re: State's outdoor activities tier ranking

I agree with that, but both are elite.

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Tier 2: Montana,

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if you lop off the boring eastern part of the state, then MT is a clear Tier 1. If you account for how few people are here, then it has to be near the top of that tier.

Today i walked a half mile from my house to UofM, which is right by the Clark Fork of the Columbia River and shadowed by Mt. Sentinel (trails galore). There's a dog park there with a rock beach on the river. People are floating by in all manner of small craft and tubes.

You take the trail down the river another half mile, and you can surf (as in, on a surf board) or paddle Brennan's Wave. Walk home through Greenough Park, which follows Rattlesnake Creek. Hike up Mt. Jumo (more trails).

I can drive, run or bike 4 miles in the other direction and be at the trailhead of the Rattlesnake Wilderness in no time--60,000 acres (and connects to a lot more) of trails, big creeks, crystal clear lakes, 5000+ft climbs, etc. You can get to Snowbowl ski area from there, on XC skis, bike or by foot. Or just drive to Snowbowl for 2600ft vertical (with more being added) and seldom a lift line + great backcountry skiing.

You can do a decent whitewater trip down Alberton Gorge, just down the highway.


All of that without leaving the urban area that's chock-full of bars, restaurants, etc.

Then you can leave town for.... Glacier, Yellowstone, the Bob Marshall, the Yaak, Bitterroots, Sapphires, Pioneers, Bridgers, Beartooths, Flathead Lake, Missions, Seeley Lake, Blackfoot River, Whitefish, Big Sky, Lost Trail, etc, etc, etc. And cheating a little, N Idaho is super close to the mountainous parts of MT, giving you a whole other set of awesome stuff--Lochsa River (just over border), deep wilderness hot springs, more lakes, skiing, etc.

Not a tier two. (No saltwater beach is a minus--5-6 hr drive from western border to Seattle is about the best I can do there.)

ETA: CA has it all, but it hardly counts as one geographic area, given that it takes 15 hours to drive from tip to toe and has too damned many people. But I'd consider living in a place like Mendocino, with a good wet suit.

Bro...you don't know much about Texas, eh?

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Nice professionally shot photographs. Now go pull some from a persons Facebook.

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Took this one w/ my iPhone

You're usually smart around here, but you're an idiot in this instance.

Fairs well with the rest of the gulf.

South padre.

You've clearly never been to Texas hill country.

And you've obviously never been to Big Bend National Park.
It snowed 15 inches on me in the big bend mountain a couple years ago.

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That would be a pretty shitty argument

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I cant think of one thing that the state of Michigan does better than Virginia and North Carolina. Even beyond the outdoor activities...

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Forkbeard3777

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pwning some people who know nothing about Michigan. I lived there briefly and have lots of family and friends from there. It's funny how little people know about it (same goes for MN).

What would you consider AZ?

I didn't put much thought into the op. I was just trying to get the conversation going.

Eta but az is pretty awesome. Top half at the very least.

Galveston isn't the only beach in Texas. There's like 400 miles of coastline

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Not close to even Louisiana

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Have you ever even been to Texas?