Outside Magazine May 29, 2007

THE NEW AMERICAN ROAD TRIP

At some point after puberty and before mortgage payments, that summer ritual our parents used to make us do became something we couldn't do without. And the rules have changed. Cars are faster, highways are better, and there's cool stuff—really cool stuff that doesn't involve buffets or Dollywood—just about everywhere. Stop sitting on those vacation days and get out there. Our five two-week loops will get you rolling.

SOUTHEAST

Eat like a southerner, camp in the trees, and meet the gators on their turf

FROM ATLANTA:In the city, catch fish from the Chattahoochee, the country's southernmost brown trout river (riverthroughatlanta.com).

MACON Grits, collards, and sweet-potato pie; load up on Mama Louise's soul food at H&H Restaurant (mamalouise.com).

BAXLEY Blackwater and expansive cypress swamps make the Altamaha River a spooky classic of a deep-South canoe trip (southeastadventure.com).

FOLKSTON Though not as spooky as the eyes glowing back at you on a night paddle of the Okefenokee (okefenokee.com).

JACKSONVILLE Clean sets roll into the Poles surf break, at Katheryn Abbey Hanna Park, after northeasterly storms from the Atlantic (aquaeast.com).

ST. MARYS A twice-daily ferry runs to Cumberland Island, with its grown-over plantation ruins (nps.gov/cuis). Farther up the coast, Jekyll Island's pristine driftwood beaches lie tangled in live oaks and windrows (jekyllisland.com).

ST. SIMONS The classic seafood shack: the Crab Trap (saintsimons.com/crabtrap).

HILTON HEAD Late-night turtle watchers await the emergence of loggerhead hatchlings (coastaldiscovery.org).

CANADYS A paddle-to treehouse adds a novel approach to canopy living (canoes.com).

OUTER BANKS Tailing red drum are the bonefish of Pamlico Sound. Sight-cast to them with a fly, or surfcast for bluefish and pompano (outerbanksflyfishing.com).

KITTY HAWK Fly a glider like the Wright brothers (kittyhawk.com).

CHAPEL HILL Remember college, no matter where it was (carolinabrewery.com).

ASHEVILLE The Green River Narrows is the most notorious Class V kayak run in the Southeast, but just upstream it's mellow Class II (greenriveradventures.com). After boating or riding Laurel Mountain (pro-bikes.com), locals get their swill on at Jack of the Wood (jackofthewood.com).

HOT SPRINGS River-board the French Broad (extremenc.com).

CLAYTON If Burt Reynolds and his ill-fated Deliverance posse had gone with Wildwater Ltd., they might have made it down the Chattooga River's Section IV (wildwaterrafting.com).

TALLULAH FALLS And if they'd known how to climb, they might have made it out of Tallulah Gorge (granitearches.com).