Last year, our National Park Service celebrated its Centennial, and what rides it has been for the millions of visitors who have enjoyed them: on horse, by stagecoach, car, bus and boat. Included in the system are 412 areas: national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails and the White House. To celebrate the event, we visited a few of the parks in the West to learn about the methods visitors have used to get to them and enjoy their stays during these glorious first 100 years. With this and another challenges and opportunities for the next 100, President Theodore Roosevelt’s great words at and about the Grand Canyon May 6, 1903, resonate: “Leave it as it is. Man cannot improve on it; not a bit. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children and your children’s children and all who come after you . . . .”

Colorado may be cool in the winter, but the Centennial State is hot in the summer, too, with many activities for everyone in the family. World-famous resorts and areas such as Winter Park, Powderhorn Mountain Resort, Purgatory Resort, Aspen Snowmass and Telluride offer top-quality accommodations, diverse restaurants and proximity to cities, towns and airports. Mountain biking is big, as is wine. Enjoy the mountains, lakes, National Parks, golf, shopping, ballooning and paragliding, tennis, rafting, and music and other cultural festivals. In addition, there's ziplining, bungee trampolines, climbing walls and miniature golf, river sports, camping, horseback riding and destination excursions such as the historic train ride from Durango to Silverton along the raging Animas River. The locals say, ‘They came for the winter and stayed for the summer.’”   

A recent awardee by the Historic Hotels of America, The Inn at the Presidio is a stroll away from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Built in 1908, the 22-room boutique hotel was originally purposed as the unmarried officers’ quarters until the extensive renovation began in 2008 by The Presidio Trust. The Inn opened to great response three years later. Recently added at the Inn is the Funston House, a separate residence which sleeps up to eight people in three bedrooms and one master suite. It honors Brig. General Frederick Funston (Sept. 11, 1865-Feb. 19, 1917), former Presidio of San Francisco commander. Dating to 1889, when the building was an Army officer’s residence or “quarters,” Funston House has been beautifully renovated to combine contemporary style and comfort while maintaining the integrity of the Greek Revival style.

The 85-room/suite Allison Inn, less than an hour drive from Portland, celebrates the area’s topography, textures, wine terroir, history and art on 35 beautifully landscaped acres in the famed Willamette Valley. Today, where the four-level inn serves as a gateway to Oregon’s famed wine country, ice-age Missoula Floods once laid down rich volcanic topsoil from what is now Montana and Washington, forming ancient Lake Allison to depths reaching 400 feet. Nurtured over millennia, this fertile lake bed has produced one of the world’s premier vinicultural areas, renowned, in particular, for earthy, deeply textured Pinot Noirs, available at many of its 200-plus vineyards. The inn is also a gallery: Inside and out of the Allison, 500 pieces of original artwork showcase the work of 100 Oregonian artists.

Samuel de Champlain, the first European explorer in Georgian Bay, called it “la mer douce,” “the calm sea.” This large bay of Lake Huron, an area containing 30,000 islands, also was once a major trade route in the Great Lakes for the native Algonquian and Huron peoples. Two hours north of Toronto by car, near the vibrant Georgian Bay community of Cognashene, Arthur Island rises from smooth glacial-formed granite into a green swath of eastern white pines, native foliage, rock gardens and beckoning pathways. The centerpiece of this 3.5-acre property is a custom two-story, four-bedroom, four-bath summer home is more treehouse retreat than land-based home, overlooking the island’s wind-swept pine peninsula, deep-water harbor and private beach.

The superlative Lodge at Torrey Pines is on a bluff looking toward the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to the 2,000-acre Torrey Pines State Reserve and the Torrey Pines Golf Course. The 6.5-acre resort embodies the spirit of the Greene brothers whose California Craftsman architectural style was inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement of the latter 19th and early 20th centuries.The AAA Five Diamond property, between La Jolla and Del Mar, also celebrates the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928), the Scottish architect and Art Nouveau artist. And, its rooms and suites have furnishings in the style of Gustav Stickley (1858–1942) and wallpapers recalling the work of William Morris (1834-1896).

