Best places to live in the U.S.A. if you love hiking?

[TwoSpirits]

Delafield, West Bend or Whitewater, Wisconsin 100 miles west and northwest of Milwaukee and East of Madison. Stevens Point or Wausau Wisconsin, both north of Madison. Eau Claire or LaCrosse Wisconsin in the West of the state.

The state has great bike paths, hiking, backpacking, kayaking and canoeing, Lots of federal and state forests and has more lakes and rivers than any state but Alaska. Proximity to lakes Michigan and Superior if your interested in sea kayaking or sailing. I'd also include proximity to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which has its own special charms for enjoying the outdoors.

Oh, almost forgot, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

As a native Minnesotan who graduated from UWSP, this post sure brought back memories and a smile to my face. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are beautiful, with absolutely countless opportunities to play and explore -- all year long!

[The Snowman]

Any place in New England.

[nsherry61]

. . . Alaska? Id be surprised if there are a lot of good paved biking trails/roads but I'm sure the hiking is amazing.
. .

Paved, no. Roads, yes. I haven't been to AK in 25 years, but I sure loved all the secondary, generally dirt, roads out into the middle of nowhere frequently left over from past mining. And, without too many people, even the paved roads are pretty bike friends in many places. To be honest, there aren't a lot of trails for hiking in areas further north because you don't really need them. You just head out across the tundra.

For anyone that is familiar with "Into the Wild" Stampede Road is one of those old mining roads. During the summer of 1990 some friends and I rode out to the "end" of Stampede Road, and kept going on the somewhat rideable route through the tundra until we came to the Teklanika River where we turned back because it was getting late. Gosh, we didn't know about the bus on the other side of the river. It might have been a motivator to keep going. Sadly, Chris McCandless found that bus two years later and didn't get back across the Teklanika.

[Another Kevin]

New York State, home to the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. Mountains to climb, lakes to paddle, trails to hike & bike, wilderness without mechanized anything, miles of streams to fish, etc. etc. etc. I lived in Lake Placid for 6 months once and if I was bored it was my own damn fault.

This. It might not be 'best' but I like it here. I live a couple of blocks from the Erie Canalway Trail. About half my daily commute is on it. I'm not much of a cyclist, but the trail is multi-use.

There's fair hiking within a 20 minute drive, and awesome hiking within an hour and a half. (Well, and I could kill a day just walking about two miles down the canalway to a local nature preserve, which has a seven-mile loop trail with some nice views of the Mohawk River.)

[illabelle]

Interesting how so many of us are fans of the hiking in our own backyards. East TN/West NC! NH/ME! Upstate New York! California! Etc.

On the other hand, we haven't heard anybody crowing about the fantastic hiking in places like Kansas, or Oklahoma. My adolescent years were in the rolling hills of central Oklahoma on an 80-acre inherited tract. Much of it was wooded with scrub oak, post oak, sumac, and cedar. My dad made little roads through the woods that I walked and sometimes ran on almost every day after school. Usually barefoot. I knew where each bit of prickly pear cactus was. I knew where sand burrs were to be avoided. There was an old cabin in the woods built by my grandfather in the Depression years - it's fallen down now. A short walk up the drive from the cabin was the Big Spring at the base of a large sandstone heading the Big Gully. Carved into the sandstone were dates from the 1870's and later. We were told that Belle Starr, an outlaw of the time, hung out at the Big Spring. I used to walk through the gullies, exploring, exploring, and dreaming of whatever. They were 8' deep or more and dry, but in a rainstorm could fill up quickly. We saw possums and armadillos and skunks and snakes and horned toads and ....

....Years and years ago. Fond memories. My dad is gone. No one lives there. I'm sure his little trails/roads are overgrown. None of us will ever hike them.

[Heliotrope]

Living the dream in Bar Harbor. Local trails in Acadia and the AT and Baxter state park just a few hours away.


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[colorado_rob]

If you have a spare million bucks lying around, Boulder CO is a great place to live. Maybe the highest median home price in a non-coastal area.

Check out the League of American Bicyclists for their ranking of cities with biking facilities. That's a high-ranked criterion for me, too.

Good comment above about four seasons. Some of the best places I have in mind don't have that luxury. It helps if you enjoy winter travel, or can deal with desert heat in summer.

Plenty of places close to the Peoples Republic of Boulder that are much less expensive. In fact, I think I prefer Golden over the P.R.O.B. Better proximity to the rest of the state. Living in Boulder adds on a lot of extra driving for most of CO mountain access, unless you're visiting northern CO and RMNP.

All this being said, if I could live anywhere in the USA, I'd live in SW Colorado. Durango, Ridgeway, down in those parts. That's the best part of CO, plus you're a lot closer to the rest of the SW USA, like southern Utah and northern AZ, both incredible places to hike/climb/canyoneer/mountain bike.

For those living in the east and have never done much out west, you really don't know what your missing. The West is Best! Yup, I'm biased.... but I did grow up out east and have hiked all over the east, and by far, hiking is better in the west. Go west young men and women!

