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Listing the states where there is almost no outdoorsy life is a much shorter list. basically stay out of southern New England, New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern Maryland.
Every other state has major tracts of wilderness and off the grid areas/ parks/ camping/ etc.
Here in upstate NY there are far more outdoorsy lifestyles available than people think.
Upstate NY is vastly underrated for the amount of outdoorsy activities. The Adirondacks, Finger Lakes, and Thousand Islands alone provides endless amounts of hiking, camping, fishing, and rivers to Kayak on. The summers rarely get above 90 and the humidity is not bad at all. People want to complain about the snow we get, but all you have to do is dress appropriately and you will be fine. This opens up a completely new set of outdoor activities that more than half the country you wouldn't be able to do like skiing/snowboarding, ice skating, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, and ice fishing.
The cost of living up here is cheap compared to many parts of the country and there are tons of jobs in the medical field available.
Listing the states where there is almost no outdoorsy life is a much shorter list. basically stay out of southern New England, New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern Maryland.
Every other state has major tracts of wilderness and off the grid areas/ parks/ camping/ etc.
Here in upstate NY there are far more outdoorsy lifestyles available than people think.
Not that I would compare our nature to sparsely populated western states but New Jersey actually has plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation.
Location: Born & Raised DC > Carolinas > Seattle > Denver
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Colorado. 300 days of sunshine, and the average humidity in the summer is 10-15%. LOL.
Denver has been in the top 5 "fittest cities" for over 10 years and is on most "top 20 outdoor cities," and "top bike path cities" lists on the internet. Very outdoorsy area here.
You can walk/run, bike, hike, rock climb, camp, fish, rafting...all within 30 minutes from Denver. And of course Colorado is the #1 ski state in the USA.
I'm an east coast kid, I love and miss DC. I lived in Seattle for 2 years. Loved it there too. But I'm never, ever leaving Colorado.
What States should we look into and what areas? What States to avoid.
Look forward to responses.
Regarding the outdoors, Idaho is a great choice. Mountains are everywhere and even in view from the Snake River Plains, the state has some of the west's most healthy forests and is the most heavily forested inland western state, has the largest contiguous wilderness roadless/alpine areas in the lower 48 as well as the most miles of whitewater rivers in the lower 48, and some of the west's largest natural lakes, as well as one of the largest extinct lava flows in the world. There is also an inland temperate rain forest up in North Idaho.
That basically only leaves you with SoCal. Seriously. Other places that dont get snow are either brutally humid (ie FL) or mega hot (ie AZ). I'd suggest southern CO (ie Pueblo), but that gets snow. So yeah, basically SoCal is your only option.
Probably put that in the wrong syntax. Don't mind if the place has snow or humidity. Looking for a place with a lot of outdoor options, but not many tornadoes or flash floods. Preferably snow 40 inches or less a year. Does it exist ha. Big issue for me living in Southern New England we get snow, but melts quickly. We have sunny days in the winter, which is nice except stuck inside. Wouldn't mind less gray cloud winters and decent amount of snow with warm springs/summers & crisp falls.
The sun and being out doors helps with my mental health.
WNY/Upstate (out of the snowbelts) or WV. Both areas have outstanding outdoor opportunities and aren't overrun by development. NY offers 4 seasons of recreation. WV is completely underrated on this forum. There are some amazing rural lakes and rivers for flatwater paddling and WV is known for it's whitewater.
Certain parts of WV and NY do have less snow. Very little chance of tornadoes in both states.
Last edited by bluecarebear; 07-31-2016 at 10:26 PM..
There will be some snow but you would enjoy the Smokies. Lots of outdoor activities and much lower COL than Cal or Colorado. Could live in Eastern Tennessee or in North Carolina
Unless the OP wants to live above 3000 feet they will face the same heat and humidity that the rest of the interior South gets every summer. The only city big enough to have jobs that might offer the more moderate temps and high elevation is Asheville NC. Here on the Tennessee side of the mountains most of the towns and cities are in the valley and we are subject to the same humidity and heat everyone else is in the South. It will be mid 90s again this week. Also if the OP wants to consider Asheville they do get more snow than anywhere in the South. Still nothing like up north but still it does occasionally snow there. Even here we get 4 inches on average each year. Anywhere from Atlanta or Birmingham on north can count on a little snow at least every year.
Unless the OP wants to live above 3000 feet they will face the same heat and humidity that the rest of the interior South gets every summer. The only city big enough to have jobs that might offer the more moderate temps and high elevation is Asheville NC. Here on the Tennessee side of the mountains most of the towns and cities are in the valley and we are subject to the same humidity and heat everyone else is in the South. It will be mid 90s again this week. Also if the OP wants to consider Asheville they do get more snow than anywhere in the South. Still nothing like up north but still it does occasionally snow there. Even here we get 4 inches on average each year. Anywhere from Atlanta or Birmingham on north can count on a little snow at least every year.
That is one big misconception about NC. That it doesn't get hot or humid in the mountains. I've been in the TN,GA,NC, and SC mountains and experienced incredible heat and humidity.
I dunno why you want outdoorsy but no snow. No snow or humidity limits you to just the California coast. Some of the outdoorsiest places get snow in the winter, like Colorado, Minnesota or Michigan. You can also try Oregon or Washington which aren't humid in summer but are overcast for much of the year with light rainy days aplenty.
If you're really outdoorsy though, you won't avoid going outside cuz of snow. Snow means winter hikes, skiing, and cold weather in general opens up possibilities of ice skating.
My personal pick for myself is Minnesota. Warm but not too hot in summer, perfect for camping as its cool enough to sleep at night comfortably. Winters that allow for Canadian-type winter activities that are unavailable in much of the country due to inconsistent ice or snow. For you, west coast. Oregon is an outdoorsy paradise.
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