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Cabins are a fantastic getaway for couples or a family.  Staying in a cabin offers many benefits to those who want to get away from everything and spend some time in nature among the trees and animals.

Things you can see from mountain cabins include deer, birds, elk, bears or even a raccoon on some occasions.  You will enjoy picturesque views of lakes and streams and you may want to take a day and just fish for relaxation. Young couples can savor the benefit of cabin rentals and may choose to stay in one of the small chalets for a nice romantic weekend getaway.  The atmosphere is quiet and welcoming, and young couples can relax and get out of the bigger cities and their sounds to the solitude and sounds of nature.

There are many amenities provided at mountain resorts and these include:

• Stays at a bed and breakfast Inn

• Indoor swimming pools and spas

• Room service

• Free Wi-Fi

• Golfing

• Hiking

Simply to name just a few.  These are family oriented and offer entertainment for the young as well as the young at heart.  Many enjoy the hiking trails in the mountains and will often go on guided tours of the area with someone who knows about the local wildlife and can give you pointers. Many times hunters will rent cabins when hunting season is open.  They too take pleasure in the peaceful surrounds as well as the plentiful wildlife.  Deer are definitely the main attraction for these hunters although they may also hunt wild turkeys and pheasants and other game. Nature holds the attention of the observer and you also have to be in a place where nature has been preserved and mostly undisturbed.  Mountain resorts are also the primary spot for business meetings during a weekend of golf.

Whatever your choice, whether it’s a small chalet or perhaps a cabin near the lake, you’ll love the moment when you awaken to the still sounds of nature fully refreshed and ready to start your entire day. A family can enjoy what a mountain cabin has to offer and there are accommodations for just about any size group whether small or large.  Nature has a tendency to bring families together as they explore the hidden treasures present in these areas.  Young children will especially benefit simply because they will discover a wide range of wildlife and learn about how the cycle of nature works. They may even do a class report on their vacation in the mountains and tell of their adventures.  It is actually all a learning and growing experience for them and they are always keen to share their knowledge gained.

If you’re thinking of spending some time at a mountain resort, you’ll find many details online about specific places and areas that happen to be either local or long distance.

Pennsylvania means “Penn’s Woodland,” and if the idea of staying in a secluded Pennsylvania cabin rental in wooded hill country sounds lovely to you, then a vacation in the Keystone State is designed for you. But there is a great deal more to this historic and charming area than the rich rural countryside.

In fact, the perfect place to begin your tour of Pennsylvania might be to go to see Philadelphia, long thought of as the gateway of the state. At the Independence Visitor Center, you can get started planning your exploration of the city and by going to their web page. Here, helpful individuals can enlighten you about Philadelphia’s countless historical sites, cultural institutions, tours and activities during the year.  You can also get free or low-cost passes to ride many of the city’s mass transportation facilities.

One of Pennsylvania’s terrific attractions is the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, which you witness almost as soon as you start traveling west out of Philadelphia. By the way, “Dutch” does not indicate these folks are from the Netherlands.  The word is a corruption of deutsche, denoting “German.” They are Old Order Amish and Mennonites whose ancestors arrived from Southern Germany and Switzerland greater than 300 years ago and they have been amazingly successful at preserving their customary way of life.

From the romantic travel inns in Lancaster, you can visit their farms as well as buy their wares and produce for sale and experience first hand how farms operated prior to the 20th Century. While you are in Lancaster, you should check out the Mennonite Information Center to get started. By the way, if anyone says “You look plain, English,” smile and say “Thank You,” as it is a compliment.

Moving west, you will come to Gettysburg, where the only battle of the American Civil War to be waged north of the Mason-Dixon was fought. Historic inns and recreations, including ghost tours, are well-liked events here. The certified thorough guide to tours of Gettysburg, including cabin rentals and other lodging facilities, is an Internet site known as “Gettysburg Address”.

One of the more interesting developments in travel these days is agritourism, where people stay, gain knowledge of and even help on an authentic working farm. Butler County is not only one of the state’s most picturesque places, it is also the breadbasket of the state and home to significant fairs and even wineries. Nestled in the magnificent Alleghenies, Butler County might be the high point of your Pennsylvania vacation.
 

