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Market Sees Adventure Travel Growing

August 17, 2007. For some people, the ideal luxury vacation rental sits on a beach or a golf course. For others, it sits in the midst of an adventure. Adventure-based travel companies are reporting an increase in business, according to USA Today.

At one company called Backroads, "Bookings this year alone are up 35%. Similar increases are being reported in family offerings from other leading outdoor tour companies such as Mountain Travel Sobek and Butterfield & Robinson. Luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent, with a 30% rise in families booking adventure tours this year, created a website especially for family adventures, akadventurecrew.com."

VacationRental.org offers a plethora of cabins and homes with adventures waiting right out the backyard, no tour operator needed. Here are two ideas:

Glacier National Park – Featured in the above-mentioned article, this park on the Montana-Canada border displays spectacularly carved mountain ranges teeming with wildlife. Take a guided horseback tour to get farther into the backcountry, or book an expedition to one of the vanishing namesake glaciers.

Yosemite National Park – The 17-mile roundtrip hike to the top of Half Dome will be the walk of your life. Lasting about 10-12 hours, the trip is only for the physically fit, although the summit often sees small children and elderly sloggers. The last stretch involves a steep ascent up some bare granite, with cables installed to give you something to hold onto.