Burlington is the east winner as far as I'm concerned. With all due respect to Roanoke which is very pretty (and actually has mountains closer to downtown), Burlington would get my vote for most naturally beautiful metro east of the Mississippi. The mountains are just a bit further from downtown Burlington than they are from Roanoke (Mt. Mansfield and Camel's Hump are about 20 miles from downtown Burlington, Poor Mountain is about 12 from downtown Roanoke - though there are smaller mountains/ridges closer), but the mountains near Burlington are a bit higher in terms of summit elevation and they stand out quite a bit higher above the surroundings than the mountains around Roanoke. I think the Greens (particularly Mansfield and Camel's Hump) near Burlington are
much more dramatic and strikingly beautiful than the section of the Blue Ridge Mtns. near Roanoke (the biggest mountains are 60-80 miles southwest, near the NC border).
But the thing most people who haven't been to Burlington don't realize is that the Green Mountains aren't the star of the show - Lake Champlain is. There's nothing akin to Lake Champlain in Roanoke (with all due respect to the Roanoke River Greenway). Downtown Burlington is slightly elevated above the lake and gently slopes down towards the lake shore. What this means is that from most points in the center of Burlington, you have unobstructed views of the massive lake with the Adirondack High Peaks (inc. Mt. Marcy, Whiteface, etc.) on the other side. The waterfront is beautiful and is the focal point of the city. I said in another thread recently that I really like Roanoke and consider it to be very underrated. But I don't think this is a fair comparison.
One small point of contention with the OP - Burlington isn't very forested at all by New England standards. The bulk of Vermont's agricultural land is between Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains - right where Burlington is. You can see on Google maps just how much of the land is open and dedicated to farming. Drive just outside of the city and
much of the area looks like this. Portland ME, Concord NH, Portsmouth NH, Lewison ME, Manchester NH, and even Montpelier VT are quite a bit more heavily forested.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
