NEW YORK-
You want some adventure and the great outdoors. But do you really want to pitch a tent in the rain, build a fire from scratch, give up hot showers and eat out of your backpack for a week?
If you love Mother Nature but don't like giving up creature comforts, you may want to check out a new book from Fodor's, "239 Great Places to Escape to Nature Without Roughing It: From Rustic Cabins to Luxury Resorts," edited by Constance Jones ($19.95).
The book profiles lodges, hotels, ranches, retreats, cottages and cabins in every state and throughout Canada. Categories range from luxurious resorts to no-frills waterfront cabins. In between are family-friendly,full-service accommodations that offer children's programs; lodges where you can ride horses, kayak or cross-country ski; and romantic retreats like bed-and-breakfasts or country inns that do not accept younger children as guests.
The book's recommendations include a resort at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Ala., perfect for families and group gatherings; the Pine Hollow Inn, located on a Christmas tree farm in Galena, Ill., which does not permit children under 12; the log cabins at Libby Camps, in Ashland, Maine, on Millinocket Lake, best reached by floatplane or dirt roads; the Glendorn, a luxury resort on a gated estate in Bradford, Pa., where families are welcome; the Camelot Lodge, 18 miles from Moab, Utah, where camel-trekking in the desert is a specialty; the Paradise Guest Ranch, in Buffalo, Wyo., where horseback riding is the main attraction; and Florida, where off-the-beaten path recommendations include the Old Saltworks Cabins in Port St. Joe, on Cape San Blas in the Gulf of Mexico.
