Last January, Leo Kokkonen, founder of Finland-based Pole Bicycles, visited China in search of a frame manufacturer, the final step of a two-year-long project to design, test, and launch the company鈥檚 first carbon-fiber mountain bike.

Founded in 2013, Pole quickly made a name for itself among critics after its Evolink bikes鈥攌nown for their long wheelbase鈥攖ook top honors in the industry鈥檚 2017 Design and Innovation Awards. The rollout of a carbon frame was supposed to be the next logical step to put Kokkonen鈥檚 startup on the international map in an industry where carbon is the new king.

By the time Kokkonen boarded his flight home to Finland, however, he鈥檇 made up his mind to pull the plug on the whole project.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just one thing. It was many,鈥� he says, recounting how his lungs burned after an easy ride outside Dongguan, China, where coal-fired power plants cast a cloud over the industrial city. At the factory that was to make his frames, Kokkonen saw just how much water, electricity, and human labor is required to lay, mold, and bond the carbon, a process that entails working with toxic resins. Then there鈥檚 the waste. 鈥淲e knew that carbon fiber is not recyclable, but our idea was to create a frame that was indestructible, so at least we could increase the product lifespan,鈥� Kokkonen says. But when he asked what the facility did with the excess carbon trimmed off each frame鈥攁bout a third of every carbon sheet is wasted鈥攈e was shocked by the answer: 鈥淭hey said they dump it in the ocean.鈥�

Kokkonen isn鈥檛 the first person in the bicycling industry to question the environmental effects of carbon. Whereas the more commonly used aluminum can be easily melted down and reformed, the source of carbon鈥檚 strength鈥攎icroscopic fibers covered in epoxy resin and cured at high temperatures鈥攎akes it prohibitively difficult to reclaim.

Researchers are working on ways to improve carbon recycling, but the field is still nascent, and the process far from perfect. The resin typically used to bond the carbon fibers together is not only toxic, but also has to be burned off or chemically dissolved to return the fiber to a reusable state. And because recycled carbon fiber can鈥檛 bear the same loads as virgin material, it can only be used by the aerospace, automobile, and bicycling industries聽for nonstructural, injection-molded parts.

Carbon recycling facilities have cropped up in the United States and Europe, but they are not widespread in Asia, where 99 percent of bikes sold in the U.S. market are made, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association. So when waste gets trimmed during the manufacturing process, odds are it ends up in a landfill鈥攐r, as Kokkonen learned, the ocean鈥攚here the nonbiodegradable material simply remains. Forever.

That鈥檚 why, in 2010, Wisconsin-based Trek Bikes partnered with the South Carolina recycler Carbon Conversions to聽 prototypes, damaged frames, noncompliant parts, and waste coming from its U.S. manufacturing facility. Even so, the carbon Trek manages to recycle each year represents a small fraction of amount it uses: Most of its bikes are made in Asia, where the company says it is actively investigating recycling programs.

California鈥檚 Specialized Bicycle Components also piloted a carbon recycling program in 2015 but ended it the next year because there wasn鈥檛 enough demand to make it profitable for the recycler. The company has set up a pilot program in Germany with a recycler that has developed a way to preserve the original fiber, and Specialized is exploring new recycling options for the U.S. market. 鈥淯ntil then, any frame returned to SBC or our dealers is being stored in our Salt Lake City warehouse,鈥� says Troy Jones, the company鈥檚 鈥巆orporate social responsibility manager, formerly a compliance manager at Outdoor Research and REI and the first chairperson of the Outdoor Industry Association鈥檚 fair labor working group. 鈥淣o frames returned to SBC are being disposed of in a landfill.鈥�

In 2014, Specialized partnered with bicycle component manufacturers SRAM and DT Swiss and Duke University鈥檚 Nicholas School of the Environment to research the of bicycle manufacturing. Unlike some corporate-backed reports, this one did not give its partners a pass, noting that the industry had 鈥渄one little to address鈥� the environmental impact of making bikes.

The study compared Specialized鈥檚 carbon Roubaix road frame with its aluminum Allez. Based on waste and water and electricity use, the results slightly favored the aluminum frame, and the researchers recommended that bike manufacturers collaborate, as other outdoor product makers have, to create best practices, keep better data, and measure their impact.

To that end, Specialized and SRAM are part of a handful of brands to join the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry鈥檚 , launched in 2013, to share information about suppliers and use their collective influence to effect change. The brands receive a list of facilities where they overlap and then divide and conquer by auditing those plants. When the group identifies an area that needs improvement, 鈥渢he request carries more weight because the factories know it is coming from more than one brand,鈥� says Specialized鈥檚 Jones.

While the group is focused on a range of issues, including the environment, most of the changes so far have been focused on labor, health, and safety. For example, the Responsible Sports Initiative required manufacturers to provide protective equipment for their workers and identified ways to minimize the carbon-fiber dust churned up in the sanding process.

