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Is Alaska Pacific Northwest? Granted Alaska is on the Pacific Ocean and pretty far northwest in relation to the US, it's also just "Pacific North" in a lot of it and other parts of it are on an entirely different ocean. But in many ways I view it separately from Washington and Oregon. Alaska does it's own thing for the most part. Same with Hawaii, the other non-mainland state.
To me Alaska is more beautiful than Washington/Oregon, but I'm not sure if I agree with it being "Pacific Northwest". Same with Montana, Alberta, and the Yukon on this poll. Not sure if those three belong either.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Beaches - Oregon Coast. Though WA has an amazing and beautiful undeveloped coastline around Olympic National Park and I love the San Juan Islands. BC has Vancouver Island which has some of the nicest coast I've ever seen anywhere, particularly around Tofino. But collectively I'd say Oregon's the best as it's the most accessible, consistently very scenic, with lots of nice little towns to stop in up and down the coast, and I like the lighthouses along the Oregon Coast (Heceta Head is stunning). Known as "The People's coast" all of it's shoreline is open to the public.
Cities - British Columbia. I actually like Seattle quite a bit more than Vancouver, but add in the historic charm of Victoria, the lake atmosphere of Kelowna and that tips the scales to BC. Tacoma and Spokane are just ok. Portland is fun, but not on the same tier level as Seattle or Vancouver.
Cultural Diversity - toss up WA or BC
Mountains - British Columbia, from the coast ranges of Vancouver Island to Mt. Robson the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, BC is a whole sea of endless mountain ranges.
Small Towns - Tough one, but my favorite small towns are in the San Juan Islands like Friday Harbor and the little hamlets that dot Orcas Island, so I'll say WA.
Unique Landscapes - I'll say Oregon here. Though BC and Alaska cover such a vast area of territory with many superlatives and would likely end up on top. But I like Oregon's range of diversity as it's got Crater Lake, vast deserts, part of Hell's Canyon, and the Columbia River gorge, fertile river valleys, and a stunning coastline. Honorable mention to Idaho in the northern part as it has the best collection of lakes in the whole West.
Wine Country - not my expertise, but I hear lot about the wines of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
It's a bit difficult to include Montana and Alberta in comparison within the Pacific Northwest when they are so far from the Pacific, they are more Rocky Mountain and plains/prairie territory and Alaska and the Yukon up in the great white north are in their own relm up there. In terms of scenery and unique landscapes Alaska on it's own could compete with the whole Pacific Northwest. Factor in all criteria as a whole and I think BC comes out on top overall.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 09-02-2018 at 08:22 AM..
Seattle is the best city in the Northwest by far.
The Cascade and Olympic mountains are awesome.
The diversity between east and west Washington state is really cool.
Washington has the best wine, especially around Yakima and other towns in the eastern part.
I'd say WA wins in every category except for beaches -- Oregon's coastline is indeed more impressive as one poster already mentioned.
Obviously there are good things about all the places listed, but I'm going to remove the ones that don't have ocean access. Ocean beaches are a must for me.
So out of Alaska, The Yukon, Washington State, Oregon or BC....I have to say BC.
Several amazing mountain ranges including The Rockies.
From a rugged coast to beautiful wine country, to prairie and ranch land. A diverse and huge island off its coast, plus the Gulf Islands with Salt Spring being my favourite. Haida Gwaii, formally The Queen Charlotte Islands is a special place as well.
Vancouver IMO is a more beautiful city, than the others. Victoria is charming, and places like Nelson represent smaller towns well. It also has one of he world's best ski resorts, Whistler.
Born in OR and currently live in WA. I'm definitely biased. Although all of these states/provinces are beautiful, so there are no losers in this poll.
I picked Oregon because I think it wins in all categories except cultural diversity. For sheer natural beauty the entire state is lovely from the desert SE to the coast. Not familiar enough with AK/YK/Northern BC. I love WA but I think the seacoast is inferior to that in OR. Plus Eastern WA is an ag powerhouse but not as lovely as the desert of Eastern OR. ID and MT are lovely too, but they don't have anything to equal the Oregon Coast.
