SMALL TOWN, USA Don’t blink or you’ll miss ’em—and you shouldn’t. These towns might not be metropolises, but they’re big on charm, culture, and outdoor activities. You’ll want to make at least a stop or two. By Evelyn Spence Winthrop, Washington Gist: Don’t let the fact that Winthrop is in supposedly rainy Washington scare you away. Tucked at the junction of the Methow and Chewuch rivers about five hours northeast of Seattle, this former mining town sits east of the Cascades, where Douglas firs give way to sage and ponderosas—and it’s sunny most of the year. It also looks like something out of an Old West Hollywood set: the sidewalks are wood, the saloons have swinging doors (hello, Bonanza!), and the main drag even has a few hitchin’ posts. It’s also the birthplace of smokejumping. The Methow Valley’s biggest claim to fame? It has one of the most extensive networks of groomed Nordic ski trails in the world (125 miles), with huts for warming up—or spending the night—along the way. In summer those same trails are mountain bike accessible, as are countless other routes. Raft the class III−IV Methow River and wet a line for cutties and rainbows. Or climb around Fun Rocks, the crags close to nearby Mazama. Have some money to burn? Book a day in a chopper with North Cascade Heli-Skiing (http://heli-ski.com), which has 300,000 acres of terrain in the so-called Alps of America. Want some solitude? The nearby Okanagan National Forest has 1.7 million acres of it. Eat: Named after a meat cutter (who once cut off two fingers), Three Fingered Jack’s is the oldest legal saloon in the state—with bacon-and-blue-cheese burgers and chicken fried steak (www.3fingeredjacks.com). Drink: The Winthrop Brewing Company has been pouring pints, like Grizzly Paw Honey Rye, since 1993 (www.webspinnings.com/winthrop). Sleep: The Virginian has frontier-style cabins that sleep two to eight (www.virginian-resort.com). Don’t miss: The Winthrop Rhythm and Blues Festival happens every July (www.winthropbluesfestival.com). Williamstown, Massachusetts Gist: Home to Williams College and located in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains about 135 miles west of Boston and just a few miles south of the Vermont border, Williamstown was first settled in 1753. It has that typical New England small-town charm: leaves turn blazing orange come autumn, Victorian and Georgian houses line the quiet streets, and earnest students laze around on quads. It’s even called the Village Beautiful. There’s the Clark Art Institute, a world-class art museum (think Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, and dozens of Renoirs) that sits on the edge of a cow pasture. The Appalachian Trail passes nearby. Mount Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet, sits above the valley, with 12,500 protected acres and 70 miles of hiking and cross-country skiing trails—and the college itself owns a 2,500-acre forest. For an alpine-skiing fix, the nearest ski area, Jiminy Peak, has a few honestly steep runs and is only 15 minutes away. Every October during Mountain Day, all 2,000 students get a day off to climb the Hopper Trail to Stone Ledge and down donuts and cider. The local waterways—Hemlock Brook, Roaring Brook, Green River, and Broad Brook—are stocked with trout every year. Eat: Eenie-meenie-minie-moe among 50-plus sandwiches at Papa Charlie’s—all of which are named after celebs like Bo Derek, Christopher Reeve, and Gwyneth Paltrow (413 458 5969). Drink: A tiny bar on Spring Street, the Purple Pub packs in students and serves buckets of Corona and battered and fried food (www.thepurplepub.com). Sleep: The 1700s-era Victorian House on Main Street has six rooms, frilly bedspreads, and blueberry-lemon pancakes (www.houseonmainstreet.com). Don’t miss: The Williamstown Theatre Festival runs from June through August (www.wtfestival.org). Alpine, Texas Gist: Back in the 1880s, Alpine didn’t have the stately brick courthouse, the Catholic mission, or the Mexican−border−meets− frontier architecture; it was just an intersection of railroad tracks (where the Southern Pacific crossed the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe) at 4,481 feet in the Davis Mountains, 200 miles southeast of San Antonio. Before that cattlemen occasionally set up tents there. Now it’s sometimes called “out where the West begins” and lays claim to more than 20 galleries, Sul Ross State University (which has one of the best rodeo teams in the country and a West Texas Studies program), and the largest spring-fed pool in all of Texas—77,000 square feet. It’s also 80 miles north of Big Bend National Park, with its million-plus acres of hiking and rafting that see one−tenth the number of visitors as Yellowstone. The class II−IV rapids make for easy floats—or tricky whitewater kayaking—and the river holds