Still, with a relatively small list of active members, including Accell Group, FSA, MEC, Pon, and REI, the bike-specific program has only scratched the surface. Of the roughly 260 suppliers Specialized has identified in its supply chain, only 41 overlap with other bike and component manufacturers.

Bike and component makers of any size can make a difference, says Jones, if the industry works together. 鈥淚 applaud Pole for starting the conversation,鈥� he says. 鈥滱 lot of their concerns are valid鈥ut I think they would do more if they stayed and tried to make an impact.鈥�

When it comes to the world鈥檚 worst polluters, the bike industry is hardly the biggest offender. Bikes and other sporting goods made with carbon represent a sliver of total carbon demand. According to data from Composites Forecasts and Consulting, only 11 percent of carbon fiber goes to consumer products. The rest goes to make automobiles, pressure vessels, airplanes, and other industrial uses.

鈥淥ne blade of a wind turbine could produce a year鈥檚 worth of carbon frames for us,鈥� says Eric Bjorling, a spokesperson for Trek. The company did its own environmental study, examining everything from the distance between suppliers to its packaging materials. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not one big thing,鈥� Bjorling says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the sum of all the things.鈥�

Meanwhile, most consumers probably aren鈥檛 giving it that much thought. On the sales floor of River City Bicycles in Portland, Oregon, questions about the carbon footprints and supply chains don鈥檛 come up at all, says owner Dave Guettler. 鈥淭he issue has been raised on a minor level from the industry, but consumers aren鈥檛 putting pressure on the industry,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think most people, when they get into bikes and how they鈥檙e made, would have a hard time pointing fingers, considering the environmental impact most people鈥檚 lifestyles produce.鈥�

That may be, but it doesn鈥檛 exonerate companies, says Kokkonen. Before he pulled the plug on Pole鈥檚 carbon frames, Kokkonen looked back at his original business plan. 鈥淚 wrote a line that says: 鈥榃e don鈥檛 want to do unnecessary harm,鈥欌�� he says. He tries to apply that philosophy to every part of his operations, from keeping marketing materials and swag to a minimum to shipping finished products in repurposed packaging from suppliers.

鈥淲e aren鈥檛 going to save the world by making Pole noncarbon,鈥� Kokkonen says. 鈥淏ut this is an ethical choice.鈥�

Jay Townley, a partner in the Gluskin Townley Group, a U.S. consultancy that researches the bicycle market, shares that sentiment. When he visited a factory in the late 1980s, the tour came to the area where the resin was applied. Townley said his guide took him by the elbow, turned him around, and said, 鈥淲e are not going in there without a respirator.鈥� The employees, Townley noted, were not wearing respirators.

Townley has since visited facilities in Taiwan, where he says conditions have improved and employees are now properly equipped. Still, as production has shifted to other countries, including China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, he says, there is no guarantee that any such standards are in place. 鈥淚 made a conscious decision I won鈥檛 buy carbon unless I鈥檓 absolutely sure [of its origins],鈥� Townley says, acknowledging that for most consumers, this is impossible. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there is any excuse or reason for a product to be made that not only harms the people who make it, [but also] probably can鈥檛 be recycled.鈥�

When he visited China, Kokkonen says, it was made clear that he would have little say in how his frames would be made, let alone how employees would be treated or how the waste would be disposed. Instead, Kokkonen, who outlined Pole鈥檚 position in a September , is doubling down on aluminum and has plans in place to start building high-performance aluminum bikes on demand in Pole鈥檚 own facility in Jyv盲skyl盲, Finland, by early next year. The success of his Evolink series, he argues, is proof that aluminum, if designed right, can go head-to-head with carbon on the trail.

Which is not to say that Kokkonen faults anyone who does buy carbon. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be part of the problem,鈥� he says.

Sarah Max covers business and cycling from Bend, Oregon. Eric Nyquist () is an American artist working in Los Angeles.

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Bellota, Arizona
The best adventure lodges are those where you show up a stranger and leave as family. So it is at Bellota Ranch, a homey, horsey oasis in the wild chaparral country above Tucson, where the small staff (ranch manager, wrangler, and a cook) takes the saying “make yourself comfortable” to pleasing extremes.

Room & Board: Surrounded by 60,000 acres of working cattle land and wedged between the Santa Catalina and Rincon mountains, Bellota manages to be sprawling and intimate. The 1930s hacienda, plastered in white stucco, surrounds a sunny courtyard. The eight guest rooms have cozy ranch touches like brick floors, patchwork quilts, Mexican-tiled bathrooms, and kiva fireplaces. Guests and staff eat together in the country kitchen, and no one ever goes hungry with stick-to-your-ribs cowboy fare like buffalo burgers; between meals, you’re urged to graze from the bottomless jar of chocolate-chip cookies.