1) Alaska. I think people short-change Alaska because it's so isolated, but between Kenai Fjords, Wrangell-Saint Elias, Denali, Glacier Bay, Katmai, and Lake Clark, it has the most impressive scenery of the bunch by far. It also has a lot of small towns that look postcard-perfect: Ketchikan, Sitka, Skagway, Seward, Homer + towns that are extremely unique like Nome, Barrow or Unalaska, a majority Asian-Latino town in the Aleutian Islands famous for its Russian Orthodox Church and is surrounded by 4,000 square miles of archipelago that makes the Scottish Highlands look like child's play. Anchorage is also extremely diverse and unique, surrounded by the stunning Chugach State Park.
2) British Columbia. Vancouver Island is the crown jewel of BC, with the diamond being Victoria, the most beautiful city in the Canadian West. Add to that stunning mountains, desert, and wineries and BC has a lot. Not the biggest fan of Vancouver, but it has a lot of diversity and is right by nature, probably only second to Rio in how nature is integrated into the urban fabric. I've always wanted to visit Haida Gwaii.
3) Washington. Washington is like BC, but smaller. That said Seattle is the unquestioned economic powerhouse of the region and is famous for Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Costco, etc etc. The city is blossoming with massive developments underway and is increasingly bustling and diverse, with a rich musical legacy. It's also a tourist's dream with the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and nearby national parks. Then you have varied scenery from the Olympic rainforests, to the isolated Twin Peaks-esque towns of the Cascades to the more rugged Western villages of the east. Add to that the San Juan Islands, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker and hidden gems like Palouse Falls, and Washington has a lot to offer.
4) Oregon. Portland, Willamette Wine Country, the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake, and the Eastern Oregon cowboy country make this another natural paradise. It also has a lot of buzzing small towns like Bend, Astoria, Coos Bay, Hood River, the Dalles, Cannon Beach, Grants Pass, Jacksonville, Sisters, etc. The Oregon State Capitol is also #1 for weird architecture in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon gets docked for being a little sleepy and it's scenery is less impressive than BC or Washington.
5) Alberta. Banff and Jasper are top 5 in North America for impressiveness and the nearby resorts also pull their punch. But outside of that, the province isn't as interesting. Calgary and Edmonton are both booming, but for now still lack the vibrancy of the Seattle-Vancouver-Portland trio. Banff/Jasper beat anything Oregon can muster. But holistically speaking, Oregon has more to offer throughout its jurisdiction.
6) Montana. Glacier National Park, Butte, Bozeman, Anaconda, Missoula, Kalispell, Helena and a smidge of Yellowstone make this another impressive state. It's also called Big Sky Country because of its flat terrain in the East. It's a great option for a sleepy, relaxed life, but gets docked for not having ocean access and no big cities.
7) Yukon. Dawson and Whitehorse are unique for being so far away from civilization. Dawson also has a beautiful historic core. Yukon also has some very isolated nature like Ivvavik, Kluane, and Vuntut, that is worth exploring. But it gets docked for not having ocean access and for being less populated than a tiny Seattle exurb.
8) Idaho. Never found the allure. It's a very Conservative state with some nice spots (Couer d'Alene, Stanley, Lower Mesa Falls), but the culture makes it feel more insular and less inviting.
For its combination of superb and beautiful landscapes, settings, and topography to go along with equally beautiful cities I have to go with British Columbia. The province is so large and physically encompassing that it shares characteristics and traits with Alaska to its north and Oregon to its south. Perhaps the most beautiful thing about it for me is that I can be high in the mountains surrounding Vancouver, in the evening, and get a close up look at the city's illuminating street grid and lighting format. Coupled with the density of the Vancouver area (above average for a Canadian/American city), it looks fantastic. A sight worth going out of the way to see. Add in snowboarding opportunities in the late Autumn or winter months and that view and it is a wrap. British Columbia even has Jasper and Banff on its eastern borders.
Like someone else mentioned, Vancouver Island is British Columbia's ace. If you want a splendid microcosm of the entire province, that would be the place to look and it is exceptional. Victoria is located in a rain-shadow on the island, it is afforded breathtaking natural scenery.
Alaska for sheer natural setting and beauty has to take it but it lacks the stock of cities that some of the other competitors have, which for me knocks it down a peg because while I like seeing natural settings from a sparsely populated environment, I also appreciate them from a big city environment as well.
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 09-02-2018 at 05:11 PM..
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