If hiking isn't your style, you're in luck: Biking, horseback riding, snowmobiling and kayaking are all available.
Arizona's Grand Canyon boasts an array of adrenaline-pumping activities, most notably hiking and whitewater rafting on the Colorado River.
Yosemite National Park features mountains, meadows, massive sequoia trees and plenty of waterfalls – all less than 170 miles east of San Francisco.
In winter and early spring, ski resorts boast plenty of powder for skiing, snowshoeing and tubing.
The beauty of this lake straddling the California-Nevada border is impossible to ignore.
Float on a tube down the Hawaiian island's waterways, soar over the trees on a zip line or hike through rainforests and along the rim of Waimea Canyon.