Out the Back Door: With its surefooted quarter horses and vast Coronado National Forest acreage, Bellota has a stellar riding program. Kean Brown, the laconic, perpetually sunburned wrangler, leads morning and afternoon range rides. Once you’ve demonstrated that you can control your horse, you’re free to find your own way into the creosote- and sage-studded hills. There’s a handful of mountain bikes for spinning out your horse legs along miles of empty roads, and the 790-mile-long Arizona Trail traverses the property, but—in laid-back Bellota fashion—the only mandatory post-ride activity is soaking in the outdoor hot tub.

India

SAGA ECO CAMP
Chilika Lake, India
Established in 2002, the Saga Eco Camp is still so new that even most locals don’t know where it is. That’s what happens when you build your tiny beach resort among a handful of fishing families on a tropical island in India’s largest lagoon—425-square-mile Chilika Lake, tucked beneath the 1,500-foot Eastern Ghats hills of Orissa and draining into the Bay of Bengal.

Room & Board: Lodging matches the Robinson Crusoe vibe, as guests stay in 11 spacious and breezy wall tents (with finished floors and flush toilets) that sleep four, scattered among palms and cashew trees. In an open-air, thatch-roofed dining hall, chef Raju serves up fresh seafood dishes, including crab masala and local prawns, as well as island-grown organic veggies. Purists may complain about the diesel generator, which runs for three hours each evening, but hey, it keeps the beer cold.

Out the Back Door: Take a motorboat 20 minutes to the mainland town of Barakul and rent a sea kayak from Orissa Tourism’s Water Sports Complex ($5 an hour) to explore Nalaban Island, a bird sanctuary. Paddle alongside rare Irrawaddy dolphins while keeping an eye out for Siberian cranes. Or head for the narrow spit of land that divides the lagoon from the ocean, park your kayak, then hike a half-mile through the jungle, until you arrive at an empty white-sand beach that stretches a dozen miles in both directions. What next? Bodysurf endless breakers, then lie in the sand and play dead.

Tennessee

CHARIT CREEK LODGE
Jamestown, Tennessee
A true wilderness retreat takes pride in what it doesn’t have. At Charit Creek Lodge, there’s no electricity (kerosene lanterns are everywhere), no phones (the only thing ringing at mealtime is the dinner bell), and most notably, no traffic (access is by foot, bike, or horseback).

Room & Board: This cluster of two log cabins and a rustic main lodge is set in a gorge at the convergence of two creeks and is surrounded by the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Each of the buildings began as part of a 19th- or early 20th-century homestead. In the main lodge, built around an 1819 hunting cabin, two dorm-style rooms sleep up to 12 each in double-size bunks. The cabins, which also sleep 12 each, have screened porches with rockers and share a separate bath house. Classic country meals—baked beef with gravy, chicken and dumplings, biscuits and grits for breakfast—are served family style.

Out the Back Door: Charit Creek Hiking Trail, the most direct of four hiking paths to the lodge, is a 0.8-mile descent that takes you from a Fork Ridge Road parking lot to the base of a bluff, past a waterfall (in wet weather), and across a wooden bridge. Once you’re at the lodge, the day-hike opportunities include 130 miles of trails lined with mountain laurel and wildflowers. Hike four miles to access 80 miles of the Big South Fork River for fly-fishing. (Bring your own gear; the catch is bass and trout.) Or tackle the river’s Class III-IV whitewater on a full-day raft trip through the 11-mile Gorge section with Sheltowee Trace Outfitters.

Tanzania

LAKE MANYARA TREE LODGE
Lake Manyara, Tanzania
By the time you arrive at Tanzania’s Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, in Lake Manyara National Park, jostling in a truck for two hours after the 40-minute flight west from Arusha, you’re likely to have encountered elephants, Cape buffalo, and the legendary climbing lions that ascend umbrella acacias to escape rapacious tsetse flies. So when lodge manager Frances Majambele announces visitor rule number one—”No one walks alone after dark without an askari,” an armed guard—you’ll pay attention. Hyenas frequent camp almost every night, and elephants, leopards, and lions are common—but then again, that’s why you’re here.

Room & Board: Ten cottages on stilts sit at eye level with resident giraffes, safely above the toothy riffraff. Cradled in the boughs of old-growth mahogany trees, these very private wood-and-thatch cottages—each with a canopied bed and bleached hardwood furnishings—have private treetop showers with views of the lake, the tropical forest, and the 1,500-foot cliffs of the Great Rift Valley escarpment. Hit the viewing deck for the lodge specialty, a frozen gin and tonic, before sampling exotic dishes like wildebeest marinated in local red wine and plantains baked in a tandoor.

Out the Back Door: Both at dawn and in late afternoon, guests jump into an open-top Toyota Land Cruiser and head for the acacia woodlands and Maji Moto Hot Springs on 125-square-mile Lake Manyara’s western shore. You’re on the lookout for elephants, leopards, lions, and buffalo, but the show-stealers are the immense flocks of flamingos that paint the water and sky pink.