One local paper enthused, in 1888, of the new Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego: “The story of Aladdin and his wonderful palace, built in a single night, comes closer to being realized into actual fact upon this Coronado beach than possibly any other place on earth known to man.” A magic lamp for so long and to so many, the 679-room Hotel Del — the second largest wooden structure in the United States and a Queen-Anne-style Victorian masterpiece — has welcomed L. Frank Baum, Wizard of Oz author, Charles Lindbergh, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Mae West, Clark Gable, Judy Garland and Bogie and Bacall, among others. And, in 1958, Billy Wilder chose the Del to film what some consider the greatest comedy movie ever: Some Like it Hot with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe. Memories are made at the Del for sure, but so many are here waiting when you arrive.

In North San Diego County, Carlsbad Village offers many of the attractions of San Diego, a half hour or so south, and some unique additions. Originally surfer based, much like its neighbors, Oceanside and Laguna Beach, the young-beat but low-keyed Carlsbad Village has become a wonderfully walkable community of locally owned businesses, vintage furniture and custom board stores, bike shops and other welcoming boutiques. The Village has 30-plus restaurants, cafes, wine stores and microbreweries, a variety of weekly and seasonal events and regular entertainment. Accommodations are outstanding, too, such as the Cape Rey Carlsbad, a Hilton Resort, just south of town, and the Beach Terrace Inn, that's snug up to the beach.

L’Auberge de Sedona celebrates its 32^nd anniversary this year beneath the world famous red rocks and amidst Sedona’s much-discussed spiritual, or energy, vortexes. The 11-acre resort on Oak Creek Canyon recently added Vista Cottages, 100 feet or so above the creek floor and the central campus. These offer guests stunning views of landmarks such as Thumb Butte & The Bench, Camel Head and everyone’s favorite, Snoopy Rock, featuring Charles Schultz’ supine canine, legs up and Woodstock propped playfully on his chin. A heated salt-water pool maintained at 84 degrees and adjacent spa have also been added. The 5,000 square-foot Spa at L’Auberge has been redesigned, and the resort’s superb Executive Chef Rochelle Daniel bases her seasonally changing meals on as many locally grown ingredients as she can find. Check it out here, and check in.

Welcoming those who love horse racing at the historic Del Mar Race Track are the California seaside town’s fine hotels, such as the L’Auberge Del Mar and Hotel Indigo Del Mar, and upscale restaurants and shops. Opened in 1937, the track was a partnership of Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien, Gary Cooper, Joe E. Brown, Oliver Hardy and businessman Charles S. Howard. A year later, one of the great match races took place, Aug. 12, 1938, when the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race between Howard’s immortal Seabiscuit and the Binglin Stable’s colt, Ligaroti, with Seabiscuit taking honors. History, luxury, great food and shopping until you drop down in peace on the beach: Del Mar is a gallop or a trot away. Saddle up, head on over!

Mark your spot at Latitude North 29° 43’ 24”, Longitude West 85° 19’ 54”. Just as English Captain James Black discovered this paradise almost two centuries ago, you, too, can now claim Black’s Island for your own. A few minutes from the Florida Panhandle mainland, the seven-acre private resort island in magical St. Joseph Bay synthesizes beauty, luxury, history, security, and quietude into a reality as magical as your dreams. No bridge connects to the mainland; privacy for you and your guests is ensured. Come on over by small boat; breathe deeply and enjoy the roll of the waves.

Just less than an hour’s drive southwest of Portland in historic Newberg, the 85-room/suite Allison Inn is the elegant gateway to Oregon’s distinguished Willamette Valley, known worldwide for its sustainable agriculture, family-owned vineyards and innovative winemakers, such as Sokol Blosser, developing, in particular, world-class Pinot Noirs. On 35 hillside acres of a sustainably master-planned 450, the four-level boutique hotel includes a vanishing-edge swimming pool with floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening to the south gardens; 100-seat locavore restaurant, JORY, whose name recalls the glacial soil that helps make the area conducive to Pinot Noir and the region’s excellent fruits and nuts; and The Allison Spa, whose nearly 15,000 square feet offers 12 treatment rooms including a private suite. Dream deep, drink deep.

