5 All-American Adventure Trips For 2023

You don’t need to fly to the ends of the earth to have a real adventure. The United States offers plenty of opportunities for hiking, biking, rafting, kayaking, and multisport trips. Here are five to check out for travel in 2023.

Alaska’s Kenai Multi-Adventure Tour

This Backroads trip defines what a multisport trip means. You get to kayak around Yukon Island, keeping your eyes peeled for marine wildlife in a landscape of volcanoes and glaciers, including harbor seals and sea otters. Hike the Harding Icefield Trail alongside Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Go biking along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and cruise through Prince William Sound while trying to spot humpback whales and Orcas. This six-day trip is ideal for families, with departures based on your kid’s age. Rated levels 1-3, it’s a relatively easy trip and is priced from $4,099 per person, based on double occupancy, and is land only, as are all trips mentioned here.

California John Muir Trail Northbound to Yosemite Trek Tour

For those seeking to test their mettle, this trip from MT Sobek promises a Level 5 experience, which translates to a trip designed for the seasoned hiker. You can expect to hike about 5 to 13 miles per day for 12 days. It’s a total of 103 miles on steep and uneven mountain trails, mostly at elevations above 9,000 feet. Of course, you do this to discover the northbound half of the John Muir Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada. The trip begins in Lake Florence and ends at Yosemite National Park’s Tuolumne Meadows. It includes traversing through the Ansel Adams and John Muir Wilderness areas and is aided by mule support. The price is $9,495 per person.

Rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River

ROW Adventures is one of the country’s greatest rafting companies, and their trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River is one of their signature departures. The river drops 3,000 feet during this 105-mile rafting journey through Idaho’s remote Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states. The whitewater rapids are frequent and challenging on the Middle Fork, with names like Velvet Falls, Ram’s Horn, the Chutes, Pistol Creek, Devil’s Tooth, and House Rock. Riverside tent camps are the accommodation, and there’s hiking to see Native American pictographs, with time set aside for fly fishing and birdwatching. Priced from $2,840 per person.

Vermont: Burlington, the Champlain Islands & Country Villages

Nothing says New England more than a bike ride through the bucolic countryside of Vermont, past covered bridges, with views of the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain. VBT has been offering these trips in their home state for years, and this six-day ride promises “easy/moderate” riding of two to four hours of biking a day, though longer rides are available. It includes pedaling on South Hero Island with views of the Green Mountains and the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain, a picnic lunch in a local vineyard, and tours of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and the Shelburne Museum. Priced from $2,745 per person.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton Adventure

Austin Adventures made a name for itself by establishing some of the best adventure trips in America’s National Parks. They call them National Park Adventure Vacations, and they remain iconic trips. Among them are the classic Yellowstone and Grand Teton Adventure. These parks are not only incredibly scenic and historical, but they’re perfect for well-organized multi-sport trips. On this one, you hike, bike, and raft through Northwestern Wyoming in a landscape of peaks, winding rivers, and expansive grasslands. This 6-day trip through the world’s first national park to the Tetons promises adventure every day, including rafting class III and IV rapids on the Snake River. Moose and bear sightings are potential highlights, and the trip begins and ends in the colorful Wyoming town of Jackson. From $4,999 per person.