everything from catfish and shad to carp and longnose gar. Closer to town, Davis Mountains State Park has both hiking and mountain-biking trails—and the road riding, on rolling hills with little traffic, goes on forever. Eat: Opened in 1955, Reata dishes up cowboy cuisine: tortilla soup, tenderloin tamales with pecan mash, and fried alligator (www.reata.net). Drink: The Edelweiss Brewery—supposedly both the smallest and the highest brewery in Texas—pours a chocolatey dark lager called Texas Black Gold (www.edelweissbrewery.com). Sleep: At the historic Holland Hotel, every room is different (www.hollandhotel.net). Don’t miss: The Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering takes place every February (www.cowboy-poetry.org). McCall, Idaho Gist: Right next to the Frank Church−River of No Return Wilderness (the largest in the lower 48, at 2.3 million acres), Payette Lake (5,500 acres), and the up-and-coming Tamarack ski area (which now has seven lifts and counting)—and only 90 miles north of Boise—McCall might actually be best known for its raging Winter Carnival. Since 1965 the town has been host to sled races, snow sculpture contests, masked balls, and more-notorious competitions (the Yacht Club, a local nightspot nicknamed the “Naughty Yachty,” picks the man with the biggest beard and the woman with the hairiest legs). McCall itself has red-brick buildings on the main drag, log cabins in the woods, and mansions built by potato moguls—but people don’t spend much time inside. The rafting here, on the middle and main forks of the Salmon River, is world-class, and Brundage Mountain—which is a decent ski area in winter—has lift- served mountain biking, to the tune of 20 miles of singletrack, when the ground dries out. If you don’t have multiple days for a Salmon trip, the North Fork of the Payette River—called the “town stretch”—has some class II rapids, and south of town some sections are even a rowdy class 5. Rather fish than float? There are more than a hundred mountain lakes within 20 miles of town, and the steelheading is prime in October and November. Eat: Sip the wine of the day and play board games at Bistro 45, then sit down to a croque-monsieur (www.bistro45mccall.com). Drink: The McCall Brewing Company has Slow Down Brown, StoneFly Stout, and Jughandle Amber on tap (208 634 3309). Sleep: The Hotel McCall, right across the street from the shore of Payette Lake, serves complimentary wine (as well as milk and cookies) every afternoon (208 634 8105). Don’t miss: The McCall Winter Carnival is a must; check www.inidaho.com/guides/events/wintercarnival for dates. Damascus, Virginia Gist: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains about 120 miles north-west of Charlotte, North Carolina, and tucked in the shadow of 5,729-foot Mount Rogers, tiny Damascus has been dubbed Trail Town USA—mostly because the Appalachian Trail (AT) passes through here, and every year, the weekend after Mother’s Day, some 20,000 AT vets and wannabes converge for tarp-raising and “useless gear” contests, eating competitions, and free showers (sweet!). But the Trans-America bike trail (a route from Virginia to Oregon), the Virginia Creeper Trail (a rails-to-trails project), and the Iron Mountain Trail (which heads into the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area) intersect here, too, making it a crossroads for cyclists and hikers alike. Whitetop Laurel Creek, a mountain stream that tumbles through town, has more than enough brookies and browns for a day in waders; and, depending on where paddlers put in, it has class I–IV whitewater. The Creeper— 34 miles long, spanning mountains to valleys and passing through charming Appalachian towns along the way—is stunning in the fall. Need a day off? Wander past clapboard churches, manicured lawns, and cozy inns before ducking into Mojoe’s Trailside Coffee House for a hit or the Grapevine Gallery for local pottery. Eat: Scarf down fish tacos at the Baja Café, owned by a guy who’s hiked the AT end-to-end and knows what hungry hikers like (www.bajacafeofva.com). Drink: Hear jam bands and mingle with bearded through-hikers at the Damascus Old Mill (276 475 3745). Sleep: The Lazy Fox is a cute Victorian B&B right on Laurel Creek, with homemade donuts and cheese grits to start your day (www.lazyfoxinn.com). The Place, a hiker hostel in town, has bunk beds (no mattresses) for four bucks a night. Don’t miss: Trail Days in May are a gas (www.traildays.info). Berea, Kentucky Gist: Founded by abolitionist Reverend John Gregg Fee in the 1850s, Berea—where the bluegrass plains meet the Cumberland foothills about 35 miles south of Lexington—is progressive, artsy, and unpretentious. Berea College, founded in 1869 to provide no-tuition education for children of nearby mountain communities (and all races), has a