Beaver Island, 54 square miles of unspoiled territory populated by foxes, migratory cranes, and beavers, is a two-hour boat voyage from Charlevoix. Town has hotels, stores, a functional lighthouse, sand beaches, and plenty of fresh whitefish.
Michigan and Ohio: Ferry to an Island
Sunlight makes Lake Superior an appealing blue-green, but not the Caribbean. Peak lake surface temperature is 65 degrees most years. Roll up your cuffs and let the ocean kiss your toes
Lake Superior: Take The Plunge
The Mississippi River, a 2,300-mile commercial and cultural corridor, runs through our country. Literary and musical hero. Life-giving, life-taking. Rivers are kilometers wide when they flex.
Minnesota: Go to The Source
Every second, seven thousand four hundred gallons of water pour over the stunning pink Sioux quartzite rocks that are located at Falls Park, which is a highlight of the biggest city in South Dakota.
South Dakota: See an Urban Waterfall
Fish and spirits vary in size and spirit. Bluegills beneath docks are intrigued by a hot dog on a child's hook. Melvillean walleye battle back from deep freezing seas. Coy trout chase feathery flies in rippling streams.
Cast Away
North Shore Scenic Drive, made famous by Bob Dylan, is full with jewels from Duluth to Canada. Historic Split Rock Lighthouse. Rock beaches. Smokehouses by families. Many waterfalls plunge through lush woodlands to Lake Superior.
Minnesota: (Re)Visit Highway 61
Falls of the Ohio State Park lets amateur paleontologists search rock layers scoured clean by the Ohio River for 600-plus Devonian fossils. Some animals are bus-sized, some pencil-sized.
Indiana: Stroll an Ancient Reef
The Niobrara National Scenic River offers days' worth of calm paddling in the scenic Sandhills, with countless spots to pull off and hike (including to Nebraska's tallest waterfall, Smith Falls).
Illinois and Nebraska: Pick Up a Paddle