T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park
Florida
Like a slightly anemic version of Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, Florida’s St. Joseph peninsula extends out into the Gulf of Mexico and flexes back up to create a barrier beach and a protected bay that offers warm, serene waters on both sides of the peninsula.
Closer to Panama City and Tallahassee than the beaches of Tampa or Miami, the beaches of T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park are a world away from the resort-chic experience of so many Florida beaches.
“It’s not like Disneyland, where you have a constant barrage of entertainment,” said Martha Robinson, communications manager for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. “You can find solitude and enjoy nature. We have absolutely sugar-white sand, and at night there’s no light pollution, so stargazing is phenomenal.”
Despite the protected beach area and adjacent St. Joseph Bay Aquatic Preserve, fishing and scalloping are permitted in the bay, and the ease of hunting during scallop season from July to mid-September is a big draw for visitors.
“It’s like a big Easter egg hunt,” said Robinson. “You just see them from the top of the water and reach down and pick them up. They’re bay scallops, so they’re small and don’t bite. Even children can do it.”
Groups can overnight in the park at vacation cabins, but Robinson recommends booking no less than six months in advance, especially for summer months, which book up quickly.
Buffalo National River
Arkansas
The first national river designated in the United States, Buffalo National River offers something that is surprisingly hard to find in the postindustrial era: one of the last undammed rivers in the contiguous United States.
Flowing uninterrupted for 135 miles, the Buffalo River offers groups the opportunities for a river cruise decidedly different than the raucous adventure of your average Mississippi steamboat. Here, it is all about the “float,” less canoeing and paddleboating and more of a leisure stroll, albeit over water, through the Ozarks with the elk, turtles and freshwater mussels.
National Park Service-approved concessioners rent boats and handle staging; but there is a slightly complicated system of overlapping districts, so the park recommends calling to make arrangements for groups, particularly to schedule guided ranger tours.
Groups have the option to do short or day floats mixed with drives through the ghost towns left behind by early settlers, miners and loggers, or to overnight in developed park service cabins along the river between floats.