California

BOONVILLE HOTEL
Boonville, California
Drive two hours north of San Francisco, past Napa and Sonoma, and you’ll encounter Boonville, a former logging town in the Anderson Valley founded in the 1850s. The region’s rolling hills and redwood forests blend with orchards and vineyards, home to a mix of country folk and well-heeled sophisticates. Funky Boonville, a town of less than a thousand, and the instantly likable Boonville Hotel are decidedly low-key counterpoints to the stuffier wine country down south.

Room & Board: Once a roadhouse, the 139-year-old, two-story, salmon-colored hotel still beckons passersby with its spacious verandas, wooden rockers, and inviting hammocks. Everything about this place exudes comfort, from the ten rooms (including a studio and a bungalow) with downy duvets and Shaker-style furnishings to the homespun restaurant serving local pinot noir and rib-eye steak with polenta. Alongside the airy dining room and bar, the yard overflows with roses, sunflowers, and a cook’s garden of berries, herbs, and rhubarb.

Out the Back Door: Grab a kayak and a guide in the coastal town of Elk, 16 miles away, and follow a five-mile out-and-back route: Paddle beneath Wharf Rock arch, heading north past coves, caves, and a bird and seal rookery, and riding open-ocean swells on the way back to Greenwood State Beach. Closer to Boonville, hike two miles through virgin redwood groves in Hendy Woods State Park and swim in the Navarro River where it flows beneath a white wooden bridge just outside the park.

Malta

COMINO HOTEL AND BUNGALOWS
Comino Island, Malta
The minute you step off the ferry from the northwestern edge of Malta and onto Comino Island, you’ll feel that shipwrecked sense of isolation. This craggy, two-square-mile member of the Maltese archipelago might be home to four farmers and a lodge, the Comino Hotel and Bungalows, but the sea reigns here. A swirl of turquoise and sapphire Mediterranean wraps around the island, luring you back offshore to explore the coastline’s hidden caves.

Room & Board: The 95-room limestone hotel features an expansive terrace, a seaside pool, and two small sandy beaches. The 45 bungalows, each with a balcony overlooking the sea and some large enough to sleep five people, are perched atop an adjacent bay just beyond the hotel, with their own pool and restaurant. The menu changes daily and includes fish—like baked acciola (a Mediterranean version of amberjack) and the steak-like grilled dentici—as well as Maltese rabbit stew.

Out the Back Door: Scuba-dive in the underwater caves of Santa Maria Bay or check out the coral reef off Cominotto, an even smaller neighboring island, with certified instructors from the hotel’s PADI Dive Center. Sea-kayak less than a mile to Rabbit’s Nest, a protected bay with 100-foot limestone cliffs; a secret staircase set into the cliffs takes you to a 17th-century watchtower constructed by the Knights of St. John to monitor seafaring invaders.

U.S. Virgin Islands

MOUNT VICTORY CAMP
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Brand-new Mount Victory Camp presents guests with a pleasant Caribbean quandary: what to do first? Just beyond your tent flap are the mountains and valleys of St. Croix’s wild northwest corner, crisscrossed with hiking and biking trails and garnished with mango trees. A 20-minute walk away is a sugary white-sand beach, with a coral reef a few flipper kicks offshore and calypso beach bars for post-swim.

Room & Board: Co-owner Bruce Wilson, a transplanted New Englander who’s lived on the island for 40 years, has turned this onetime Danish estate into a 15-acre back-to-the-earth outpost, complete with chickens, horses, and 300 fruit trees. The three platform tents and two bungalows are positioned for ocean and hillside views and built of hurricane-felled teak and mahogany. Each has a kitchenette, and guests share a central pavilion for lounging and a bathhouse with hot running water. Swigs of Mount Victory’s infamous Mama Juana herbal rum tonic, purported to improve health, come with the deal.

Out the Back Door: Hop aboard the 42-foot glass-bottom Renegade, run by Big Beard’s 国产吃瓜黑料 Tours (340-773-4482, ), for a sailing excursion to Buck Island Reef National Monument, where you’ll snorkel through underwater grottoes. Or kayak the craggy north shore with Virgin Kayak Tours (340-778-0071) launching in the very bay where Christopher Columbus moored his ships more than 500 years ago.

Utah

BOULDER MOUNTAIN LODGE
Boulder, Utah
If public lands were appraised like prime real estate, you wouldn’t find a swankier address than Boulder Mountain Lodge’s. It neighbors the vast 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument, and Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion national parks are practically down the street, with Glen Canyon and Lake Powell as nearby attractions. You won’t encounter an adventure base camp that better hews to the rule of location, location, location.

Room & Board: Frolic in the ocher-and-ecru desert like a Monkey Wrench Gangster by day and retire to sweet comforts like sleigh beds topped with hefty down comforters in the 20 guest rooms by night. The lodge’s three wood-and-stucco metal-roofed buildings adjoin a bird sanctuary in a grassy oasis along Utah 12, the most remote thoroughfare in the continental United States. (The town of Boulder, population 180, was still receiving mail by mule train in 1941, the last spot in America to do so.) Mealtimes are savored at the lodge’s Zagat-endorsed Hell’s Backbone Grill, with clever offerings like Southwestern-French chocolate-chile cream pots for dessert.

