Which Major Eastern City is Best For Mountain Lovers? (America, bigger, metropolitan)

[theurbanfiles]

Open to debate here.

Atlanta is quite close to the North Georgia Mountains (90 minutes) and has great monadnocks within 30 minutes.

Charlotte has a nice monadnock about 40 minutes away, and is only about 2 hrs. from Pisgah National Forest, home to the highest point in the Eastern US.

Washington DC is a little over an hour from Harper's Ferry, and 2 hrs from the high peaks of Shenandoah National Park.

Philadelphia is about 90 minutes from the Poconos, and about 4 hrs. from the high peaks of the Catskills and Shenandoah's.

New York City is about an hour from the Southern Catskills, and about 4 hrs. from the Adirondack High Peaks.

Boston is less than 2 hours from the start of the White Mountains and less than 4 hrs. from the most prominent peak in the eastern US.

Pittsburgh has the most topographically dynamic immediate setting on this list easily. It also is an hour from hike able Allegheny type terrain, and about 3 hrs. from Allegheny High Peaks.

Buffalo is a little over an hour from what is considered the Grand Canyon of the East, and the Northern Allegheny Mountains, and has the most topographical variance in its county of any major city county in the Eastern US.

I don't think there's a clear cut winner here, but these 8 I think stand out, with perhaps Nashville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and San Antonio being runners up in this regard. Was curious to see other thoughts though.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

None of the above, the only mountains in the east are the Smokies, the rest are just hills, and there is no major city next to the Smokies.

The real mountains are out west

[funtraveler1]

^partially correct. There are mountains all over the east, that's why they're called the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

And yes the mountains are bigger out west. Personally i prefer the east. I hate brown and barren landscapes. I love green.

[bluecarebear]

Damascus VA

[BigCityDreamer]

Pittsburgh is in Appalachia, so it has the easiest access to the surrounding mountains.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Easily Pittsburgh, as far as major metropolitan cities go. Though there are areas of the Appalachians that are more impressive than what is contained in Pittsburgh. And the asinine assumption that the Appalachians aren't "real" mountains is abusurd. The Appalachians are one of,if not the oldest mountain ranges on earth. They were once as tall as the Rockies and Alps, millions of years ago.Their history and unique overwhelmingly deciduous canopy are a wonder to behold in North America and the world.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by funtraveler1

^partially correct. There are mountains all over the east, that's why they're called the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

And yes the mountains are bigger out west. Personally i prefer the east. I hate brown and barren landscapes. I love green.

If it's not higher than 4k ft, it's a hill

[fluffydelusions]

Originally Posted by funtraveler1

^partially correct. There are mountains all over the east, that's why they're called the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

And yes the mountains are bigger out west. Personally i prefer the east. I hate brown and barren landscapes. I love green.

No brown and barren landscapes here. Anyway my vote went to Boston for the white mountains.

[Mezter]

Pittsburgh because the hills are pretty much mountains. Atlanta too

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

If it's not higher than 4k ft, it's a hill

The highest mountains in the Allegheny High peaks are all over 4,500 ft.

Also, Mount Mitchell and Mount Washington have more prominence than a large portion of western mountains.