(Business 2.0) – The cherry blossoms are out, and lush green hills are beckoning from coast to coast. So now's the time to stop hibernating in musty hotel gyms and get outside. Whether your next business trip takes you to Gotham or SoCal, we've found the top places to work up a sweat while also taking in a healthy dose of local color. Best of all, each of these spots is mere minutes from a key business district. Goodbye, treadmill; hello, sunshine.

ATLANTA Jogging Oakland Cemetery Among Atlanta's seemingly endless stretches of median strips, strip malls, and strip clubs, it can be difficult to get your roadwork done in solitude. Which is why, macabre as it may be, there's no better place for a quick jog than this historic 88-acre burial ground, less than two miles from the heart of downtown. The rolling terrain of the cemetery's 2.5-mile asphalt loop will keep your lungs gasping, but the surrounding Victorian architecture will help distract you from feeling the burn. Cool off by joining the throngs of tourists visiting the grave sites of Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell and golfing legend Bobby Jones. www.oaklandcemetery.com

AUSTIN Swimming Barton Springs Pool In a state synonymous with big, it's no surprise that the capital is home to what certainly has to be the world's largest lap pool. Located in spacious Zilker Park, just 10 minutes north of downtown, the 1,000-foot-long pool is part swimming hole and part rec center: It's fed by an underground spring, teems with ducks and crayfish, and averages a brisk 68 degrees, but it's also manned by lifeguards, lined with entry ladders and a diving board, and maintained with proceeds from the $3 entrance fee. Stuck in meetings all day? No problem: Barton Springs is open year-round from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day except Thursday. www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks

BOSTON Inline Skating Minuteman Bikeway For the perfect springtime workout in Beantown's great outdoors, first head underground. A 20-minute subway ride from downtown to Cambridge's Alewife station puts you at the head of this 11-mile trail, which shadows the Charles River through Arlington and Lexington along the route where Paul Revere made his fateful midnight ride. As the name suggests, you'll see plenty of cyclists, but for a better workout--and a better way to take in scenery like the Great Meadows, a 183-acre parkland of wildflowers and wetlands--pull on a pair of inline skates, which you can rent at Beacon Hill Skate Shop ($25 per day, $30 overnight; 617-482-7400). www.minutemanbikeway.org

CHICAGO Road Biking Lakefront Trail Given the brutal winters, it's no surprise that every Chicagoan with a pulse can be found on some sort of trail come the first sign of spring. But what is surprising is that the least crowded paved path is also the one that's most convenient for business travelers staying in the Loop. Rent a bike at the Millennium Park Bicycle Station ($13 per hour; 888-245-3929) and head south along the Lakefront Trail. You'll skirt Soldier Field and snake through Jackson Park before winding up at the South Shore Cultural Center 10 miles away. Want a longer ride? Muscle into the traffic on South Shore Drive and pedal another five miles to Calumet Park, a 200-acre recreational oasis on the Indiana border. www.chicagobikes.org

NEW YORK Pickup Basketball West Fourth Street Courts Are you the go-to guy in games at your local Y? Then the next time you're in Manhattan, challenge yourself by playing against the best of the best. Just a short subway ride from the frenzied pits of Wall Street, at the corner of Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village, you'll find "the cage," a fenced-in court where Puma-wearing bond traders and baggy-shorts-clad youths strut their stuff on blacktop once dominated by Lakers point guard Smush Parker. Competitive games--be prepared to be dunked on--can be found every weekday evening and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. www.nycgovparks.org

SAN DIEGO Sea Kayaking La Jolla Sea Caves When in Rome, do as the Romans do--which in San Diego means getting out on the water. There's no shortage of places to splash around in the surf, of course, but for a more adventurous workout, head to La Jolla Shores, just west of San Diego's all-business Golden Triangle area. Rent a boat from local outfitter Hike Bike Kayak ($28 for two hours; 866-425-2925) and head south for about 25 minutes to reach this string of seven sea caves. One is deep enough to paddle into, and its combination of jutting rocks and pounding waves should be plenty to kick your heart rate up a notch. To bring it back down, wind through the kelp beds of the adjacent La Jolla Underwater Ecological Reserve before heading back in. www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches

SAN FRANCISCO Mountain Biking Mt. Tamalpais Among San Francisco's many virtues, high on the list is this: Even at rush hour, you can get from the city's financial district to one of the world's premier fat-tire playgrounds quicker than a New Yorker can get from the Upper West Side to SoHo. Just nine miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mt. Tam is where mountain biking was born; the region boasts nearly 70 miles of fire roads and single-track trails. For a moderate workout, go to Mill Valley, rent a ride at Mt. Tam Bikes ($30 to $60 per day; 415-389-1900), and head for the 4.9-mile Old Railroad Grade trail. Diehards should try the 5.4-mile Eldridge Grade path, which starts in Ross and climbs to the panorama of 2,571-foot East Peak. www.parks.ca.gov

Snigdha Sen (ssen@business2.com) is an editorial intern at Business 2.0.