Out the Back Door: Hike to Calf Creek Falls, a 126-foot waterfall that blasts into a perfect swimming hole (the trailhead for the five-mile round-trip is a 20-minute drive from the lodge). The cliff-hugging trail follows a clear stream full of brook trout and passes Fremont Indian pictographs wallpapered onto red sandstone. Road riders, however, will prefer the vigorous climb up the eastern shoulder of 11,124-foot Boulder Mountain or the 31-mile paved portion of the Burr Trail, a rolling, mind-bending route leading south from the lodge’s doorstep to Capitol Reef National Park.

Ontario

Killarney Lodge

Cabin Fever: Grab your paddle and go!

KILLARNEY LODGE
Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Killarney Lodge sits beside the Lake of Two Rivers on the quiet southern edge of Algonquin Provincial Park, prime timber-wolf territory. You’re more likely to see a moose than to spot a single tail hair from the elusive carnivore. But if you’re struck with the impulse, you wouldn’t be the first guest to paddle out onto the lake and bay at the moon.

Room & Board: Prime spots to idle include the vicinity of the woodstove in the guest lounge of the lodge, which was built in 1985 of dark-stained logs and trimmed in red to mimic the surrounding 1930s cabins spread around a 12-acre peninsula that juts out into the three-mile-long lake. The 30 pine-paneled cabins each have one or two bedrooms with lakefront decks and a private bathroom. The lodge’s menu changes every day, but you can always count on a fish option—like the pan-fried pickerel, an Ontario staple—at dinner.

Out the Back Door: Each cabin comes with a 15-foot Kevlar canoe, which you can paddle two-thirds of a mile across the Lake of Two Rivers and portage a thousand yards to the seldom-paddled Provoking Lake, accessible only on foot. Serious paddlers with plenty of training can attempt a one-day circuit that covers 25 of the park’s 930 miles of canoe routes. There are also two mountain-bike trails near the lodge, an easy six-miler and a more technical 16-mile ride.

Top 10 Hideaways

Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, OR

Gold Beach, Oregon
Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge
The Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge (pronounced too-TOOT-in) borrows its name from the Tututui, a band of Indians on the Lower Rogue whose name means “people by the water.” It’s a fitting title for this elegant Rogue River hideaway, seven miles inland from southern Oregon’s craggy coast on a grassy knoll just above the river.
ROOM & BOARD: Each evening, a school bell summons guests to gather around the giant river-rock fireplace in the main lodge and nibble on hors d’oeuvres such as shrimp kebabs and home-smoked salmon and cheeses. What follows is a four-course, apple-and-mesquite-grilled feast—including chinook salmon and bread baskets brimming with hot lemon-cranberry popovers—prepared by longtime chef Margaret Pohl. The 16 guest rooms and two suites come with river views and beds piled with pillows.
OUT THE BACK DOOR: The Rogue River, famous for its fly-fishing, sees consistent runs of Chinook and steelhead salmon. Local guides take guests upriver to the Wild and Scenic section that’s accessible by permit only. You can also borrow one of the lodge’s six sea kayaks to paddle the river among otters and beavers, or explore the rugged, mostly undeveloped coastline that stretches about 20 miles in either direction from the town of Gold Beach.

Argentina

CABA脩AS ANDINA
San Mart铆n de los Andes, Argentina
Caba帽as Andina sits in the heavily forested mountains above the hip Patagonia ski town of San Mart铆n de los Andes, in the lake country—and piscine paradise—800 miles southwest of Buenos Aires. A skilled angler with a little luck could cast from his bed and hook a brown trout in the Quilquihue River, which flows just yards from the cabins and dining hall.

Room & Board: Guests stay in one of 17 simple, roomy log cabins set among groves of cypress and beech overlooking Lake Lolog. The stylish red-brick main lodge provides plenty of lounging space, and the kitchen cranks out an elaborate offering of smoked venison, lamb barbecue, and a free-flowing array of Argentine wines.

Out the Back Door: Once you’ve fished the home waters of Lake Lolog from the lodge’s boat and waded into the Quilquihue, your guide will take you on day trips to fish the nearby Malleo and Chimehuin rivers, famous for trout. Or go trekking in neighboring Parque Nacional Lan铆n, which encompasses the spine of the towering 12,000-foot Andes along Argentina’s border with Chile. Day hikes in the park around Lake Huechulafquen will take you past 150-foot-tall monkey puzzle trees and lead to lookouts from the shoulder of Volc谩n Lan铆n, a 12,389-foot, snow-capped cone that dominates the Andean skyline.