A hundred miles north of Toronto, Ontario, is a magical area of lakes, Precambrian rock and mature pines. Here the massive Laurentian Shield, which accounts for 40 percent of Canada’s land mass, is rich in minerals and abundantly celebrates its beauty and serenity. Place names call out to those seeking adventure and solitude: Moon River, Port Carling and Port Cockburn, Gravenhurst, Proctor’s Point, Lake Rosseau, Lake Muskoka, the largest in the area, and Lake Joseph, which feeds it. This is land of quiet bays and picturesque cottages — accessible paradise on the edge of the northern wilderness. In the middle of the Lake Joseph is infinity-shaped Reef Island, a ready-to-move-in getaway you may not want to move from after your first visit . . .

Next visit to San Francisco, consider The Inn at the Presidio or Cavallo Point. Each is a former Army fort that protected, respectively, the San Francisco and Marin County sides of the Golden Gate, now the site of the great bridge. Formerly Pershing Hall, opened in 1903, the Inn at the Presidio debuted in April 2012. Magnificently renovated, the Classic Revival-style Inn includes 22 rooms and the recently renovated Greek Revival Funston House, a historic four-bedroom home dating from 1889. Opened in summer 2008, Cavallo Point Lodge is the former Fort Baker, built between 1901 and 1915. Today, its 68 historic rooms and suites, once officers’ quarters, have been beautifully restored, and 74 contemporary accommodations, on the hillside above the parade grounds, offer spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Just like Bogie and Bacall. Ten miles south of Key West, Ballast Key has it all, including an 007 film credit: a wildlife-rich subtropical island in the exotic Straits of Florida and the southernmost point in the United States. Named for a 17th-century shipwreck that scattered iron ballast along one of its beaches, Ballast Key is the only private island in the Key West National Wildlife Reserve. Nearby is Dry Tortugas National Park, known for its diverse sea ecosytem, tropical birds, coral reefs, artifacts and the lore of sunken treasure. Its centerpiece, Fort Jefferson, is the Western Hemisphere’s largest masonry structure, never finished. Ballast Key cameoed in the 1989 James Bond film, License to Kill, and the secret agent apparently enjoyed the solitude and beauty. Like they did in Key Largo.

Just short of an hour’s drive southwest of Portland, Ore., is the distinguished Willamette Valley, where 300-plus wineries are producing, in particular, outstanding Pinot Noirs. The luxurious Allison Inn and Spa in historic Newberg has provided the area with the its first full-service luxury hotel, and, nearby, you can enjoy excellent restaurants, shops, golf and the Hoover-Minthorn museum, celebrating the life of President Herbert Hoover, who lived in the house when he was a young man. Throughout the Willamette Valley are farmers markets, rolling-countryside backroads and endearing small towns. Children will especially enjoy the activities at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, home of Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose, in wonderful McMinnville, about 40 minutes from Newberg.

The red marble and volcanic-rock Turtle Island, surrounded by coral reefs, is in the Mindoro Strait connecting the South China Sea to the Sulu Sea, a 40-minute flight southeast of Manila. This is a last frontier of the Philippines, a timeless land of awe, wonder, sea and stars. In the Cuyonin language, it is Dumunpalit, “the place which never changes,” but it’s also called Turtle Island because 150-plus-foot-high volcanic towers rise on both ends, like fins flipping through the turquoise waters. So the local name refers to its serenity, and the English name, paradoxically, its sense of movement. “Turtle Island is both primordial and transcendental,” the owner says. “Nowhere else — and I’ve been fortunate to travel throughout the world . . . — have I enjoyed this sense, as the name suggests, of time stopping, of peacefulness, of gorgeous seclusion in paradise.”

