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Scenery is a giving Seattle, probably the most beautiful city in the lower 48s.
Denver has the closer access to the mountains and ski resorts. Seattle has the Pudget sound and close enough proximity to the Cascades. If you like to ski Denver is the better option but I personally think Seattle on a clear day offers more to do outdoors as a whole. Both are great for the outdoors type, and make us people back east blush.
I voted Seattle but can understand if someone voted Denver.
Both are very close to mountain scenery and skiing. Actually Seattle is actually closer to skiing than Denver itself, since Snoqualmie Pass can be reached in under an hour without traffic or evenclose to about 45 minutes if you drive fast enough. However Snoqualmie, with the exception of super steep little Alpental is sort of small-scale and more of a begginners hills on the connected areas there. To get to better skiing you're going to be driving a little further to Stevens Pass(1.5 hours) or Crystal Mountain(which is the closest thing to a big Colorado-style resort in Washington) about an 1 hour 45 minutes away.
From Denver on the other hand one can reach Loveland Pass and Araphoe Basin in about an 1 hour 15 minutes(or closer if you're on the west side of the metro) and Winter Park in about the same. Though where Denver really starts outshining Seattle is when you look at what's availble for skiing(and with multi-resort passes it's even more accesible) within 1.5-3 hours of Denver. Then you have Vail/Beaver Creek, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Aspen and Snowmass and Aspen Highlands. And drive further and you can reach Crested Butte with only Telluride maybe too far for a weekend trip.
As far as mountains for hiking or climbing go, both have great access--Mt Rainier is probably the most spectacular place for mountaineering within that close a distance to a major city anywhere in the US. There's places like the Alpine Lakes area closer to Seattle as well along with the North Cascades which are a little further along with the Olympics, but they're both in a similar range to driving deeper into the mountains from Denver. The difference with Denver is that once you go west, you're in the mountains with more mountains in every direction for a couple hours. The access to the mountains in Washington is different--you can end up taking a ferry across the Sound to get to the Olympics or driving north along the flatter areas and valleys to get into the North Cascades.
The scenery in Washington is a more varied experience from Seattle, though you can't go wrong with either for the mountains. If someone just wants to ski though, I'd say Denver, skiing from Seattle is good, but doesn't have the range of Colorado. But Seattle is no slouch when it comes to mountains overall--there are mountains that are among the closest to resembling the Alps as anything in the lower 48 in Washington. Colorado has easier access to the mountains(you can drive to the top of some of them) for non-hikers, whereas Washington is a place where some of the most beautiful mountains vistas are a long hike in.
I voted Denver. The title of the thread said best scenery AND outdoor access. Seattle is prettier in the city, no doubt, although I think Denver is pretty too. It is in the combination of the greater area as well as outdoor access that I felt swung my vote to Denver.
Posters have already mentioned skiing. In the Denver area, the ski resorts are larger, more developed, and have better quality snow for skiing. For other recreation in the mountains and in the city, Denver's weather make it much more enjoyable. Seattle has incredible summers but year round Denver has much more sun.
I love the prairie but I understand not everyone does. It is a personal preference. I don't share the love of the ocean that so many do. The prairies make the world seem so vast with the view of the skies and stars. There is also something special about thunderstorms on the plains. I love that you can begin to see the first of the Rockies from freaking Limon, CO! What is that, like 75 miles from the mountains.
There is no loser between these two. They are both wonderful cities for a mix of city life with outdoor recreation. I'd love to live in either.
I think Seattle, by virtue of it's waterfront location, simply has more variety of outdoor activity than Denver could ever think of having. If all you want to do is ski, then Denver might be better.
Very longtime Boulder resident here. Seattle wins squarely. So many of our friends have moved there and love it. Greener. More variety. Less dry. Gorgeous scenery. Water! Less time to get to the lifts. Islands. Better summer.
The clincher for us is the brown. Denver is TOO brown for so much of the year. Brown is much more depressing than cloud cover.
Still love Colorado; it just can't win this poll though.
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