnumber the chalk bag-toting experts "Spider-Manning" their way up impossible rock faces.

Visitors looking to develop their own simian abilities can contact Joshua Tree Rock Climbing School which offers seminars for various levels. A full-day, basic rock climbing course costs $110.

For those who may be vertigo-disposed, Joshua Tree has plenty of attractions closer to the ground, such as hiking and exploring abandoned mines, scenic vistas, desert oases and, of course, plenty of alien looking Joshua trees.