All 50 States, Ranked By Their Beauty

[crixus]

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/most-beautiful-states-in-america

[Lester_in_reno]

whatever. Like those "Best cities, best  states" lists,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, just live where you want. Have been all over the USA, beauty is everywhere.

[grandjean87]

Lauren Bobo got a side gig?

[renoskier]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:01 PM, Lester_in_reno said:

whatever. Like those "Best cities, best  states" lists,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, just live where you want. Have been all over the USA, beauty is everywhere.

true...but California has an abundance of...everything 

[crixus]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:12 PM, renoskier said:

true...but California has an abundance of...everything 

I agree, and I've been to all 50 states. 

[Nevada Convert]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:25 PM, crixus said:

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/most-beautiful-states-in-america

My favorites are photos that defy that state’s stereotyped look. This is Wilson Reservoir in central Kansas where everything is supposed to be totally flat, and all you can see in all directions is flat and green, right? Nope. When it snows in this area you could convince people they were looking at Utah. That’s a nice beach right there in the pic. 

[Old_SD_Dude]

I agree with California ranked #1, but I would have put Utah at #2. 

[crixus]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:18 PM, Nevada Convert said:

My favorites are photos that defy that state’s stereotyped look. This is Wilson Reservoir in central Kansas where everything is supposed to be totally flat, and all you can see in all directions is flat and green, right? Nope. When it snows in this area you could convince people they were looking at Utah. That’s a nice beach right there in the pic. 

That's a nice beach. My fondest memory of Kansas is it's friendly people. There's beauty in that too. 

[IanforHeisman]

On 8/7/2022 at 10:28 PM, Old_SD_Dude said:

I agree with California ranked #1, but I would have put Utah at #2. 

Yeah I haven’t been to all 50 states but those would be my 1 and 2. 
 

 

[IanforHeisman]

I’ll never be able to live anywhere without seeing mountains outside my window.. or foothills whatever. Maybe I could do San Francisco, definitely my favorite American big city.

 

Im not sure I could survive the depression of living somewhere flat a thousand miles from the ocean.. you couldn’t pay me enough money to live anywhere east of Colorado either. I’m sure there’s nice places over there that I haven’t seen but it’s just not my vibe.

[Nevada Convert]

On 8/7/2022 at 9:40 PM, IanforHeisman said:

I’ll never be able to live anywhere without seeing mountains outside my window.. or foothills whatever. Maybe I could do San Francisco, definitely my favorite American big city.

 

Im not sure I could survive the depression of living somewhere flat a thousand miles from the ocean.. you couldn’t pay me enough money to live anywhere east of Colorado either. I’m sure there’s nice places over there that I haven’t seen but it’s just not my vibe.

Yeah, living in central Kansas wasn’t too bad at first because the crazy weather was a nice distraction. But I missed my mountains and being near a bigger city. But I understand why people that were born there stay there. There’s a lot of suffering for cats out there, though, and seeing all the suffering kept me up at night, and that really got me caught up in big time cat rescue like I’ve never done like that anywhere else.

All that premium pay I was getting for being out there was getting put into rescues, food, vet bills, paying for spay neuter clinics. I’d have to donate $1,200 just to get a vet to do an all Sat. low cost clinic where it was $20 for a spay and $10 neuter. We’d get 50 to 75 done in one day. I felt really guilty for leaving because there was soooo much more to me done. I don’t miss the Hays Police Department or the Walmart store manger asshole. It was fun to fvck with both, but at the same time it took a lot of energy. Do I have some hilarious stories though. 

[thelawlorfaithful]

God done shed his grace on thee, that’s for sure.

[halfmanhalfbronco]

Alaska is #1 IMO.  Nothing comes close to the scale and just amount of jaw dropping beauty.  I could see why somebody would give California bonus points for more diverse geography.  Maybe you could knock Alaska for the long dark winters hindering the views but I am struggling to see how they are not ranked #1.

