Outdoor centric vacations

[Hoythews71]

Wife and I are both military, stationed outside of DC. She’s a rockstar and lets me hunt anywhere and everywhere my schedule allows. We want to do some vacations together as well though, and we can’t decide where to go. Turning a new leaf and really want to get outdoors together more.

-Outdoor focused locations/activities
-Great food scene
-Camping isn’t an issue

We’ve only been east coast together (Wilmington/Charlotte, NC; Atlanta/Chattanooga, TN; DC; Delaware). Would like to head inland/out west for a change. Thinking Bozeman/Anchorage/Boulder, but open to any and all ideas.


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[String&stick]

Did the Alaska thing in 2021. Had a blast. Huge national parks you can hike in, see bears, moose, etc.

Everything was outdoor centered. Charter fishing for salmon and halibut. Airbnb cabins with amazing views and moose in the back yard of one. Whitewater rafting, hiking to view glaciers. You get the picture! My wife enjoys some adventure but also likes to relax. She hung out at an amazing cabin by Homer while I went fishing for the last few days we were there.

We spent 9 days and could have easily filled 14 and still not seen everything.

If you're interested in Alaska pm me and I'll share what we did and would do again. I can probably put you in touch with a few guys that helped me from here as well that really helped line me out.

Seafood was great as well!

 

[jimh406]

From Bozeman, you are not far away from Yellowstone and the Tetons. Besides camping/hiking in the parks, there is also rafting/fly fishing, and horseback riding in the general area. I'm not sure how much outdoor and great food scene go together, but there is good food.

Closer to where you are, there's the Smoky Mountains for hiking/camping.

Finally, the Outer Banks of North Carolina can be a great time.

 

[bobr1]

Wife and I are both military, stationed outside of DC. She’s a rockstar and lets me hunt anywhere and everywhere my schedule allows. We want to do some vacations together as well though, and we can’t decide where to go. Turning a new leaf and really want to get outdoors together more.

-Outdoor focused locations/activities
-Great food scene
-Camping isn’t an issue

We’ve only been east coast together (Wilmington/Charlotte, NC; Atlanta/Chattanooga, TN; DC; Delaware). Would like to head inland/out west for a change. Thinking Bozeman/Anchorage/Boulder, but open to any and all ideas.


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If you are active I’d look at the Seward military resort in Alaska. I stayed there once, very good prices for the area and can go halibut/salmon fishing, they have a cleaning area on the property as well. Lots of outdoor things to do.

Seward Military Resort - Seward Alaska

 

[actionshooter]

I have spent a bunch of time in AK, but the wife hadn't so last year for our 30th, we rented a motorhome in Anchorage for 10 days and headed out.... went all over the place, only stayed 2 nights in one place, Denali.

Fishing, Glacier tour, flight seeing, National Park.... we kept pretty busy.

 

[Hoythews71]

From Bozeman, you are not far away from Yellowstone and the Tetons. Besides camping/hiking in the parks, there is also rafting/fly fishing, and horseback riding in the general area. I'm not sure how much outdoor and great food scene go together, but there is good food.

Closer to where you are, there's the Smoky Mountains for hiking/camping.

Finally, the Outer Banks of North Carolina can be a great time.

We’ve done OBX a few times in different areas, usually just day trips when we lived in Va Beach.

Smokey’s is a good idea! We got a feel for that area in Chattanooga, but it was a quick getaway so we really didn’t get to explore any.


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[WTFJohn]

Wife and I are both military, stationed outside of DC. She’s a rockstar and lets me hunt anywhere and everywhere my schedule allows. We want to do some vacations together as well though, and we can’t decide where to go. Turning a new leaf and really want to get outdoors together more.

-Outdoor focused locations/activities
-Great food scene
-Camping isn’t an issue

We’ve only been east coast together (Wilmington/Charlotte, NC; Atlanta/Chattanooga, TN; DC; Delaware). Would like to head inland/out west for a change. Thinking Bozeman/Anchorage/Boulder, but open to any and all ideas.


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I wouldn't drive 5 minutes to visit Boulder, let alone travel across the country.

If you're making the trek west, there are lots great options for outdoor-focused areas in almost all states depending on the time of year. Sedona, Taos, Golden (if you want to be closer to a 'city'), multiple ski/mountain towns in CO, Jackson Hole, Bozeman, Kalispell, Sun Valley, Park City, St. George, Lake Tahoe, and plenty of others.

I would not make trip for a front range CO city; you will be close to decent food but a terrible, miserable drive from the fun outdoor activities in the mountains. Most mountain towns now have a decent food scene, just don't catch them during their limited hours in mud season.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

The southwest could be a good destination for a spring/fall outdoor vacation when it's too cold/snowpacked in the mountains. BK (before kids) my wife and I would take a week long road trip through Utah/Arizona/New Mexico every March when the school she taught at was on spring break. Below are some of the places we visited and things we enjoyed:

• Zion National Park
  • Angel's Landing hike, waded up the Virgin River to the Narrows
• Arches National Park
  • Hiked to Delicate Arch at sunset
• Bryce Canyon National Park
  • Fairyland Loop hike, photos at Sunrise/Sunset points
• Canyonlands National Park
  • Drove Elephant Hill 4×4 road in a stock F150 (one of the scariest experiences of my life), hiked to Colorado-Green River confluence overlook
• Grand Canyon National Park
  • Hiked down South Kaibab Trail, stayed 2 nights at Bright Angel campground, hiked up Bright Angel Trail
• Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
  • Drove full length of Hole-in-the-Rock Road, hiked to Zebra/Spooky/Peekaboo slot canyons, Coyote Gulch loop hike, hiked down to Lake Powell
• Antelope Canyon
• Natural Bridges National Monument
• Chaco Canyon National Historical Park

 

[G8tor4217]

Wife and I are both military, stationed outside of DC. She’s a rockstar and lets me hunt anywhere and everywhere my schedule allows. We want to do some vacations together as well though, and we can’t decide where to go. Turning a new leaf and really want to get outdoors together more.

-Outdoor focused locations/activities
-Great food scene
-Camping isn’t an issue

We’ve only been east coast together (Wilmington/Charlotte, NC; Atlanta/Chattanooga, TN; DC; Delaware). Would like to head inland/out west for a change. Thinking Bozeman/Anchorage/Boulder, but open to any and all ideas.


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100% recommend Bozeman, but it’s getting expensive