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Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nightlysparrow
The Los Angeles metro. In many areas, hills for hiking are a few blocks from where you live. And you can hike and do other outdoor activities year-round, including driving up the mountains for snow fun. You might like Pasadena.
In addition to LA.... San Diego, mountains, desert, canyons, lakes and surf all in one day. No where else better in the USA. Hell, we even have snow (in our mountains) in the winter.
No. Sure there is a high quantity of activities in the Denver area, but outside of rock climbing near Boulder it is fairly lame. It is about 3 plus hours to the awesome things in Colorado...
No. Take what the dude says with a grain of salt. He lived in Denver for maybe a year. He didn't care for the crowds in the mountains and lamented the fact that Denver isn't Chicago (which is perfectly fine by me). There's plenty to do within 90 minutes of Denver if you know where to look.
90 minutes?????? Please!!!! Try 10 minutes west of littleton, boulder, or golden! There are so many trails and hikes that are still IN THE CITY!! After all, we do have what is billed as one of the largest trail systems in the US right inside our Metro area! Awesome hikes and views at Red Rocks park. You do not need to drive the 1 hour to the mountains to find great views or hikes! Hell, try evergreen! 17 miles from the edge of town. Sick of people who have no clue about this town spouting the whole 2-3 hours away lie! Live here, and you will find all of the stuff that is literally right on the edge of our metro! Try roxborough state park, Red Rocks park, Castlewood Canyon, Lookout Mountain, Bear Creek Park and Cherry Creek Park. All o]are in the Metro area, and are gorgeous, and contain great hiking and outdoor opportunities!!!!!
No. Take what the dude says with a grain of salt. He lived in Denver for maybe a year. He didn't care for the crowds in the mountains and lamented the fact that Denver isn't Chicago (which is perfectly fine by me). There's plenty to do within 90 minutes of Denver if you know where to look.
Plenty within 45 minutes, actually. Less than that for some sports, too. People practice WW kayaking in downtown Denver, for example. Also at Union Chutes, less than 30 minutes from Denver, and Clear Creek. Cycling, running, hiking all have plenty of good places either in or close to Denver, If the high peaks is what's desired, yes, then you would have to drive over one hour away. But not much more, and it keeps going on and on from there.
Of course there are crowds on some of the mountains. People often move to CO specifically to have frequent, close access to them. But there are so many mountains it IS possible to find uncrowded places.
I think we would need more info on what you expect from you place of residence than to simply say most outdoorsy. Do you want to have an active cultural scene, attend major athletic events, do you want a very active nightlife and dating scene, are you looking to rent or buy, or any other number of factors that could influence that recommendation.
In addition to that, what outdoor activities are you keying in on? If you boat or water ski, then Denver isn't for you. If you want snowmobiling and ice fishing, nothing south will work. Mtn biking, hiking, and camping can be done almost anyplace in the US.
OP what outdoor activities do you like to do? This will matter a lot in the suggestions.
For an example with me, I have a fear of rock climbing, and I'm not really into hiking, so living near mountains isn't necessarily a plus for me (other than views)... If that makes any sense. If you aren't a big fan of water sports but love hiking, then the Southwest will be great for you. I don't think anyone likes all outdoor recreation, in fact I think most of it can be done regardless of where you live, but some areas are better than others. This matters a lot. I know the poster above me already stated this but I will emphasize it again as it's important.
I'm an avid whitewater rafter and kayaker by heart, and I live in Tucson/Phoenix, so it's near impossible for me to partake in. This is arguably the worst area of the country for this activity, but a lot of people mentioned Phoenix for being outdoorsy and it's true, it's an amazing location for hikers, lots of public land near the metro to go camping, off-roading, shooting, etc. So if these are a priority Phoenix would not be an option, but Phoenix is great for everything else.
How about an outdoors place that has great mountain biking, fly fishing, is affordable and somewhat progressive (politically as well as bike friendly)? Probably have to pick two of the above right? We almost moved to Bellingham last summer which seems to come about as close as possible to my criteria. Obviously Boulder would be great but don't see it as particularly affordable. Salt Lake? Once affordable, not sure anymore.
Parts of south Lake Tahoe are on the list now. Some small cabin/houses in the 250,000/300,000 range. I have three small children but looks like most school ratings out west are going to be a lot lower then what we have now in Ohio (for neighborhood affordability).
Many west coast cities offers best opportunities for outdoorsy people. Cities like Salt Lake, Denver, SF Bay Area, Southern California has lots of great places to explore.
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