[Traveler]

I tend to agree that western hiking can be spectacular. Having hiked around the US, the Cascade Mountains for me are the most spectacular though other ranges have their charms.

[Another Kevin]

Interesting how so many of us are fans of the hiking in our own backyards. East TN/West NC! NH/ME! Upstate New York! California! Etc.

The best hiking is the hiking that you can get out and do. That makes your own back yard look pretty attractive. Plus, a lot of us have chosen to live where the hiking is at least decent.

I grew up in NYC, and rode trains and buses to hike. Harriman was wonderful - even though then, it was even more obviously an industrial wasteland than now. It was wonderful because it was there, and I got to go.

I studied at Dartmouth. NH offered terrific hiking.

I lived for a few years in Arizona, and the desert hiking was superb.

I then moved to central Illinois, which was horrible. I took up cycling at that time, but even then, everything was flat, and there was nothing to see but corn, corn, corn, soybeans, corn, corn, corn, soybeans, oh, look, pigs!, corn, corn, corn...

I spent some time in LA, Equally horrible, hours to get anywhere, and the crowds! No hiking there for me!

Now, for 27 years, I'm in upstate New York. It may not be the absolute best, but I've hardly even scratched the surface of what it has to offer. It's different from Western hiking - but in the way that Thomas Cole differs from Albert Bierstadt.

[illabelle]

....i then moved to central illinois, which was horrible. I took up cycling at that time, but even then, everything was flat, and there was nothing to see but corn, corn, corn, soybeans, corn, corn, corn, soybeans, oh, look, pigs!, corn, corn, corn....

Hilarious!

[colorado_rob]

The best hiking is the hiking that you can get out and do. That makes your own back yard look pretty attractive. Plus, a lot of us have chosen to live where the hiking is at least decent.
...
Now, for 27 years, I'm in upstate New York. It may not be the absolute best, but I've hardly even scratched the surface of what it has to offer.

Agree 100% on both of these statements.... I lived in northern Indiana for a spell.... basically zero chance to hike anything remotely interesting in those parts. SW Ohio (where I grew up) was not much better, but at least KY and TN was fairly close.

And, we just "discovered" upstate NY last summer. Nice! Can't wait to spend some more time there. We live in a big, beautiful country folks, lots to see all over the place.

[garlic08]

Interesting how so many of us are fans of the hiking in our own backyards...

The best hiking is the hiking that you can get out and do. That makes your own back yard look pretty attractive....

Yep. See my signature line.

Many of my hiking days, I can leave the car at home. Those are good days.

[PatmanTN]

I love my southern apps and they will always have a special place in my heart. But if it works out, I hope to move out west for a least a few years, to facilitate exploration of all those big mountains. I undeniably feel their pull. Once you get a taste, you have to have more!

[fiddlehead]

In the US, I would pick Colorado as no. 1
Central to northern CA for no. 2. (Sierras or north or there)
Idaho or Montana for no. 3

There are so many great hiking places in the world.
Enjoy

[Night Train]

Utah & Michigan

[bstiffler]

I love Western North Carolina. Asheville area or dozens of other smaller towns in the western parts. Four seasons to boot.

Waiting to hear about a job in Johnson city right now. Only bad thing is I probably won’t be moving up til late October t the earliest so will miss the hiking this year.

[Venchka]

Waiting to hear about a job in Johnson city right now. Only bad thing is I probably won’t be moving up til late October t the earliest so will miss the hiking this year.

Oh but No! While the High Country might not offer 365 hiking days per year, it doesn’t miss by much.
Johnson City is big!
Wayne

[Last Call]

Durango, Colorada....

[peakbagger]

I live where other folks vacation. I work from home in northern NH. Surrounded by White Mountain National Forest and a lot of other conserved lands so I don't need to worry about sprawl. I can dayhike from my house up the Northern Presidentials and about 4 miles as the crow flies from the AT on Mt Madison,

If I really want to hit an ocean beach its a 2 hour drive. If I want a remote lake with almost no development loaded with wildlife its an hour or less away. If I want easy access to a big river, I have a choice of the upper Connecticut or the upper Androscoggin, both with very little development and enough quick water to keep it fun. I like winter hiking and I have seasons. No sales tax or income tax (but some towns have steep property taxes).

[Heliotrope]

I live where other folks vacation. I work from home in northern NH. Surrounded by White Mountain National Forest and a lot of other conserved lands so I don't need to worry about sprawl. I can dayhike from my house up the Northern Presidentials and about 4 miles as the crow flies from the AT on Mt Madison,

If I really want to hit an ocean beach its a 2 hour drive. If I want a remote lake with almost no development loaded with wildlife its an hour or less away. If I want easy access to a big river, I have a choice of the upper Connecticut or the upper Androscoggin, both with very little development and enough quick water to keep it fun. I like winter hiking and I have seasons. No sales tax or income tax (but some towns have steep property taxes).

Need a roommate?


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