With a total land area of nearly 360,000 square miles, and most of it rugged alpine country, hiking tours of British Columbia are plentiful and diverse. British Columbia also has a population density of fewer than five residents per square kilometer as most of the province’s 4.5 million inhabitants live in the metro areas of Vancouver and Victoria.  With this sort of open space, you will locate solitude and natural vistas that in many places have been seldom explored on foot by Europeans and a clear understanding of B.C.’s motto, “Splendor Without Diminishment”.

Canada’s department of ecology, Environment Canada, has categorized British Columbia into six distinct ecological zones, each of which provides hikers a unique experience. Of course, as hiking and other forms of outdoor recreation has gained in popularity, so have the amount of vacation rentals and Canada romantic getaways through the province. Lodgings at a scope of prices from as low as $24 (CDN) per night may be located in even the most out-of-the-way vacation destinations.

If you are interested in an all inclusive resort that is truly a pampering experience, consider Cathedral Lakes Lodge near Penticton in south-central British Columbia.  Hiking trails at 7000 foot elevations can take you to any one of seven unspoiled mountain lakes where the trout fishing is superb.

Ecotourism is just one appealing hiking opportunity that is broadly available in British Columbia. These are tours, frequently taken on foot, in which people have the chance to travel to a number of the more ecologically susceptible regions including the coastal temperate rainforests that stretch from the Alaskan panhandle to northern California and the delicate sub-arctic taiga and boreal plains.

Sponsored by the province’s municipal governments and non-profit organizations, these ecotours are handled in a fashion so that individuals leave a minimal footprint on the region while having a chance to enjoy local flora and fauna in a natural state. Because so much of British Columbia is unspoiled by people, hikers will have a chance to see many types of wildlife that have become rare in the more heavily populated U.S.

If you are looking for a change from hiking in British Columbia’s picturesque mountain country from one of the region’s cabin rental accommodations, you should also take into account agritourism. As is the case in Washington and Oregon to the south, British Columbia is an important agricultural center, particularly in the southern and eastern segments of the province.  Agritours give hikers a chance to see and even take part in the workings of green farms in a few of Canada’s most diverse farmlands.
 

Hiking in Pennsylvania is not like hiking in the Rockies or High Sierra and that’s a good thing! A hiking adventure in the Keystone State presents a much different experience in a venerable area of the country that is abundant in natural and human history in America’s eastern woodland area. From a Pennsylvania cabin rental in Butler County or elsewhere in the scenic Alleghenies, one can unearth plentiful opportunities not only for hiking and backpacking, but for a diverse range of outdoor activities ranging from fishing and wildlife watching to whitewater rafting and canoeing.

There are also hiking trails in Pennsylvania for all ages and fitness levels. If you are simply getting started, the Clarion-Little Toby Creek Rail Trail is a skillfully marked, easy route that parallels the Clarion River for almost twenty miles. As an old railbed, the trail is quite level and for that reason an easy hike and is apt for biking in the spring, summer and fall months and cross-country skiing in the fall. With two excellent entrance points from bed breakfasts in the charming and historic towns of Ridgway and Brockway, the Clarion trail is an excellent starting point for viewing the Pennsylvania countryside on foot.

Speaking of picturesque hikes, you are no doubt aquainted with Arizona’s Grand Canyon but did you know that Pennsylvania had its own Grand Canyon as well? The Pine Creek Rail Trail is another old railbed and therefore a flat, easy hike that extends the length of the Keystone State’s breathtaking Pine Creek Gorge. Set up your base of operations from one of the cabin rental accommodations in Colton Point, then depart up the gorge and enjoy a feast for the senses that include ancient rock formations and spectacular waterfalls in a flourishing deciduous woodland teeming with wildlife. A person can almost picture what the region was like 300 years ago, when the continent west of the Appalachian Mountain range was unspoiled wilderness. 

Individuals who are touring Pennsylvania for the first time should consider going to Keystone Ramblers, a website that is a broad guide to hiking in that state. In addition to a guide to various hiking experiences, you will find information on issues such as stretching, nourishment and gear as well as potential hazards such as poison ivy and oak. This group also organizes guided group hiking tours for those who are interested.

Another online resource for Pennsylvania hiking tours is Pennsylvania Hiking and Trekking Tours. This site features links to businesses and organizations offering set tours, which may be a fine alternative for newcomers to the state.
 
