A guide to the best trips offering hard daytime activities and cushy nighttime comforts

1996 Backroads announced its first multisport vacation—and struck gold. Traditionally, high-end outfitters had focused on a single sport for their gonzo excursions, but in recent years, with women and boomers joining the ESPN-2 crowd in their search for adventure, active travel has gone mainstream. Multisport vacations, evidently, are well suited to multitasking type-A types since they include at least three different activities. Less rigorous than, say, backcountry skiing in the Selkirks or shooting Class V rapids on the "Slambezi," they also appeal to people with limited leisure time and joint mobility. All options can be tweaked to suit your fitness level. You'll have the most fun, though, if you get in shape before you go.

More words to the wise: One man's soft is another man's heart attack, so before you book, quiz the outfitter and someone who's taken the trip. I had planned to sign up for Volcanoes of Washington, billed as "intermediate to advanced," until the woman at Bicycle Adventures explained that a typical participant would be "comfortable riding a bicycle 100 miles a day"—over the Cascade Mountains!

If you're sold on going first-class, don't take the brochure's word for it: Find out where the organizers plan to put you up and feed you, and check the places on your own. A few outfitters combine strenuous activity with "soft camping"—Butterfield & Robinson, for example, brings along vintage wines and microbrews and even a chef.

Multisport trips come in a variety of styles. Those that follow have been chosen for their mix of hard and soft—rigorous daytime activities and cushy nighttime comforts.

Unless otherwise specified, rates quoted are per person for the coming summer high season and include meals and lodgings.

Abercrombie & Kent

The Moab Natural Playground trip takes you to the mountain biking capital of the world for hiking, rafting, riding, and, of course, mountain biking on the fabled Slickrock Trail. You'll sleep in custom-built luxury tents as well as at the Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge (www.redcliffslodge.com), a century-old working ranch—and John Wayne film location—with its own winery (800-323-7308; www.abercrombiekent.com seven days, $2,275).

Austin-Lehman Adventures

Eye-popping California-Yosemite explores Ansel Adams's landscape with bike rides of 15 to 30 miles, 12- to 35-mile hikes, rock climbing (it's Yosemite, after all), and sea kayaking thrown in for good measure. Lodgings include the Wawona Hotel (www.yosemitepark.com)—protected by the National Trust for Historic Preservation—and Yosemite Lodge (www.yosemitepark.com), near the base of Yosemite Falls, amid native trees and wildflowers (800-575-1540; www.austinlehman.com; six days, $2,298).