Bucks County Feature

Heading into the countryside above New Hope is a relaxing experience. Take a leisurely drive along River Road (Route 32) or turn onto a back road to who knows where. You may happen upon a covered bridge or an endless series of detours that takes you in bucolic circles. Stop in the general store of one of the mill villages and river towns, like Carversville or Lumberville, and listen in on local gossip while stocking up on picnic supplies. In Lumberville, you can even take a footbridge across the river to Bull's Island. Pop over to such New Jersey river towns as Milford, Frenchtown, and Stockton for some antiquing, and then grab a soft ice cream at Dilly's Corner when you cross back over from Stockton. Bring a bike (or rent one) for a ride along the Delaware Canal towpath, or stroll it on foot. Bucks County River Country. If it's summer, join the more than 100,000 people a year who take to the water in inner tubes, rafts, canoes, and kayaks from Bucks County River Country. Even when the river is a mass of yellow and green tubes, it's still peaceful. 2 Walters Lane, Point Pleasant, PA, 18950. 215/297-5000. www.rivercountry.net.

Alternatively, spend time in an equally peaceful park, such as Tohickon Valley County Park in Point Pleasant, Ralph Stover State Park in Pipersville, Tinicum Park in Erwinna, or, farther inland, 5,000-acre Nockamixon State Park. If you're interested in the life of Pearl Buck, you can visit her country home, where she wrote nearly 100 books. It's also inland, near Dublin.