Top 12 ‘next great adventure’ towns in America

West: San Francisco

San Franciscans will gladly remind you to bring a sweater on your next visit, but they’ll likely keep mum about trail shoes — and climbing shoes, surfboards, bikes and kayaks. They want to have the city’s long, dramatic shoreline and redwood forests all to themselves. But their secret is getting harder to keep now that the Presidio, a 1,500-acre former military base, is being turned into a sprawling Bay Area playground. Beaches are being cleaned up, scenic overlooks created.

Last year a $15 million plan was launched to restore campsites and connect trails to the surrounding 80,000-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is twice the size of San Francisco itself. "My dad was a Marine, so I was always able to enjoy the Presidio," says Tonya Nilsson, project manager for Planet Granite, a 22,000-foot climbing gym that will open there this fall. "So many people here love the outdoors, and now they can share in the beauty of this location, too. It’s such a stunning spot."

Already, San Franciscans’ list of options is enviably long: Surfers tackle breaks off Ocean Beach, hikers gawk at the towering timber of Muir Woods, and hang gliders make use of the gusty Fort Funston bluffs. Just remember that sweater, of course.

Population: 744,041

Median home price: $876,500

West: Seattle

Resident: Dan Moore, 34, lead guide for outfitter EverGreen Escapes

Why I made the jump: "I moved here from Minnesota in August of 1999. I had just completed a graduate program in environmental education and knew Seattle was the ideal place to be near wilderness and teach people about the outdoors. I can’t think of many other cities that put you this close to such different habitats, climates and terrains. I’m a guitarist, too, and since Seattle also has such a great music scene, it’s everything I was looking for. Even as it’s grown, it’s stayed relatively cheap to live comfortably here."

How I found a job: "I first worked as a naturalist teaching kids, then just this year I met up with Jake Haupert, who runs EverGreen, and began guiding for him."

Favorite trail: "Riding the 63-mile loop around Lake Washington on the Novara Randonee road bike I bought for $400 at REI when I first got here."

Population: 582,454

Median home price: $505,990

West: Hood River, Ore.

The steady westerlies churning the mighty Columbia nearby have been drawing windsurfers and kiteboarders to Hood River for years. But lately an almost equal number of mountain bikers, powder hounds and whitewater paddlers have started calling it home as well.

Judging by the signs above all the new restaurants, the recent arrivals are partial to sushi joints, wine bars and bistros with hard-to-pronounce European names. But this recreational boomtown hasn’t abandoned its roots — the focus here is still centered squarely on the action outside. Tucked between the looming basalt cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge, an hour east of Portland, Hood River is cementing its multisport identity with a new riverside park. Plans call for a long public green, a swimming beach and, naturally, kiteboarding and windsurfing put-ins.

Kayakers dip into the placid Klickitat River, where local outfitters hold beginner lessons on the gorge’s Washington side, or navigate the gantlet of Class IIIs and IVs on the aspen-flanked White Salmon. Landlubbers get their fat-tire fix at Post Canyon, where free riders have been adding jumps, bridges and seesaws. And half an hour south of town, the lifts on Mount Hood’s Palmer Glacier stay open straight on through summer, giving snowboarders and skiers access to 1,524 feet of vertical corn (coarse, granular, wet snow) nearly year-round.

Population: 6,710

Median home price: $369,300

Rockies: Carbondale, Colo.

Carbondale’s urban expats take their city’s name as a literal eco-challenge. In the morning, commuters line the bike paths on their way to a growing pack of local environmental companies, such as Solar Energy International, Greenspot and Inpower Systems, and the new rec center and police and fire departments are all solar powered.

The occasional cattle drive still passes down Main Street, but it’s clear that the town’s ranching days are long gone. While still partly in the shadow of Aspen, 30 miles up the road, it’s forging its own identity as a self-sustained base for Patagonia-clad Ph.D.’s happy to stay close to home in the White River National Forest — all beneath the 12,000-foot twin peaks of Mount Sopris.