Paradise Point Resort & Spa and Hotel La Jolla — one an island oasis for families and couples, the other a hip boutique mid-rise near the ocean in the luxe seaside town — represent unique ways to visit San Diego. Opened in 1962 as Vacation Village on “Tierra del Fuego” island, Paradise Point offers immediate serenity and sanctuary. Its restaurants, Barefoot Bar & Grill, and the dinner venue, Baleen, both overlook Mission Bay. The beautifully finished Hotel La Jolla has 110 quality rooms, and on the 11th floor is the excellent Cusp Dining & Drinks, with great ocean views. Chef Donald Lockhart, assisted by Head Bartender Nate Howell and their staff, are doing great work culinarily and spirituously — exemplifying the outstanding San Diego food scene.

‘Every desert October, when you begin missing the aromas of fall and the leaves’ crackling, don’t go home to New England, Montana or Oregon . . . Instead, stay home in Arizona, itself a harvest of colors and textures.’ Here are three locations in Arizona where you can enjoy the season’s symphony: In Greer, in the White Mountains, Molly Butler Lodge & Cabins, visited by Teddy Roosevelt, John Wayne and Zane Grey; just north of downtown Sedona, the Creekside Inn features Oak Creek running through its three wooded acres; and, 35 miles south of Tucson, the Tubac Golf Resort & Spa occupies the historic 1789 Otero Ranch. You'll fall for this getaway story.

Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island is his family’s wondrous getaway in the British Virgin Islands. He bought it wooing wife Joan. Their daughter, Holly, recently married on the pristine island, 22 years after her parents. When his family are not enjoying Necker, Branson’s company has made it available to fortunate singles, couples and groups. The paradisiac island remains open following the August 2011 lighting-caused fire which razed the eight-guestroom Great House. The Necker Island team is rebuilding an even greater one, retaining the Balinese style of the original landmark and the great views out to the Caribbean; this is expected to be completed in 2013. In the interim, say Bali Hi to this very special place of turquoise waters, flamingos and Virgin skies.

Every morning, the owners of Belle Island wake to the beauty of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the magnificence of century-old Boldt Castle, a half mile north on Heart Island. “The views are fantastic, unparalleled,” says one of the owners, who for much of his childhood lived on the 1.5-acre island. “My mom and dad lie in their bed and have a nighttime view of a castle, lit against the stars.” Here, at Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands of upstate New York and southeastern Ontario, the family also enjoys views of the Adirondacks and the rush of history, geological and human. Post-Civil War industrialists began taking their vacations here in an area that became known as “Millionaire’s Row.” In 1872, President Grant vacationed just south of Belle Island at Castle Rest, the island owned by George W. Pullman, creator of the Pullman sleeping car. Welcome aboard!

A few miles north of San Diego, La Jolla and Del Mar offer luxury resorts that are among the finest in California. The Lodge at Torrey Pines is known for its superlative accommodations, Greene and Greene-inspired architecture, championship golfing and California-style-cuisine A.R Valentien, overseen by Executive Chef Jeff Jackson. A few miles north in Del Mar is L’Auberge Del Mar, embodying the spirit of a coastal estate, with one of the Del Mar’s best beaches, and restaurants coordinated by Executive Chef Scott Thomas Dolbee. Nearby, the Grand Del Mar is San Diego County’s only Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond luxury resort destination, with the Spa at The Grand Del Mar, San Diego’s only Tom Fazio-designed golf course, abutting the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, and Modern French-inspired Addison, led by Chef William Bradley. Cool places.

Two standout sister hotels in and just bordering the Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s hip dining, entertainment and shopping district, offer superb, although different, experiences for California getaways. Owned and managed by San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the 183-room Hotel Palomar is at the northern gateway to the Quarter, while the 235-room Solamar, managed by Kimpton, is a few blocks south toward the beaches. If Hotel Palomar is urban elegant and artistic, Solamar is urban slick and coastal chic and cool, adding proximity to the hotels and restaurants, rooftop bars, cafes, boutique shops, galleries, and live-music and sports venues in the East Village, San Diego’s emerging arts and entertainment district. Check in and check it all out.

