Top Places to Bare All

Outside Magazine


Extreme Nudity
The Top Spots to be in the Buff

By David Friedland


Our picks for ten of the best (and most surprising) places to hike,
snowshoe, fly-fish, snorkel, body-surf, or bird watch in the buff.

Plage de Tarare, Grande-Terre Island, Guadeloupe
Snorkeling

Just below Pointe de Chateaux, a sloping, mile-long bluff jutting
east from Grande-Terre, sits the island's only coral reef. Look for
octopuses, barracuda, cuttlefish, and bare bums. Directions:
Guadeloupe Tourist Info, 011-590-820930.

Stanley Hot Springs, Idaho
Snowshoeing

Located deep in the Selway Bitterroot National Forest, where even
grizzlies are making a comeback, these springs are crowded during
summer. But snowshoe up the narrow five-mile trail in the cold, and
you will likely have to share one of the pools with a moose.
Directions: Kooskia Ranger Station, 208-926-4274

Verde Hot Springs, Arizona
Hiking

A now-defunct 1930s wilderness health spa at the junction of Tonto
and Coconino National Forests two hours north of Phoenix, Verde's spa
buildings are gone, but the half-dozen tubs ranging from 90- to 104-
degrees are still there. Requires a mile hike in from a forest road.
Directions: azhoffs.home. mindspring.com/verdehotspring.html.

Chapada Dos Guimaraes National Park, Brazil
Wildlife-watching

A national park in name only, this 33-million-acre preserve is pretty
much left alone by the Brazilian park service. Skinny-dipping
traditions that started in the 1970s have held strong, as have common
sightings of jaguars, tapir, and coatis. Directions: Dos Guimaraes
Tourist Agency, 011-55-65-791-1133.

Red Rock Beach, California

Climbing, surfing

The red sandstone walls that separate Red Rock Beach from
the "textile" (i.e., clothing mandatory) Stinson Beach next door have
a series of intermediate, edgy face routes. Or bring a surfboard to
shred the breaks and you'll be spared the inevitable wedgie.
Directions: www.redrockbeach.com/home.html.


Velanio Beach, Skopelos Island, Greece
Hiking, swimming

Designated nude since the ancients walked it, Velanio's not as nudie
as it once was. Bring shoes, at the very least; getting here means a
15-minute hike on a trail that gradually turns from shale to softer
sand. Directions: www.greekisland.co.uk/skopelos/ibeaches.htm.

Indian Creek Canyon, Utah
Hiking, climbing

The entire canyon—located just south of Moab and controlled by the
Bureau of Land Management—is heated like a sauna even in winter,
making it perfect for a December hike (although you'd do well to
watch out for park rangers from nearby Canyonlands National Park,
who'll ticket for nudity). And the climbing? Plan to warm up on
climbs with a 5.10 rating or higher. Directions: Monticello BLM
office, 435-587-1500.

Shelly Beach, New South Wales, Australia
Fly-fishing

Not the Shelly Beach adjacent to Sydney—this Shelly requires a five-
hour drive north from Sydney, keeping all but the most dedicated
away. And leaving more of the inshore gamefish for you. Directions:
Australia Nudist Federation, 011-61-8-8234-5485.

Virgin Falls, Tennessee
Hiking

The falls emerge from a cave, shoot over a cliff, and plummet 110
feet before disappearing into another chasm. The six-hour hike to the
site winds past streams, pools, and smaller waterfalls, all perfect
for skinny-dipping. Directions: Bowater Wilderness, 865-376-6185.

Playa Papagayo, Canary Islands
Bird-watching

The sand beach at the southeastern tip of Lanzarote Island (otherwise
covered in fields of black lava and cactus) is great for
birdwatching. It draws kestrels, gray herons, falcons, and, for your
life-list, occasional rare purple herons, Egyptian vultures, and
oystercatchers. Directions: Holistic Holidays Resort, 011-34-928-524-
216.

Source: http://outside.away.com/outside/desintations200012/200012exteme_nudity
_1.html

http://tinyurl.com/9xucm