Trek America offers week-long trips as low as $425 out of New York on its Eastern Highlights Tour, which visits Boston, the Berkshire Mountains, Niagara Falls, "Bear Country" (Pennsylvania) and Washington, D.C. There are 31 other adventures, the most expensive ($1,969) being a six-week slog called The Grand Trek, departing New York or Los Angeles and visiting Niagara Falls, Chicago, the Badlands, Sioux Indian territory, Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Carlsbad, del Rio TX, San Antonio, New Orleans, Alabama, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. You camp out most of the time, but stay in cheap (and clean, they say) hotels on a few nights in major cities ($35 extra charge per night).
The Footloose tours are divided into three groups--walking, lodging and classic camping adventures. In the Lodging category, all hotels en route are included in the tour cost. Cheapest is a Canyons & Indian Lands tour of one week, departing Las Vegas, from $789 and up, depending on the date. You visit the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, staying in hotels each night and dropping in on the Navajo Reservation and its Anasazi past. (If you are over 55 years old, the organizers request a note from your doctor saying you are fit enough for the program, which involves a lot of walking.)
To Mexico, one of the best tours is Mexican Highlights, a 10-day tour starting from Cancun and visiting the Yucatan Peninsula, including Palenque, Campeche, Merida, Chichen Itza, Xel Ha and Tulum, to mention not quite all of the places touched upon. The cost starts at $879, depending on date.
For more information on these or the Winter Sun programs, or to make reservations, phone Trek America at 800/221-0596 or e-mail them at info@trekamerica.com. Their Web site is www.trekamerica.com.