For the full perspective on Carbondale, mountain bike or hike up Red Hill to Mushroom Rock, a precipice with views of downtown and the Roaring Fork Valley. On the water, the Colorado Rocky Mountain School has been organizing the Crystal River Kayak Races every spring for the past 44 years, giving weekend warriors the rare chance to race against the handful of world-class whitewater paddlers who live in the area. More serious foam surges on the nearby Roaring Fork, which is now connected to Carbondale by the Rio Grande paved bike path — yet another carbon-free option to do the locals proud.

Population: 5,881

Median home price: $712,000

Rockies: Missoula, Mont.

Resident: Alex Gallego, 41, owner of Missoula Bicycle Works

Why I made the jump: "My wife is a geographer, and when she took a position here at the University of Montana in 2000, I tagged along. She’d had several different offers, but when we came to Missoula for her interview, we immediately fell in love with the town. It’s surrounded by mountains, trails are everywhere, and the outdoors are completely open to you. Since we were moving from Boulder, we wanted to go to a place where people were equally fanatical about the outdoors, and here, we’ve found it. Everyone’s focused on protecting what we’ve got."

How I found a job: "I used to be a high-school teacher and figured I’d find work here doing the same. But after I arrived, I met a guy at a dinner party who was looking to sell his bike shop. I saw a lot of growth potential and decided to buy it. Other than my family, cycling is easily my biggest passion, so I thought this would be a fun project."

Favorite trail: "Just about anything in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area is a blast. It’s right out my back door."

Population: 64,081

Median home price: $256,742

Rockies: Ogden, Utah

If there’s a Disneyland for adrenalized adults, it’s Ogden: The mountain town has man-made thrills galore. Weber River whitewater park offers Class II and III rapids (slightly wilder than the Pirates of the Caribbean ride), and a 43-acre water ski park just opened downtown.

The real highlight, though, is the new 148,000-square-foot Salomon Center, housing a 55-foot climbing wall, a vertical skydiving wind tunnel and a flow-boarding area that lets you surf a foam wave glazed by a three-inch layer of fast-rushing water. Not that Ogden needs artificial excitement. Within minutes of downtown, you can ascend Mount Ogden to 170,000 acres of parkland. And from 46th Street, the Beus Canyon trail leads to Snowbasin Ski Resort, site of the downhill, combined and super-G events in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Like-minded co-workers are easy to find, too: More than a dozen outdoor gear companies have moved their headquarters here in recent years. Or hop on the new commuter rail for more options in Salt Lake City, an hour north.

Population: 197,000

Median home price: $183,000

Central: Grand Marais, Minn.

Set on Lake Superior’s rocky northern shoreline, this Minnesota outpost has some of the best of everything — in every season. The Gunflint Trail, a paved byway that runs straight out of town, accesses 143 miles of cross-country skiing classics in winter and a slew of single-track biking trails in summer. Hook up with a team of huskies to sled the frozen Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness or paddle through the 1.1-million-acre expanse when the weather warms.

You can also build your own canoe, kayak and skis at the North House Folk School, Grand Marais’ unofficial community center. Residents come together to push for renewable energy resources or protect their colorful waterfront from big-box stores.

"We don’t want a run of strip malls," says local Arctic explorer Lonnie Dupre, who trains his sled dogs among the thick groves of aspen, birch and sugar maple. The number of roads Dupre crosses from his house on the way to the North Pole? One: the Trans-Canada Highway. We can’t all be polar explorers, but, luckily, jobs in tourism are plentiful.

Population: 1,414

Median home price: $199,378

Central: Mobile, Ala.

Resident: Kristian Aboud, 30, owner of Five Rivers Delta Safaris

Why I made the jump: "I was commuting to work in Mobile as a wine distributor and realized there was untapped potential here for ecotourism. The delta is just beautiful, and there’s a new $10 million park. Mobile has a lot of charm, with its own Mardi Gras and great Victorian architecture. Plus, it’s a safe city."

How I found a job: "I’d been looking for suitable locations for hovercraft tours for four years. Mobile had this whole underutilized river system sitting right on its doorstep, so I set up my own operation."

