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Old 08-23-2018, 09:28 AM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,021 posts, read 14,412,205 times
Reputation: 5568

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Add Austin to the list
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Old 08-23-2018, 10:02 AM
 
828 posts, read 634,291 times
Reputation: 973
Many options here as others have said:
Denver
Albuquerque
Asheville
Richmond, VA
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
Seattle
Los Angeles
Honolulu
Chattanooga
Atlanta

Many others could be put here too, but most of the Piedmont area of the southeast plus most of the West Coast can be put in this category.
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Old 08-23-2018, 10:30 AM
 
Location: Phoenix
988 posts, read 676,484 times
Reputation: 1132
I would never pick Phoenix as my favorite outdoors city, but I have to laugh at the people taking potshots at Phoenix. We are way ahead of many other U.S. cities in natural beauty, especially with the "1-2 hours" criteria. That gets you Flagstaff, Verde Valley, Prescott, Sedona, Tuscon, Payson, Rim Country, and on and on. Just pick a western where you couldn't take your eyes off the screen for the scenery. The city itself? No defense for how it's been developed. But that wasn't the question.
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Old 08-23-2018, 12:59 PM
 
Location: Vermont
1,002 posts, read 900,805 times
Reputation: 2046
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyle19125 View Post
I strongly agree and would add humidity to the "abject misery" index....i.e. the east coast is humid year round nonsense.
Today (August 23rd) it's 73 degrees in Burlington VT, with 39% humidity. It rained yesterday, and that's a 47F dew point.

The dew point is 6F higher in Santa Fe, and 20F higher in Phoenix right now.
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Old 08-23-2018, 05:11 PM
 
Location: Colorado
389 posts, read 327,270 times
Reputation: 721
Cincinnati does pretty well. Red river gorge & hocking hills less than 2 hours. Not far from the Appalachian Mountains. And within the county one of the largest park systems in the USA.
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Old 08-23-2018, 08:24 PM
 
Location: SoCal
3,877 posts, read 3,858,512 times
Reputation: 3258
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoreau424 View Post
It depends on your idea of "most beautiful outdoors". Some like the beach/coast, some like hiking in wooded areas, some like boating on lakes, some like dry and rocky mountains, etc.

Without clarification, we'll each give our own unique idea of what we want, rather than what the OP wants.

Even above, someone went on about humidity, and it being awful. I've found super dry regions to be the true awful areas, with humidity a plus and benefit. There's a big difference between dry mountainous regions and watered mountainous regions, for example.
All can be found in SoCal plus sorta kind of warm beaches.
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Old 08-23-2018, 08:28 PM
 
Location: Buffalo, NY
3,551 posts, read 3,020,531 times
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Buffalo has quite a bit of natural scenery and recreation in its metro, and especially extended out 2-hours:
  • Includes Western NY, Southern Ontario, NW Pennsylvania
  • Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, with well over 200 miles of shoreline/beaches within 2 hours
  • Niagara River, including Niagara Falls, Gorge, Lower Rapids, islands, fishing, boating, etc, Devil's Hole, Whirlpool
  • Niagara Escarpment, including dozens of waterfalls especially near Hamilton (1 hr from downtown Buffalo)
  • Letchworth State Park, Letchworth Falls, Gorge, etc
  • Allegany State Park (NY) and Allegheny National Forest (PA) - part of Appalachian chain
  • Enchanted Mountain/Rock City
  • Boston Hills - many smaller creeks with gorges, including Eternal Flame Fall at Chestnut Ridge
  • Zoar Valley
  • Winter sports and activities - ice fishing, ice climbing, snowmobiling, skiing, tobogganing/sledding, snowshoeing, hunting
  • Western Finger Lakes region, wine country
  • Multiple large and small lakes in the region, including Lake Chautauqua, Allegheny Reservoir, etc
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Old 08-24-2018, 04:45 AM
 
92,061 posts, read 122,262,393 times
Reputation: 18141
Syracuse...Lake Ontario is about 45 minutes away.

Closest Finger Lakes are about 20-25 minutes away(Otisco and Skaneateles), with all of them being within the 2 hour timeframe.

Adirondacks are about an hour and a half, with the Catskills and Poconos within 2 hours.

The 1000 Islands are about an hour and a half away.

Plenty of lakes, creeks and rivers to fish in within that timeframe(Nine Mile Creek, Salmon River, Oneida Lake(the state’s largest inland lake), Seneca River, Oswego River, Black River, etc.)

The county park system has 2 beaches(Oneida Shores and Jamesville), with a state park beach(Green Lakes) also within the county. All are within 20-25 minutes from the city. There are other lakeside beaches nearby as well.

Ithaca with its gorges, Letchworth State Park(aka the Grand Canyon of the East) and Salmon River Falls in Oswego County, among others, are also within that timeframe.

There are several ski areas south of the city that are within 30-40 minutes away.There are plenty of snowmobile trails minutes from the city.

There is rafting on the Black and Moose Rivers north of the city.

Here are some other county parks: Highland Forest » Onondaga County Parks

Pratt

Beaver Lake Nature Center » Onondaga County Parks

Erie Canalway / Jordan Level Trail » Onondaga County Parks

Onondaga Lake Park » Onondaga County Parks

There’s also a Creekwalk within the city: City of Syracuse

There are 2 9 hole golf courses within city limits(Burnet and Sunnycrest) and plenty throughout the area.

Anyway, pretty much any of the cities in Upstate NY offer a lot of the same or similar activities within that radius.
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Old 08-24-2018, 10:52 AM
 
Location: Lil Rhodey
822 posts, read 846,129 times
Reputation: 1208
Boston and Providence
Cape Cod, Narragansett Bay, Main Coast, RI coast, North Shore, Cape Anne, Boston Harbor Islands, Narragansett Bay islands
Marthas Vinyard, Nantucket, Block Island
White Mts, Green Mts, Berkshires, Hudson River Valley, Blackstone River Valley, Blue Hills
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