At the end of the day, many of these visitors to Panama City, Florida, belly up to an oyster bar to enjoy freshly shucked bivalves that have been prepared in a variety of ways.

These seemingly disparate activities and attractions have one thing in common: They’re all taking place along designated trails that focus upon a single thing to do, see, or eat.

Countless trails around the country are available to people with a particular interest. From food to fashions, covered bridges to Kentucky bourbon, they offer something-for-everyone variety.

No matter how esoteric someone’s passion, there may be a walking driving, biking, paddling, or other trail somewhere that focuses upon it.

Consider Panama City (destinationpanamacity.com), a community of about 37,000 residents perched along Florida’s northwestern coast. For a smallish municipality, that town provides a surprising choice of routes that both locals and visitors may explore.

The Oyster Trail alone has enough appeal to bring some travelers to town. A dozen restaurants, ranging from a 10-stool oyster bar to a casual grill to a fine-dining establishment, serve the fresh-from-the-sea food raw, baked, fried, and prepared in other ways.

Whether visiting Panama City for the bivalves or birds, hiking or history, you might find a trail with appeal.

Restaurants along a different oyster trail, which runs through Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama, bring their own personal touch to their recipes. In addition to traditional preparations, some serve them barbequed, fire-roasted, Alfredo style, and in ceviche (gulfshores.com).

It’s Louisiana’s rich gastronomic culture that is celebrated along the Cajun Bayou Food Trail (lacajunbayou.com). It comprises restaurants that serve local favorites like gumbo, jambalaya, and pecan pralines. Some family-run eateries follow recipes that have been passed down for generations.

Variety of a different kind greets visitors to the Fields of Gold Farm Trail in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley (fieldsofgold.org). People may stroll through a farmers market, tour a working spread, enjoy a locally grown meal at a garden-to-table restaurant, or pick their own fruit at an orchard.

Fresh-picked apples, pears, grapes, and cherries are sold at more than two dozen stands located along the colorfully named Hood River County Fruit Loop in Oregon (hoodriverfruitloop.com). The 35-mile trail passes forests, farmlands, and orchards. Vendors also offer flowers, pies, jam, and local artisan gifts.

Berries are used in different ways on a route that leads through Surry County, North Carolina. The colorfully named Surry Sonker Trail (sonkertrail.org) connects a bakery, general store, winery, and other places that serve that quaintly named dessert.

It’s believed the sweet treat was created in the early 1800s by homemakers seeking to stretch the use of fruit or use it before it rotted. Recipes include fruit sweetened with sugar, molasses, and other ingredients blended into unshaped dough so, like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike.           

Where there’s food there often are beverages, and the birthplace of one is acclaimed along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail (kybourbontrail.com). Guests may visit a distillery that traces its ancestry back to the 18^th century and another where they have a tasting while standing in the largest bourbon barrel in the world.

Those who like the word “soft” before their drink may prefer to set their sights on the Coca-Cola Trail (thecocacolatrail.com). Places related to that world-famous beverage are described in a book of the same name, which can serve as a guide to museums, historic bottling plants, and other destinations around the country.

The story began in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where the concoction was first bottled in 1894. Other stops can include the Dawson & Stevens Diner in Grayling, Michigan, which doubles as a Coca-Cola museum, and a former bottling plant in Los Angeles that was built in the shape of an ocean liner.

Not surprisingly, state tourism offices promote the trails concept as a way to attract visitors.

For example, Maine (visitmaine.com) has a driving tour that leads to 34 outdoor sculptures strung out along 273 miles of its coastline; a Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail, which includes canoe routes the author followed during trips to that state in the mid-1800s; and a Freedom Trail in Portland that leads to sites associated with the Underground Railroad and the antislavery movement of that time.

Not to be outdone, trails that make their way through Ohio (trails.ohio.org) focus upon interests as diverse as shopping and steam trains, Italian food and ice cream.

Given the love of nature by many residents of Oregon, it’s not surprising that among trails within its borders are paths for hiking and biking, seeing wildlife and wildflowers, and dozens of other routes.

Most famous is the stretch of the Oregon Trail (nps.gov/oreg) in the state, part of the historic wagon route that began in Missouri and on which, in the early 19^th century, an estimated 400,000 settlers, farmers, miners, ranchers, and others followed in their quest for a new life.

Other pages of history are turned during drives to see “quilt blocks” that adorn the sides of dozens of barns in Oregon’s Tualatin Valley (tualatinvalley.org). Some designs on those 8-by-8-foot wooden slabs resemble traditional quilt patterns, while others display crops or animals or relate to the farm family’s history.

From seafood to sweets, berries to beverages, it’s likely that somewhere in the country there may be one or more driving, walking or other trails focused upon an interest of yours.

After gallivanting around the world, Victor Block still retains the travel bug. He believes that travel is the best possible education. A member of the Society of American Travel Writers, Victor loves to explore new destinations and cultures, and his stories about them have won a number of writing awards.