“Paths cut by the area’s Earliest Native American inhabitants and their pioneer successors; a trail of the conquistadors seeking golden cities in the north; scenic roads that celebrate eons of uplift and erosion in canyons, spires, turrets, buttes, monoliths and mesas — in Arizona, the journey is the destination. Getting there is at least as significant as where you’re going, and the downside of driving is that you have to keep your eyes on the road and not on the glorious roadside.” Here are seven world-class paths to hours of Arizona enjoyment.

Nearby is Earth's second largest coral reef — a World Heritage Site — and a short Caribbean boat ride away is the Great Blue Hole, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau called one of the top ten diving sites in the world. Royal Belize is sunlight and twilight, palm fronds, mangroves and soft sea breezes. Nine secluded miles off Central America, relax on this seven-acre private island under a thatched palapa and enjoy signature rum cocktails adorned with Belizean fruits, as your private chef prepares a bespoke wine-paired meal. Do everything you’ve always wanted to do in paradise — or nothing at all.

The sirenic call of Isola Li Galli is supreme personal reconstruction — not the rocky destruction offered Jason and Ulysses, returning from ancient Troy. An archipelago of five islands, just off Italy’s Amalfi Coast and southwest of Positano, Isola Li Galli was believed to be the home of the Sirens, mythological women whose haunting music enticed sailors to their deaths on the cliffs. Beauty, serenity and wonder are the life-affirming calls today: Rudolf Nureyev heard them as have Andrea Bocelli and other very-deep-pocketed guests. Be allured and sail in to this ultimate vacation getaway.

There's really not just one season, and many reasons, to visit these boutique Arizona hotels, some ghosted. In Greer, the Molly Butler Lodge attracted Teddy Roosevelt, so it shouldn't be rough riding for you. In Jerome, the Jerome Grand Hotel was built to serve the once copper-boom town, and in Prescott, the Hotel Vendome billeted silent movie star, Tom Mix. North in Williams is the Red Garter Inn, erected to attract the bordello/saloon trade more than a century ago, when what is now the Grand Canyon Railway debuted. And, at the South Rim, the El Tovar grandly celebrates its century plus, just yards from the superlative natural wonder.

The just-opened Viceroy Maldives Resort is on 17 acres of the private island of Vagaru in the Shaviyani Atoll of the Maldives, one of the leading luxury resort destinations in the world - an archipelago of 26 major atolls and 1,190 islands southwest of Sri Lanka. The new Viceroy comprises 61 bungalows — 32 over the water and 29 Beach Villas. The resort also features the ultra-luxe three-bedroom Royal Villa — largest of its kind in the Maldives; five restaurants, including the signature Treehouse restaurant, offering European, Pan Asian and African cuisine; and the Spa, with seven private suites set tranquilly on the Indian Ocean. Please sign in here to paradise.

"At the Glacier Club community north of Durango, Colo., we sit on the second-floor porch of our cliffside cabin. Above us, midsummer stars ignite, and the lights of luxury residences peek from 7,800-foot-high ridgelines. Tomorrow morning, a half-mile or so down in the valley below, we will hear the whistle - and see the steam plumes - of the day's first train as it climbs to Silverton, the once booming mining town. . . . " And that's just the first stop of this trip: Tickets, please.

Surf and turf is the undiscovered San Diego in communities north such as Oceanside, Carlsbad, La Jolla, Laguna Beach and Del Mar: Legoland, Torrey Pines State Park, which uniquely joins evergreen with beach and sky, boutiques, cafes and shops, world-class spas and accommodations at Montage and the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Beach, and miles of automotive joy along the Pacific Coast Highway. Drop the ragtop: Let's cruise.