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Old 10-29-2019, 09:34 PM
 
2,204 posts, read 2,295,186 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by futbol View Post
Plus, Mt San Jacinto is right there!

There are beautiful trails all over that mountain.
You are right. Devil’s Slide Trail and Deer Springs Trail are two of my favorite trails on Mt. San Jacinto. But Black Mountain and Marion Mountain Trails are also excellent.
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Old 10-30-2019, 06:41 PM
 
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
3,360 posts, read 8,355,616 times
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Mammoth Lakes. Nothing else comes close!

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Old 10-30-2019, 06:45 PM
 
Location: East Bay, San Francisco Bay Area, CA
23,276 posts, read 23,633,734 times
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I like South Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes.
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Old 12-27-2019, 11:05 PM
 
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I saw a similar thread like this recently, so I’ll repeat what I think I said, although some of these are in the Sierra foothiils.

NorCal: Sonora, Placerville, Grass Valley, Bishop, Mariposa.

SoCal: Idyllwild, Big Bear Lake, Yucaipa, Forest Falls, Julian.
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Old 12-28-2019, 12:22 AM
 
Location: Living rent free in your head
42,717 posts, read 25,880,492 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulysses61 View Post
Mammoth Lakes. Nothing else comes close!
Nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there
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Old 12-28-2019, 02:03 PM
 
Location: Living rent free in your head
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wahewahewaheguru View Post
Just curious ... why do you say that?
too much snow, it's too cold for much of the year, it's isolated and caters to tourists more than locals. Restaurants are really expensive & shopping is limited. I'm not saying it's an awful place, it's beautiful and if you're really into winter sports it's probably a good place to live - but it's not for me.
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Old 12-28-2019, 10:56 PM
 
32,817 posts, read 12,097,307 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2sleepy View Post
too much snow, it's too cold for much of the year, it's isolated and caters to tourists more than locals. Restaurants are really expensive & shopping is limited. I'm not saying it's an awful place, it's beautiful and if you're really into winter sports it's probably a good place to live - but it's not for me.
I agree. I lived there for a ski season, and I loved it, but I wouldn't want to live there long term.
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Old 12-29-2019, 12:08 PM
 
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I thought I’d chime in on the subject regarding a busy little mountain town. First off, cross SLT off your list if your looking for a friendly community. It’s a dump. And expensive. There’s plenty to do there, and there’s nightlife, obviously, but it’s as ghetto a place in NorCal as anything not named Sacramento or Oakland or Yuba City or Stockton.

I’ve seen people mention Sacramento. Sac is in the middle of the biggest valley in CA and, therefore, not close to anything one would want to experience in the state. And the quality of life is getting worse by the year. It may only be an hour and a half to the beach, but if you’re in traffic, which you will be, it’ll seem like an entire day getting there. Or back. And the mountains are the same thing. Sac is a dumb choice if you’re getting out every weekend.

Places like Arnold or Bishop or Quincy are pretty removed from anything, and they all close up shop pretty early. Mt. Shasta may be a little better, but it’s been years since I’ve been there. Truckee is a nice little town that’s close to everything, but is very touristy. Same goes for Tahoe City or Incline Village on Tahoe’s north shore.

The one larger foothill town that feels like a true mountain town is Nevada City. They get snow, but not a ton of it. A great downtown and several good eateries between it and Grass Valley, which is right next door. And you’re well away from any major highway, with I80 about 35 miles away.

The best true mountain town that checks all the adventure boxes, though, is probably Mammoth. Lots to do year round, and there’ll always be new people to meet. Very, very cold all winter, as well as in the Spring and Fall, lots of thunderstorms in the Summer, and can get very smokey in late Summer/early Fall due to wildfires to the west. Skiing, rock climbing, swimming, mountain biking, off-roading, running, camping and everything else you’ll want is right there. And it has a pretty active airport.

One more place to consider would be Minden/Gardnerville area in Nevada. The biggest plus being that it’s not California, although it appears as though NV is inching closer to CA politically every election cycle. It’s a great place to live over in the Carson Valley and is just over the hill from Tahoe. The NV Capitol is 10-15 mins up the road in Carson City, and Reno is just a hop and a skip from there. Great views of the mountains without having to shovel snow after every storm.
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Old 12-29-2019, 07:19 PM
 
Location: Living rent free in your head
42,717 posts, read 25,880,492 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trifeman View Post
I thought I’d chime in on the subject regarding a busy little mountain town. First off, cross SLT off your list if your looking for a friendly community. It’s a dump. And expensive. There’s plenty to do there, and there’s nightlife, obviously, but it’s as ghetto a place in NorCal as anything not named Sacramento or Oakland or Yuba City or Stockton.

I’ve seen people mention Sacramento. Sac is in the middle of the biggest valley in CA and, therefore, not close to anything one would want to experience in the state. And the quality of life is getting worse by the year. It may only be an hour and a half to the beach, but if you’re in traffic, which you will be, it’ll seem like an entire day getting there. Or back. And the mountains are the same thing. Sac is a dumb choice if you’re getting out every weekend.

Places like Arnold or Bishop or Quincy are pretty removed from anything, and they all close up shop pretty early. Mt. Shasta may be a little better, but it’s been years since I’ve been there. Truckee is a nice little town that’s close to everything, but is very touristy. Same goes for Tahoe City or Incline Village on Tahoe’s north shore.

The one larger foothill town that feels like a true mountain town is Nevada City. They get snow, but not a ton of it. A great downtown and several good eateries between it and Grass Valley, which is right next door. And you’re well away from any major highway, with I80 about 35 miles away.

The best true mountain town that checks all the adventure boxes, though, is probably Mammoth. Lots to do year round, and there’ll always be new people to meet. Very, very cold all winter, as well as in the Spring and Fall, lots of thunderstorms in the Summer, and can get very smokey in late Summer/early Fall due to wildfires to the west. Skiing, rock climbing, swimming, mountain biking, off-roading, running, camping and everything else you’ll want is right there. And it has a pretty active airport.

One more place to consider would be Minden/Gardnerville area in Nevada. The biggest plus being that it’s not California, although it appears as though NV is inching closer to CA politically every election cycle. It’s a great place to live over in the Carson Valley and is just over the hill from Tahoe. The NV Capitol is 10-15 mins up the road in Carson City, and Reno is just a hop and a skip from there. Great views of the mountains without having to shovel snow after every storm.
Minden and Gardnerville aren't really mountain towns, at 4750 ft they at at a lower elevation than my home was in SW Reno. If you want to live in a very nice little town in Northern Nevada check out Genoa at the base of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Range, about 30 minutes east of Lake Tahoe. I know several people who live there and they all say the same thing: 'why did we wait so long to move here?'

And I don't think you could call Nevada City a mountain town, it has a certain charm but living there means that you will either learn to deal with or ignore the old hippies who think they own the town and run the City Council with an iron fist. Probably an area more fitting of the term 'mountain town' would be Mount Shasta where there are more people selling healing crystals than there are in Sedona if that's even possible
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Old 01-04-2020, 11:05 AM
 
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA
3,360 posts, read 8,355,616 times
Reputation: 8595
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2sleepy View Post
too much snow, it's too cold for much of the year, it's isolated and caters to tourists more than locals. Restaurants are really expensive & shopping is limited. I'm not saying it's an awful place, it's beautiful and if you're really into winter sports it's probably a good place to live - but it's not for me.
As someone who has lived in Mammoth for 40 years (and still does), I can assure people that the bolded comment is completely and stunningly untrue.
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