[Stealthlobo]

I am more of a mountain person myself but it's rediculous how beautiful the Hawaii beaches are compared to others in the world. I've been to 7 countries in the Caribbean, Thailand, the Philippines, and many other beautiful spots. They may have a pretty spot here or there, but none compare to the Hawaiian beaches as a whole. They are so clean and preserved compared to others. They definitely need to be seen.

[happycamper]

"Idaho: You can see Wyoming from it" is a pretty harsh burn 

[happycamper]

That said, I'd put Washington above Colorado. And it's interesting how you define "beauty". Wyoming has some of the most beautiful vistas, by far - better than anything in Colorado. That said Wyoming has godawful stretches that are uglier than anything in Colorado and they stretch for dozens of miles. Higher highs, but maybe a lower, uh, average beauty per acre, lol. 

[grandjean87]

On 8/8/2022 at 5:07 AM, halfmanhalfbronco said:

Alaska is #1 IMO.  Nothing comes close to the scale and just amount of jaw dropping beauty.  I could see why somebody would give California bonus points for more diverse geography.  Maybe you could knock Alaska for the long dark winters hindering the views but I am struggling to see how they are not ranked #1.

These subjective lists are sometimes fun to kick around, and there is no definitive right or wrong answer. That said, Idaho at 16?  That’s MTG level stupid.

Let’s start with the drawbacks — no ocean and ocean coastline.  That’s pretty much it unless getting picky.

We’ve talked a lot about water here, and elsewhere, so let’s start with lakes.  We have a lot of lakes. Large ones with tons of coastline and beaches. Pend Oreille is 43 miles long.  It’s not even the most northern large lake, and stretching all the way south and east 600 miles by Idaho roads to Bear Lake’s clear waters, there are thousands of lakes.  Larger valley and moraine lakes. Hundreds of stunning alpine lakes.  Add in all the reservoirs.  Now, to the rivers and canyons.

It’s the Whitewater state for a reason. The longest wild river in the lower 48. Two huge, long, deep canyons on the middle and main. Then there is your SF region.  Hells Canyon of the Snake. The upper Snake.  Many other rivers.  We have water.

Of course, I could go on and on as anyone could about their state, but let’s add in the diversity of the Owyhee Canyonlands across the southern high deserts to unique features like the City of Rocks to the Arco Desert and Craters of the Moon.  That place is magical in the winter. Too many mountains and ranges to mention, but they, too are diverse from the Northern Wasatch in the SE to the Selkirks in the Panhandle.  Basin and range terrain to NW wet forests. The largest contiguous wilderness area in the lower 48 then add the two adjacent areas separated only by narrow, remote forest road corridors.  Then the other ones…and, …

Take that MTG. 

 

 

[renoskier]

agree or disagree, these list are fun

I was surprised to learn that my home state of New York "has more publicly owned land by percentage than any state east of the Mississippi and is No. 1 in the country for percentage of land owned by the state itself."

[smltwnrckr]

On 8/8/2022 at 8:04 AM, renoskier said:

agree or disagree, these list are fun

I was surprised to learn that my home state of New York "has more publicly owned land by percentage than any state east of the Mississippi and is No. 1 in the country for percentage of land owned by the state itself."

I would have e guessed that. The Adirondacks have a ton of stste land. 

[smltwnrckr]

On 8/8/2022 at 4:07 AM, halfmanhalfbronco said:

Alaska is #1 IMO.  Nothing comes close to the scale and just amount of jaw dropping beauty.  I could see why somebody would give California bonus points for more diverse geography.  Maybe you could knock Alaska for the long dark winters hindering the views but I am struggling to see how they are not ranked #1.

They don't have the desert up there, though.

Other than fall colors, some tropical stuff and colonial architecture (well, the missions count maybe), California has a landscape that at least rivals the most beautiful place in each state. 

I'm increasingly working on finding open grassland reserves and just grassland places in general here. We have some really cool spots.