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Other stories in "Fall"

• Next weekend
  Kick off holiday or pay tribute to heroes.
• Best bets for the weekend
  Venture out for night of terror or torches.
• All quiet up north
  Like the leaves, room rates have dropped.
• This weekend
  Cavort with creatures in Halloween capitals.
• Switching seasons
  Late fall is fine time for wine, women and ghosts.
• Fall colors and a concert
  Follow musicians to four nooks in the Mississippi River bluffs.
• Seeing red on the North Shore
  For bursts of color, try these trails through maple forest.
• 10 great trails to ride in fall
  Here's where to get your fill of flora, fauna and fall colors.
• Eyes on the skies
  On bluffs and ridges, it's time to watch the hawk migration.
• Home of horsepower
  In Wisconsin, see where race cars, snowmobiles, outboards and motorcycles were born.
• Scenery in the studios
  On autumn art tours, treasure hunters strike gold (and orange and red).
• Big birds on the move
  On the Mississippi, tundra swans and bald eagles are heading south.
• Remember the wrecks
  On Lake Superior, gales of November bring haunting memories.
• On the ropes in Lanesboro
  Try walking a high wire on Halloween.
• Head toward the (twinkling) lights
  At Christmas, tourist destinations pull out all the stops.
• Save on the ski hills
  Get a deal now on a season pass.
• Ghouls ahoy
  On Great Lakes, two haunted ships are spoiling for a fright.
• Hot tip/A different North Shore
  Didn't reserve for fall-color season? Thunder Bay has rooms.

Follow the fun

Join an outdoors club to make friends, see new places and save money.

Sometimes, when traveling, it's nice to let someone else run the show.

Someone who reserves rooms for holiday weekends a year in advance. Someone who plans dinners, gets group discounts on lift tickets and organizes transportation. All you have to do is sign up and go.

And costs for weekend trips can be irresistibly low, often less than $100 per person.

If you'd like to do something fun this winter, now is the time to join an outdoors club. You don't have to live in the town in which the club is based.

Here's where some of the biggest clubs are going this winter.

In Minneapolis, the North Stars Ski Touring Club is offering weekend trips to the North Shore, Bayfield, Cable, Duluth and many other prime ski spots around the Upper Midwest.

The Minnesota Rovers Outdoors Club is planning trips to the National Forest Lodge, Itasca State Park, Giants Ridge and Ironwood.

Milwaukee's Nordic Ski Club is offering ski trips to Ironwood, Marquette, Munising and the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan and Minocqua and Waupaca in Wisconsin.

From Madison, the Wisconsin Hoofer Ski and Snowboard Club is planning downhill trips to Mount Bohemia on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula and Ironwood.

From Chicago, the LakeShore Ski & Sports Club is offering cross-country trips to Ironwood and Devil's Head, Minocqua and the South Kettle Moraine Forest in Wisconsin.

From Chicago's western suburbs, the Four Winds Ski and Social Club plans family downhill trips to Chestnut Mountain near Galena, Devil's Head and Granite Peak in Wisconsin and Powderhorn Mountain and Boyne Highlands in Michigan.

Clubs are open to people around the region, and memberships, $25-$45, often include use of equipment.

For more details and a list of year-round groups, see Join the club.

Last updated on October 27, 2011