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30 Great Places: Thompson Divide
Region: Southern RockiesActivities: Hunting, FishingSpecies: Elk; cutthroat, brown and rainbow trout Where: The Thompson Divide encompasses 221,000 acres of public land within the White River National Forest in Pitkin, Garfield and Mesa counties, just south of the Roaring Fork Valley in west-central Colorado. Why: The Divide is home to one of America’s most prodigious elk…
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30 Great Places: Tongass
Region: AlaskaActivities: FishingSpecies: Chum, Chinook, Sockeye, Pink and Coho salmon; Dolly Varden; Steelhead; Coastal cutthroat trout; Rainbow trout Where: The Tongass encompasses 17 million acres of public land, spread across much of Southeast Alaska. It’s a wonderland of hulking hemlock, spruce and cedar western hemlock, Sitka spruce, western red cedar and yellow cedar trees, dotted…
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30 Great Places: Monongahela National Forest
Region: Central AppalachiaActivity: Fishing; HuntingSpecies: Ruffed Grouse; Brook, rainbow and brown trout Where: Monongahela National Forest (known locally as “the Mon”) stretches over 919,000 acres of rugged, mountainous terrain along the eastern edge of West Virginia. Though it rests within a day’s drive of half of America’s population, it boasts five federally-designated wilderness areas and…
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30 Great Places: Lake Tahoe region
Region: WestActivities: FishingSpecies: Lahontan cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout Where: The crystalline jewel of the northern Sierra Nevadas, Lake Tahoe, is fed by 63 creeks, yet only one river flows out—the Truckee. Leaving the northwest corner of the lake at Tahoe City’s Fanny Bridge (so named for the posteriors of tourists gaping at the huge…
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30 Great Places: Montana’s Smith River
Region: Northern RockiesActivities: rafting; fishing, hiking campingSpecies: Rainbow and brown trout Where: The Smith River flows some 120 miles in a northwesterly direction through west-central Montana, emptying into the Missouri southwest of Great Falls. Much of the river borders private lands, but a 60-mile section that flows through Smith River State Park (beginning near White…
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30 Great Places: Chattahoochee-Oconee
Region: Southern AppalachiaActivities: FishingSpecies: Brook, rainbow and brown trout Where: The Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests span nearly 900,000 acres across 26 counties in northern and central Georgia. The region provides some of the state’s most outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities and natural wonders, including Georgia’s tallest mountain (Brasstown Bald, at 4,784 feet), 75 miles of the Appalachian…
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30 Great Places: Seedskadee
Region: Rocky MountainsActivities: Hunting and FishingSpecies: Brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout; ducks; deer; pronghorn Where: The Seedskadee rests near the southwest corner of Wyoming, in the w estern shadow of the Wind River Range, and northwest of the town of Rock Springs. Most of the refuge protects riparian, wetland and upland shrub habitat adjoining 36…
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