world-renowned reputation for turning out student-made furniture, ceramics, wrought iron, and broomcraft (which you can buy at the Log House Sales Room on campus). The town is home to the Churchill Weavers—the top handweaving operation in the country—along with Shaker houses, Georgian mansions, and dozens of workshops and studios for local jewelers, quilters, and potters. The college owns 8,000 acres of forest and, like Williams College in Massachusetts, cancels classes one day each October to head outdoors (in this case to Indian Fort Mountain, with its craggy limestone overlooks and lush valleys). Within Daniel Boone National Forest, the Red River Gorge is packed with stone arches and funky formations and has more than a thousand sport and trad climbing routes like Finger Lickin’ Good and Icarus. The Red River itself cuts a 19.4-mile swath through sandstone walls and over boulders, making for a mellow canoe cruise (the class I+ Middle Gorge) or a gnarly whitewater session (Upper Gorge). Eat: The Dinner Bell serves up country ham, fried chicken, and biscuits with cream gravy (859 986 2777). Drink: Berea is a dry town, so for spirits you’re out of luck—but there’s no better place to drink lemonade than in a rocking chair on the porch of the Boone Tavern Hotel. Sleep: The 58-room Boone Tavern Hotel is filled with furniture made by Berea College students (www.boonetavernhotel.com). Don’t miss: The Berea Craft Festival in July is an annual highlight (www.bereacraftfestival.com). Jemez Springs, New Mexico Gist: Tucked in the Jemez Mountains between Albuquerque and Los Alamos, below red-rock mesas, beside the Jemez River, and near the thousand-year-old Anasazi ruins of Bandelier National Monument, this tiny New Mexican mountain town has endless outlets for hiking, biking, fishing—and finishing each epic day in mineral hot springs. (The Jemez Springs Bath House is more than a hundred years old.) The Valles Caldera, which sits about 22 miles out of town, is one of the biggest craters on earth at 14 miles in diameter, and it’s ribboned with hiking, mountain-biking, and cross-country skiing trails. The Jemez River beckons you in to cool off, and tributaries like the Guadalupe and the Cebolla hold more than a few browns. The art scene here is hopping, too. Thanks to that certain Southwest light and a dose of O’Keefe inspiration, creative types gravitate here, churning out oil paintings, bronze sculptures, collages, and photography. Want a spectacular road ride? Follow the Jemez Mountain Trail, a national scenic byway, past Battleship Rock and Soda Dam to Los Alamos and back. Eat: Linger under the umbrellas on the deck of the Laughing Lizard Cafe and munch pesto quesadillas and bison burritos (www.thelaughinglizard.com). Drink: Decorated with bobcats, rattlesnakes, elk, wagon wheels, and black-and-white photos, the Los Ojos Saloon is pure Southwest—with some biker bar thrown in (www. losojossaloon.com). Sleep: The adobe-style Cañon del Rio has six rooms, mesa views, a huge patio, and breakfasts piled with cheese and salsa (www.canondelrio.com). Don’t miss: The Memorial Day PowWow and Arts & Crafts Show is a local favorite (www.jemezsprings.org). Lanesboro, Minnesota Gist: Just a hundred miles southeast of St. Paul, the entire downtown of Lanesboro—lined with gingerbread Victorians, coffee shops, and galleries—is on the National Register of Historic Places; but what brings most people to town is the 60-mile-long Root River State Trail, a paved bike route (or, when the snow flies, a groomed Nordic trail) that crosses 47 bridges and winds through deep gorges and past limestone bluffs. The river itself is mellow enough for sit-on-top kayakers and newbie canoeists. But Lanesboro is as much an art town as an outdoor town. The Commonweal Theatre Company, which performs 10 months out of the year and used to be housed in an old silent movie theater, just opened a new space (in a former cheese factory), refurbished with stone walls and reclaimed lumber from local barns. The Cornucopia Art Center exhibits international, national, and 70-some regional artists; and every year on Father’s Day there’s a huge outdoor art festival in a downtown park. The resident winery, Scenic Valley, makes wines out of local elderberries, apples, and rhubarb. Eat: Sauerkraut, homemade sausage, root beer, and Amish candies are all a treat at Das Wurst Haus—especially to the strains of live polka (507 467 2902). Drink: The Root River Saloon is right on the bike trail (507 467 3355). Sleep: Eight miles from Lanesboro in Preston, the JailHouse Inn is housed in the old Fillmore County Jail— and one room is a former cellblock, bars and all (www. jailhouseinn.com). Don’t miss: Buffalo Bill Days are the first weekend in August (www.lanesboro.com). |
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