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Thomson Family 国产吃瓜黑料s

Put your best feet forward on vacation

A SPECIALIST IN TRAVEL en famille to destinations such as China, Egypt, and Peru, Thomson Family 国产吃瓜黑料s has a kids’ 国产吃瓜黑料 Club that creates parental downtime for a few hours each day. Each child is assigned a foreign pen pal to correspond with beforehand; during the trip, the kids meet, teaching one another songs or games. In Tanzania, there was a memorable soccer game where players used rolled-up socks as a ball and dribbled through cows on the field. 国产吃瓜黑料 Club “mentors,” often professional teachers, also oversee journal-writing and play. Hike through cloudforests and play on remote beaches for just $1,390 per adult ($1,290 per child 12 to 17) on the eight-day trip to Costa Rica. Contact: 800-262-6255,



Mackay Wilderness River Trips

ON THESE RAFT TRIPS, parental furloughs are elevated to a wilderness art form. Along with a full complement of river guides, Mackay Wilderness River Trips sends along a real pro—an elementary schoolteacher—to lead activities with kids during off-water hours. Children learn about Native American culture, making dream catchers or hearing lore about the Sheepeater Indians. The 眉ber-teacher also arranges scavenger hunts and beach volleyball. The kids’ program is so much fun, in fact, that no one is surprised when parents grow envious and choose to play along. A six-day trip on the Main Fork of the Salmon River costs $1,395 per adult; five days on the Snake River, $1,195. Kids under 14 are half-price. Contact: 800-635-5336,

Keystone Resort

CHECK INTO A CONDO with a full kitchen at Keystone Resort—in June, a two-bedroom, two-bath unit for a family of four costs $953 for six days—and get an 国产吃瓜黑料 Passport: $500 worth of fun at no extra cost. Cash in the passport for bike and in-line skate rentals, yoga classes, and other activities, as well as something just for kids scheduled each day—kite flying, mural painting, panning for gold, or pony rides. What’s more, the all-day Kid’s Camp (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for kids two months to 12 years old) gives parents a day to themselves; Kid’s Night Out amuses the brood with stargazing and campfire stories while couples sneak off for dinner alone. So what’s a parent to do with the free time? The Colorado resort’s mountain biking, hiking, fly-fishing, and horseback riding are sublime. Contact: 800-222-0188,



The FDR Pebbles Resort

THIS FIND SOUNDED too good to be true—so we checked and double-checked. But it’s true: The FDR Pebbles Resort, on Jamaica’s north coast, issues a nanny to every family that chooses the resort’s all-inclusive package. The nanny, on call from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (with an hour off for lunch), will watch the little ones or tackle domestic chores around the hotel suite, like stocking the fridge or picking up. Meanwhile, there are free activities for kids—especially teenagers—including windsurfing, snorkel, and scuba lessons as well as a camp-out. Special summer rates at the resort dip as low as $700 per adult for five days, including meals, with one child under 16 free per paid adult. Contact: 800-330-8272,



Butterfield & Robinson

THIS SUMMER, the outfitter Butterfield & Robinson debuts its “Homebase” twist to family travel. This six-day program establishes a beachhead at an exclusive European property, with separate programs for parents and kids. For infants and toddlers, there’s daycare, open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., that parents can use as little or as much as they like. For the older kids, there are age-specific activities scheduled throughout the day; think surf camp, horseback rides, and kid-only dinners. Parents can attend language or painting classes, or use their kid-free time to follow their own muses. In Tuscany, guests stay at a restored farmhouse; in Brittany, it’s a ch芒teau. Cost is $3,995 per adult for Tuscany, $4,495 for Brittany; call for kid prices. Contact: 800-678-1147,

Dolphin-Safe

Close encounters of the eco-correct kind

Look! Fly Flipper, fly!

THERE’S NO DENYING the appeal of swim-with-dolphins programs: What kid doesn’t want face time with Flipper? But growing awareness of hazards to the captive dolphins used in these programs—critics lament everything from the size of the enclosures to the destruction of dolphin social systems—have generated a backlash. Last December, Maui became the 18th county in the United States to ban the exhibition of captive whales and dolphins.


The swim programs became popular, in part, by marketing their worth as a teaching tool, which dolphin-protection advocates dispute. “Captive dolphins are in a man-made environment, eating food provided to them by humans, doing the bidding of humans,” says Merrill Kaufman, director of education at the Maui-based Pacific Whale Foundation. “There’s little educational value to that.”


Now, as the tide turns against captive-swim programs, organized excursions to swim with wild dolphins are riding a wave of popularity. But critics aren’t keen on these, either, saying that the boats motoring up to dolphin pods to drop swimmers into their midst stress the animals.


So what’s a dolphin-loving family to do? Anne Rillero, the foundation’s director of marketing, encourages wildlife enthusiasts to simply observe dolphins rather than forcing interaction with them. When you’re observing, she points out, the emphasis remains on the dolphin—not you.

Dino-Might

Get fueled with these fossils

The almost completed picture

KIDS CAN’T SEEM TO GET ENOUGH OF DINOSAURS, whether they’re starring in a motion picture or standing tall as a museum centerpiece. Catering to these dinophiles, three museum programs in the Rockies are taking their in-house displays a step further with paleontologist-led digs, showing kids how to excavate fossilized dinosaurs in the field.