 

It appeared unlikely 125 years ago when an attorney from San Francisco named J.G. McCallum decided to trade his home in the refreshing, damp, hazy Bay Area for a new one in the Mojave Desert, but the communities of Palm Springs and nearby Palm Desert are two of the most loved and fastest developing spots in Southern California today.  Home to desert golf courses and convenient to historic Death Valley, Palm Springs and Palm Desert offer infinite opportunities to the public and presently, there are some hot travel deals as well.

For example, today visitors can get great bed breakfasts. In addition, there are many activities for the family that are inexpensive, and in a lot of cases, are free. Folks who are interested in outdoor activities, such as discovering colorful native desert plants and the local ecology will find enough to engage them for weeks, if not months. Palm Desert has also developed a flourishing arts community, which is continually shown throughout the year.

Human presence in the Palm Desert-Palm Springs area dates back at least to the mid-1600s, and possibly as far back as 1500. The first people to live there were the Cahuilla Indians.  The Cahuilla Nation is still the principal landowner in the Coachella Valley. In the 1890s, the federal government divided the land between the Cahuilla Indians and the Southern Pacific Railroad, the latter as an incentive for progress.

Since the late 1940s, when the earliest commercial real estate development was started, Palm Desert has been visited by celebrities that over the decades have included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Hope. Palm Springs took a little more time to catch up.  It was practically a ghost town until the early 1970s, but is nowadays a year round vacation destination with numerous cabin rental accommodations.

Because of its cloudless climate, with over 350 days of sun every year and a mere 5 inches of annual rain, golfing is one of the main activities in the area.  Many resorts in the area are providing golf rental deals for the summer.  Based on the day of the week and tee times, green fees start at under $20.

Of course, just because its summer vacation does not mean the kids have to stop learning. Palm Springs is also home to the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium, which has exhibits of desert fauna and flora from all over the world.

Visitors will also like the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in which you and your family can travel from the Southwest desert to the Arctic tundra in what was once a hike that took many hours in under ten minutes. At the top of the San Jacinto Mountains, visitors will find miles of hiking trails, lofty views of 200 miles in all directions and even an opportunity to ride a burro. Afterwards, folks can refresh themselves at one of the two delectable restaurants at Mountain Station.

The beauty of New England in the fall is legendary, but the roads can get a bit crowded that time of year. However, did you know that Pennsylvania has the same romantic landscape along its rural highways and those roads typically have less traffic? You could spend your whole life exploring just the rural Pennsylvania countryside by car, and the rustic landscape is perfect anytime of the year for a retreat with that special someone.

One of the first places you run across travelling westward out of Philadelphia is Lancaster County and the Amish Country, and there’s no shortage of info on seeing these friendly individuals and their farms but the Pennsylvania Dutch country has a great deal more, including the Dutch Wonderland Theme Park and the American Music Theater. Beautiful historic romantic travel inns are all throughout this colorful area. 

One thing is sure, you will not have any trouble booking vacation cabin rentals, since Lancaster County has an abundant source of vacation rentals ranging from rustic to deluxe at the area’s numerous fine inns.  For a different kind of romantic experience, check out Mechanicsburg. Nestled just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, this historic community offers a variety of activities that will appeal to him as well as her.

For him, there’s the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing, which features exhibits of fully restored race cars from the earliest days of competitive road racing as well as other displays.  Afterwards, she will love a day at the Revalations Day Spa, which offers not only lodging but also a hot springs, massage, and mud bath for couples.

Halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster is Chester County, which includes most of Pennsylvania’s rustic Brandywine Valley. The individuals who reside here have been steadfast about shielding their historic heritage. As a result, as you drive through the vicinity, you will come across a number of quaint small towns that date back 250 years and more. Deciduous forests, rolling pasturelands, covered bridges over brooks and streams and more await your discovery.

More active couples who really want to see Pennsylvania should check out the Allegheny Passage C&O Passage, which offers over 300 miles of off-road cycling paths winding from Pittsburgh all the way across the Keystone State and into Washington D.C. This is another part of a budding network of old rail lines that are being modified into bicycling and hiking trials that are relatively level and hard-packed with crushed limestone and gravel. For couples who are on the go and have the time, there’s no better or more unhurried way to view the romantic Pennsylvania countryside.

With a total land area of nearly 360,000 square miles, and most of it rugged alpine country, hiking tours of British Columbia are plentiful and diverse. British Columbia also has a population density of fewer than five residents per square kilometer as most of the province’s 4.5 million inhabitants live in the metro areas of Vancouver and Victoria.  With this sort of open space, you will locate solitude and natural vistas that in many places have been seldom explored on foot by Europeans and a clear understanding of B.C.’s motto, “Splendor Without Diminishment”.

