BACKCOUNTRY BREAKS
1 Floating the Rio Grande, Texas Canoes, wild mustangs, and remote desert make this the quintessential river trip. The Big Bend National Park section of the Rio Grande gets only 4,000 visitors per year, while America's other classic river trip destination, the Grand Canyon, sees close to 1,000 per week in the summer. Put in at Rio Grande Village for a four-day, 33-mile float through Boquillas Canyon -- the most scenic in the park. Each morning you and your buddies awake late in your tents and, once the sun has crested the 1,200-foot cliff walls, float through Class I and II rapids. TRAIL MAP Big Bend River Tours ($2,490 for four; 800-545-4240 or bigbendrivertours.com)