Oregon is the most beautiful state in the Country (Beaverton: fit in, house)

[karlsch]

Originally Posted by boulder2015

Only ones i could reasonably see people putting above it.

Alaska
Hawaii
Washington
Maine
Montana
Colorado

Not even saying i would agree, but i would at least respect their argument. And or has nicer people than all of those....

Never been to Maine so I don't know. A tie with Washington.

But I would add to the list, Utah and Wyoming and California.

[texasdiver]

Washington has more spectacular mountain scenery. There is no place in Oregon that rivals the North Cascades or even the Olympic Mountains for Alpine Scenery and Mt. Hood is tiny compared to Mt. Rainier. Oregon also has nothing like Lake Chelan where you can take the ferry way up to remote Alpine Lake towns like Stehekin. And Washington has Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands which are among the most spectacular inland waterways anywhere on the planet. The ferries are very cool. Washington just has a much more maritime feel. Oregon has nothing like that. Washington is FAR superior for sailing, scuba diving, and sea kayaking, all three of which I like to do.

Oregon has a much more spectacular coastline and beaches and a highway that runs along the coast for almost the entire state except for a small section between Florence and Coos Bay. Washington's outer coast is less accessible and most of the roads are well inland. So Oregon wins for beaches hands down. Oregon also has much more interesting high desert wilderness areas from Bend out to the wild areas like Steens Mountain and the Wallowas. If you like desert landscapes and empty country then Oregon has a lot more of that.

The both share the Gorge so you can't really attribute that to one state or the other.

[Larry Caldwell]

States, and even national borders, are artificial boundaries drawn for political reasons. If you want to talk a region, you will have a point. The Rocky Mountains to the Pacific and from the Bering Strait to Lassen has some really pretty stuff to look at.

[wanderbygrace]

I've been to all fifty states, seeing large chunks of each state - with the noted exception of Oklahoma (only spent about an hour there, but it was enough to see four dead armadillos on the side of the road).

Most Attractive:
(1) Oregon - extreme diversity of natural features in a fairly small area.
(2) California - even more extreme diversity of natural features, but because of its mass quantity of humanity, pollution, and lack of precipitation (less green), it lost to Oregon.
(3) Washington - unbelievably gorgeous mountains, coasts, rivers, forests - it's got most everything Oregon has, but in a smaller package. No real desert area, so it gets dinged behind OR & CA.
(4) Alaska - seriously....talk about grandeur and largesse. Not a fan of extreme cold nor extreme bugs, though.
(5) Utah - doesn't have the greenery that other western states has, but boy it makes up for it in other types of scenery such as canyons, arches, mountains, etc.
(Honorable Mention) Hawaii, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Idaho.

Least Attractive:
(50) Iowa - been across it many times. Fairly flat - some gentle hills (esp. near the MS River), but otherwise, it seems like it's corn, corn, and oh look - more corn.
(48t) Illinois - zzzzz. Chicago has manmade features galore, but the state seriously lacks in natural features. The only way it stayed out of #50 was because of the small stretch of coast.
(48t) Kansas - overall (if you include manmade features), it loses to Illinois, but western Kansas has some intriguing badlands (e.g. Monument Rocks).
(47) Indiana - a little more interesting topography in the south than IL, but it's also got the Dunes along the coast, so it staves off the very bottom spots. Most of the central/north is "how fast can I speed through this" land.
(46) Delaware - pretty sure the highest spot in the state is the top floor of the Embassy Suites in Newark (yes, I've stayed there...nice hotel), so you can imagine the flatness of the state. Few hills up north, but those would be speed bumps here. And despite having a decent coast & beaches along Delaware Bay & the Atlantic, it's not enough to remove it from the bottom five.
(Dishonorable Mention) Mississippi, Connecticut.

[wolfdog]

I've been to most of the lower 48, over my 60+ years. West coast states, ranked for variety of scenery:

1. California
2. Washington
3. Oregon
4. Hawaii
Alaska probably #5, based on variety.

[myshkin]

I know a lot of "PNW vs. New England" threads have been made in the general sub-forum, but I'm curious about your guys's opinions on how Oregon stacks up vs Northern New England. From the gist of things it sounds like Oregon is far superior.

Even though Maine has rocky coasts sort of like Oregon, what is it missing?

[fluffydelusions]

Originally Posted by myshkin

I know a lot of "PNW vs. New England" threads have been made in the general sub-forum, but I'm curious about your guys's opinions on how Oregon stacks up vs Northern New England. From the gist of things it sounds like Oregon is far superior.

Even though Maine has rocky coasts sort of like Oregon, what is it missing?

I'm from New England but never been to Maine but Portland looks pretty nice IMO






Acadia National Park in northern Maine

[fluffydelusions]

Also Vermont and New Hampshire are very nice as well

[myshkin]

Incredible pics, thanks for posting! +rep

[fluffydelusions]

Also the mountains in NE are not as big but Mount Washington is no joke.
Article here
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...n-off-his-feet

"The Sherman Adams building has 3 foot thick concrete walls and 3 layers of bullet-resistant glass windows. Even with this protection, the constant, dull roar of the wind is ever-present in the Observatory's Weather Room. Heading up to the tower to deice every hour is an adventure; the enclosed parapet-like tower roars like the sound of a jet engine as a plane is taking off, and exiting the top door of the parapet is like opening up the window of that ascending jet."

Just yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWNaYd5Y8hw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-QZ5Om9_20