Canada’s department of ecology, Environment Canada, has categorized British Columbia into six distinct ecological zones, each of which provides hikers a unique experience. Of course, as hiking and other forms of outdoor recreation has gained in popularity, so have the amount of vacation rentals and Canada romantic getaways through the province. Lodgings at a scope of prices from as low as $24 (CDN) per night may be located in even the most out-of-the-way vacation destinations.

If you are interested in an all inclusive resort that is truly a pampering experience, consider Cathedral Lakes Lodge near Penticton in south-central British Columbia.  Hiking trails at 7000 foot elevations can take you to any one of seven unspoiled mountain lakes where the trout fishing is superb.

Ecotourism is just one appealing hiking opportunity that is broadly available in British Columbia. These are tours, frequently taken on foot, in which people have the chance to travel to a number of the more ecologically susceptible regions including the coastal temperate rainforests that stretch from the Alaskan panhandle to northern California and the delicate sub-arctic taiga and boreal plains.

Sponsored by the province’s municipal governments and non-profit organizations, these ecotours are handled in a fashion so that individuals leave a minimal footprint on the region while having a chance to enjoy local flora and fauna in a natural state. Because so much of British Columbia is unspoiled by people, hikers will have a chance to see many types of wildlife that have become rare in the more heavily populated U.S.

If you are looking for a change from hiking in British Columbia’s picturesque mountain country from one of the region’s cabin rental accommodations, you should also take into account agritourism. As is the case in Washington and Oregon to the south, British Columbia is an important agricultural center, particularly in the southern and eastern segments of the province.  Agritours give hikers a chance to see and even take part in the workings of green farms in a few of Canada’s most diverse farmlands.
 

The beauty of New England in the fall is legendary, but the roads can get a bit crowded that time of year. However, did you know that Pennsylvania has the same romantic landscape along its rural highways and those roads typically have less traffic? You could spend your whole life exploring just the rural Pennsylvania countryside by car, and the rustic landscape is perfect anytime of the year for a retreat with that special someone.

One of the first places you run across travelling westward out of Philadelphia is Lancaster County and the Amish Country, and there’s no shortage of info on seeing these friendly individuals and their farms but the Pennsylvania Dutch country has a great deal more, including the Dutch Wonderland Theme Park and the American Music Theater. Beautiful historic romantic travel inns are all throughout this colorful area. 

One thing is sure, you will not have any trouble booking vacation cabin rentals, since Lancaster County has an abundant source of vacation rentals ranging from rustic to deluxe at the area’s numerous fine inns.  For a different kind of romantic experience, check out Mechanicsburg. Nestled just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, this historic community offers a variety of activities that will appeal to him as well as her.

For him, there’s the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing, which features exhibits of fully restored race cars from the earliest days of competitive road racing as well as other displays.  Afterwards, she will love a day at the Revalations Day Spa, which offers not only lodging but also a hot springs, massage, and mud bath for couples.

Halfway between Philadelphia and Lancaster is Chester County, which includes most of Pennsylvania’s rustic Brandywine Valley. The individuals who reside here have been steadfast about shielding their historic heritage. As a result, as you drive through the vicinity, you will come across a number of quaint small towns that date back 250 years and more. Deciduous forests, rolling pasturelands, covered bridges over brooks and streams and more await your discovery.

More active couples who really want to see Pennsylvania should check out the Allegheny Passage C&O Passage, which offers over 300 miles of off-road cycling paths winding from Pittsburgh all the way across the Keystone State and into Washington D.C. This is another part of a budding network of old rail lines that are being modified into bicycling and hiking trials that are relatively level and hard-packed with crushed limestone and gravel. For couples who are on the go and have the time, there’s no better or more unhurried way to view the romantic Pennsylvania countryside.

Hiking in Pennsylvania is not like hiking in the Rockies or High Sierra and that’s a good thing! A hiking adventure in the Keystone State presents a much different experience in a venerable area of the country that is abundant in natural and human history in America’s eastern woodland area. From a Pennsylvania cabin rental in Butler County or elsewhere in the scenic Alleghenies, one can unearth plentiful opportunities not only for hiking and backpacking, but for a diverse range of outdoor activities ranging from fishing and wildlife watching to whitewater rafting and canoeing.