Museum of Western Colorado
Grand Junction, Colorado
Sweating in the high-desert sun, it’s hard to imagine that 70 million years ago Rabbit Valley was likely a watering hole for the allosaurus, a bipedal carnivore. Paleontologists teach mapping and excavating techniques, and the three-day program also heads 50 miles north of the museum to the streaked shale of Douglas Pass, where a slew of bee, ant, mosquito, and plant fossils from the Eocene epoch, which ended about 35 million years ago, has been uncovered. Learn plaster-casting techniques at the museum’s Dinosaur Journey exhibit in Fruita, about eight miles from Grand Junction. Cost: $99 for a one-day dig, with lunch; $695 for three days, including some meals.
CONTACT: 888-488-3466,
LODGING: Fruita’s Comfort Inn (970-858-1333) overlooks Colorado National Monument

Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Thermopolis, Wyoming
In hopes of finding another Morris the Camarasaurus, who was discovered here in 1993, children on the two-day Kids’ Dig Program (for ages eight to 12) work alongside researchers in the red hills of the Wind River Canyon. Morris’s 48-foot-long skeleton stands watch in the exhibit hall on this 8,000-acre working ranch, a few hours southeast of Yellowstone National Park. Sift through soil at a dig site, go on a dino-themed scavenger hunt, and tour ten more skeletons at the 12,000-square-foot exhibit. Cost: $75 for two days, including lunch.
CONTACT: 800-455-3466,
LODGING: In Hot Springs State Park, the Holiday Inn of the Waters (307-864-3131) has a mineral-heated pool

Pioneer Trails Regional Museum
Bowman, North Dakota
This museum’s project is a 30-mile drive through prairie dog territory into an isolated stretch of badlands. Day-diggers hike in about a mile to assist researchers, hoping to strike the equivalent of dinosaur gold. Over the last couple of summers most of a 65-million-year-old Edmontosaurus skeleton was discovered here, minus the skull. Until that skull is found, scientists won’t know exactly what kind of dinosaur they’ve dug up. Cost: $200 per family per day.
CONTACT: 701-523-3625,
LODGING: North Winds Lodge (888-684-9463) is at the edge of the badlands in Bowman

Splash Course

Before attempting the first descent of Tibet’s Tsangpo River, filmmaker Scott Lindgren turned to LIQUIDLOGIC for a boat that could survive almost anything. Behold the GUS. At eight feet six inches, it’s designed to hold a line even when immersed in man-eating turbulence and store enough cargo for multi-day explorations. Larger folks will appreciate the ample legroom on long journeys, but those weighing less than 165 pounds might find it a bit too much. Although designed to perform in the far corners of the earth, those navigating their local rivers will find the Gus a snap to handle. ($1,125; 828-698-5778, )


Skills Into Thrills

Whitewater kayaking is difficult—and dangerous. Good training is essential, and these are two of the best schools in the world.

Deep inside Northern California’s Klamath National Forest you’ll find OTTER BAR LODGE KAYAK SCHOOL, which boasts Deep back-door access to the Salmon River and its Class II-V rapids. Seven-day classes run from intro to kayaking ($1,890) to advanced playboating ($1,605), gourmet meals and lodging included. Mid-April to late September. (530-462-4772, )

On the East Coast, it’s tough to beat the NANTAHALA OUTDOOR CENTER, in North Carolina. In its 31st year, the NOC’s classes range from weekend novice clinics to thorough two-week schools with a graduation trip to Costa Rica. Sessions are held on the Class II-III Nantahala and the playboat mecca of Tennessee’s Class III-IV Ocoee River. Best of all, the NOC guarantees that rank beginners will learn to kayak and can keep coming back for free instruction until that roll’s dialed. ($380-$1,400, includes all meals and lodging; 800-232-7238, )

The New Family Tree

Reaching for the sky at climbing school

WHY BE TERRESTRIAL when you can be arboreal? Go out on a limb and spend your family vacation in the branches of an oak tree, waking to the sound of woodpeckers, the chattering of squirrels, and expansive views across the treetops. The new “sport” of recreational tree climbing draws on techniques used in rock climbing, caving, and mountaineering and offers all the physical challenges of a ropes course, minus the goal-oriented agenda: You climb at your own pace and only go as high as you want. With a little instruction, anyone can scale a tree.

Dancing With Trees, a recreational tree-climbing school 80 miles northeast of Atlanta, welcomes climbers as young as five. Strap on a harness and inch your way up ropes dangling from the thick branches of white oaks and tulip poplars. A self-belay system prevents you from slipping down, and once you reach the first branch you can make like a monkey and continue climbing limb by limb into the canopy.

Spend anywhere from three hours to a full day exploring the trees, walking along branches (as if on a balance beam) and moving from tree to tree by sidestepping on cables or swinging across like Tarzan. Come nightfall, kids ten and older can bed down in canvas hammocks called tree boats and sleep ten stories above ground. Watch the moon rise, hear owls hoot, and wake up to breakfast “in bark”—bagels and cream cheese, hard-boiled eggs, bananas, and PowerBars—then rappel down.