Favorite trail: "The Bartram Canoe Trail gets deep into the delta and has floating platforms you can camp on to keep away from the gators."

Population: 192,830

Median home price: $137,300

Central: San Antonio

Austin’s not the only Hill Country hub worth considering. Now that San Antonio is sprucing up its eponymous river — with waterfront hiking and biking trails, canoe races and cafés — Fiesta City is regaining some of its Alamo-era swagger.

In May, residents voted to use $125 million to shore up the San Antonio River Improvements Project, which will extend the city’s Venice-inspired River Walk from two to 13 miles and add nearly 460 acres of parkland.

Steven Schauer, of the San Antonio River Authority, sums it up well: "The people here want their river back for recreation."

They’re also reclaiming their land. Last year locals lobbied to save an old dairy farm on the outskirts of town from development. It will now be converted into 311 acres of urban green space.

Outside city limits, hikers can wander through 8,622 acres of mountain laurel and Spanish moss in Government Canyon State Natural Area, while road cyclists head northwest to the wildflower-flecked hills. And in the heat of the Lone Star State summers, a new crop of vineyards and a handful of brewpubs (Blue Star gets our vote) are just a pedal away.

Population: 1,296,682

Median home price: $155,300

East: Boston

Just a few years ago, Bostonians were knee-deep in the $15 billion construction chaos that was the Big Dig. But these days, the new Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway has made the inner-city waterfront more accessible (and appealing) than ever, with a 15-acre strip of parks designed for everything from yoga to concerts.

"All people think of is Boston Common," says Andrew Prescott, a former accountant who turned his bike-commuting habit into a business by founding Urban AdvenTours. "But now we have all this great new public space, and more people are getting outside — even when there’s two feet of snow."

More than 15,000 acres of parks and 25 miles of beaches are now within 15 minutes of downtown. And forget upper-crust yacht clubs. Beantown may be New England’s economic capital, but it’s not overpriced. Annual membership at Community Boating, Inc. where you’ll find kayaking, windsurfing and sailing, is just $229. And last year the Environmental Protection Agency gave the Charles River a B++, good enough to do the once unthinkable: backstroke alongside the scullers.

Population: 590,763

Median home price: $355,000

East: Islamorada, Fla.

Strung across six islands in the lower Florida Keys, the village of Islamorada is set between a Gulf Stream-warmed Atlantic Ocean — home to sailfish, wahoo, dolphin, tuna, sharks and North America’s only living coral reef — and the Florida Bay, rife with bonefish, snook and snapper.

"There’s so much wildlife here, it really feels like the sport-fishing capital of the world," says Capt. Eric Bass (yep, his real name). But while Bass’ boat is one of 100-plus angling for tourists, competition gives way to camaraderie in the tight-knit community. Back on dry land, neighbors congregate at 40-acre Founders Park, a former resort that now hosts kayak socials and float-in movies. The latest object of locals’ devotion is kiteboarding, made friendlier by offshore sandbars, grass flats, and 15- to 25-knot winds.

"Islamorada is where it’s at for kiting," says Seven Sports owner Brad Lange. "Even the police officers and firefighters are learning how."

Population: 6,451

Median home price: $750,000

East: Chattanooga, Tenn.

Resident: Cathi Cannon, 33, multisport endurance athlete and graphic designer

Why I made the jump: "As an off-road racer, I found it hard to live in a city as big as Atlanta — I was driving to the mountains all the time. So I made the move to Chattanooga in 2006. In 15 minutes I can be on a mountain with hundreds of miles of single track. A ton of like-minded people are drawn here, thanks to the advocacy group Outdoor Chattanooga, and the town is thriving, with a new emphasis on the outdoors. I joined a women’s cycling team, two adventure racing clubs, and am on the board of the Wilderness Trail Running Association.We call ourselves the Boonies, since we like to play in the middle of nowhere."

How I found a job: "I made some connections for freelance work before I moved. Other people here work in health care, at the university, as lawyers — or at a bike shop."

Favorite trail: "Raccoon Mountain has great single track."

Population: 155,190

Median home price: $125,200

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