There are also hiking trails in Pennsylvania for all ages and fitness levels. If you are simply getting started, the Clarion-Little Toby Creek Rail Trail is a skillfully marked, easy route that parallels the Clarion River for almost twenty miles. As an old railbed, the trail is quite level and for that reason an easy hike and is apt for biking in the spring, summer and fall months and cross-country skiing in the fall. With two excellent entrance points from bed breakfasts in the charming and historic towns of Ridgway and Brockway, the Clarion trail is an excellent starting point for viewing the Pennsylvania countryside on foot.

Speaking of picturesque hikes, you are no doubt aquainted with Arizona’s Grand Canyon but did you know that Pennsylvania had its own Grand Canyon as well? The Pine Creek Rail Trail is another old railbed and therefore a flat, easy hike that extends the length of the Keystone State’s breathtaking Pine Creek Gorge. Set up your base of operations from one of the cabin rental accommodations in Colton Point, then depart up the gorge and enjoy a feast for the senses that include ancient rock formations and spectacular waterfalls in a flourishing deciduous woodland teeming with wildlife. A person can almost picture what the region was like 300 years ago, when the continent west of the Appalachian Mountain range was unspoiled wilderness. 

Individuals who are touring Pennsylvania for the first time should consider going to Keystone Ramblers, a website that is a broad guide to hiking in that state. In addition to a guide to various hiking experiences, you will find information on issues such as stretching, nourishment and gear as well as potential hazards such as poison ivy and oak. This group also organizes guided group hiking tours for those who are interested.

Another online resource for Pennsylvania hiking tours is Pennsylvania Hiking and Trekking Tours. This site features links to businesses and organizations offering set tours, which may be a fine alternative for newcomers to the state.
 
 

We don’t usually associate the word “Alpine” with the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia, but the town of Helen is a small piece of the Bavarian Alps that found its way into this expanse of Dixie.  In addition to the hiking trails and whitewater rafting you would expect to discover in this part of the southern Appalachians, there is a three month Oktoberfest that lasts from the late summer until the midpoint of fall every year, a time-honored Bavarian Christmas Alpenlights celebration, and yet another transplanted Germanic tradition, das volksmarch. The best place to participate in Oktoberfest is from one of the various cabin rentals in the area, or a deluxe room in one of Helen’s fine European themed inns.

Originally inhabited by Cherokee Indians, the vicinity was the locale of a gold discovery in 1828. For over seventy years, prospectors and commercial mining companies worked deposits that rivaled those in the Rockies and the Sierras. The gold fields were mostly dredged out by 1900, but the wood industry moved in shortly afterwards. With the installation of the railroad, the township of Helen was established in 1913. The timber industry was short lived.  By 1931, the trees were gone and by 1960, all that remained was a row of cement block houses. The town’s revitalization began in the early 1970s as it begun to reinvent itself in the Bavarian style, influenced by an artist who had served with the U.S. Army in Germany. Today, Helen is one of the top getaway resorts in the region.

The Chattahoochie River provides recreational opportunities for whitewater rafting and inner tubing, while the encircling mountains offer hikers a chance to experience nature and the diverse woodland species up close and personal. Mountain lodges that include hot tubs are accessible for romantic getaways, and the town itself is residence to various specialty shops and four star dining establishments, including an authentic Bavarian Hofbrau Haus, featuring the rich food of Germany’s southern region. German and northern Italian cuisine may also be enjoyed at The Troll, one of Helen’s more flavorful eateries.

Easily available family outdoor activities include golf, mountain biking, fishing and horseback riding. In fact, there is almost no better way to see this part of the Blue Ridge than from the back of a horse.  Check out Chattahoochie Backcountry Treks and  Sunburst Stables for more information.

For hikers, one of the most spectacular sights is Anna Ruby Falls, one of the four waterfalls in the immediate area inside Unicoi State Park. The falls are just over 800 yards from an enhanced public access area, and are actually two separate falls with the better of the two topping out at greater than 150 feet high.

Of course, just because you are out in and in the company of nature does not mean you have to rough it. North Georgia bed breakfasts possess all the comforts of home including cable TV and wireless internet access.  The proprietors of these lodgings are more than pleased to share the unique history of the vicinity as well as suggest other interesting site seeing tours and wonderful regional bistros.