Owner Genevieve Summers, a former chimney sweep, got into climbing 12 years ago, after she and her two sons, then ages six and ten, took a course at Tree Climbers International in Atlanta, where the sport was founded, and she’s been aloft ever since. Says Summers, “I tell my students they haven’t had a good climb unless they have bark in their underwear.”

Honduran Hideaway

Save big this summer at the lodge at Pico Bonito

The Big Easy, Honduran-style

SCORE ONE POINT for politicians keeping promises: Honduran President Ricardo Maduro has achieved his goal of increasing tourism, and he hasn’t even been in office a year and a half. Maduro supports foreign investment and hotel construction, and he set up a tourism police force and increased advertising in the United States. The number of visitors to Honduras grew 20 percent in 2002, to 600,000 travelers.

Even with the increase, Honduras still gets half as many tourists as nearby Costa Rica, which is also half its size—good news for families who need room to roam. Honduras has more rainforest and cloudforest than Costa Rica and ecological offerings like those of Belize, not to mention crystalline beaches and Cop谩n, one of the world’s premier Mayan archaeological sites, so don’t expect the throngs to stay away for long.

One fab option is the Lodge at Pico Bonito (888-428-0221, ), a 200-acre hideaway on the Caribbean, outside La Ceiba, adjacent to the rainforest, rivers, and waterfalls of Pico Bonito National Park. Mention 国产吃瓜黑料 Traveler and receive a package deal this summer: Two adults and one or two kids up to age 21 can stay in one of 15 standard cabins for four nights at $1,553 for three people or $1,827 for four (not including taxes and service charges, about $300). The package includes all meals; a rafting day trip on the Class II-IV Cangrejal River; a naturalist-led trek on the flanks of 7,985-foot Pico Bonito for bird-watching and swimming; a motor skiff ride through the Cuero y Salado wildlife refuge where you can look for alligators, manatees, and herons; and a tour of the lodge’s butterfly sanctuary. A family of four can save as much as $730 with this package.

Pico Bonito can also arrange for your family to visit the ruins at Cop谩n, the ancient city in the lush jungle near the Guatemala border.

Fat Boy Slim

Fight those calories: Choose bananas, not Big Macs, for the road

AMERICANS OF ALL AGES are packing on the pounds, but the rate at which kids are getting fat is particularly alarming. Since 1980, the percentage of overweight children has tripled, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Childhood obesity is something everyone should worry about, says nutritionist and trainer Philip Goglia. Although he is better known for body makeovers of star clients (among them Kristanna Loken, the villain of this summer’s Terminator 3), Goglia spends a good deal of time addressing children’s weight woes. The author of Turn Up the Heat: Unlock the Fat-Burning Power of Your Metabolism (Viking Press) told us how parents can help their kids, especially while vacationing.


Why are you so interested in childhood obesity?

I was about 120 pounds overweight in my early teens, so I can relate to the health problems these kids have. And I’m also a father.


Why are kids getting fatter?

Part of the problem is convenience foods. They’re highly advertised, children want them, and parents give in. Even my clients who are eating well and exercising are guilty of feeding their kids deep-fried chicken fingers.


What can parents do if they have a couch-potato kid?

You have to ask yourself, “Do I sit in front of the TV, too?” If the answer is yes, then you’d better change. Whatever change your child makes without you doing the same will be superficial.


How do you stay on the health-food wagon when you travel?

Always pack snacks like raw almonds, peanut butter, or fruit. Also, plan your stay. Have the hotel concierge fax you a menu before your trip, and if there are no healthy options, make special requests. If you’re going to a cabin, take food with you and know where the grocery store is. This makes it easier to avoid giving in to convenience.


Any other travel tips?

Keep taking your vitamins and drinking a lot of water, especially if you’re going on a plane, which is a winged petri dish of germs.


What is the one big mistake parents can avoid?

You know, it is so easy to make food magical and mystical by saying, “You had a bad day, here is a brownie.” Instead, I want parents to say, “Eat this chicken breast and you’ll run faster.”

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THIS FALL, when students at more traditional boarding schools return to blue blazers and lacrosse tryouts, 120 teenagers at the new Conserve School in remote Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin, will be honing their wilderness survival skills and learning to write alternative-energy proposals. Students on the $60-million campus will live in buildings that incorporate locally felled wood, compete dorm-against-dorm in water and electricity conservation, and pull all-nighters poring over paper-saving e-books. The enviro tyros will hike, bike, and paddle on 1,200 pine- and maple-wooded acres, eat organic buffet meals, and sleep late. (In harmony with adolescent biorhythms, classes don’t start before ten o’clock.) But the school is more than just a $25,000-a-year summer camp: Students will contend with a full slate of physics, calculus, and Plato. After all, most Conserve graduates will be expected to log a few years in the Ivy League before getting their chance to save the world.

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