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crixus

All 50 States, Ranked By Their Beauty

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:27 PM, halfmanhalfbronco said:

I love high desert.  Craters of the Moon, as GJ said, is spectacular.  The Owyhees are great too with hidden gems throughout.  The Sawtooths are great but IMO their sister range has them beat, the Big Horn Crags in the Frank Church.  

I didn’t really list the mountain ranges, but I did mention the diversity.  Lost River, Lemhi, Bitterroot, and Beaverhead/Cont. Divide.  The Sawtooths are spectacular and much more  expansive than the Crags plus it’s just one of four or more adjacent ranges. White Clouds, Boulders, and the Smoky Mtns.  All that runs into the Pioneers, Pahsimeroi, Soldier, Boise, and Salmon River ranges. The latter just keeps going north to Canada.  Other unique ranges like the Seven Devils and views 7,000’ down into Hells Canyon. The Owyhees. 
 

The Owyhee Canyonlands are amazing.  Different, but on par with some of Utah lands.  Even the main Snake has scenic canyons south of Boise/Nampa and in the Twin Falls  area.  Shoshone Falls is incredible when running near highs.  

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:39 PM, TheSanDiegan said:

Then you should really check out Anza-Borrego. We even have our own desert-dwelling Bigfoot that supposedly inhabits the Borrego Badlands.

You have made this recommendation to me before!  That would be a great place to watch a meteor shower miles away from anybody else of a little dirt road cubby hole.

 

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:40 PM, happycamper said:

gillette to casper is a decent drive.  but as i noted earlier, there are a few places between casper and other towns that are just... bleak. 

Midwest Edgerton, Wright, Moorcroft, Shoshoni....every state has them.   Remarkable thru the years how Gillette matured and cleaned up. It is actaully an attractive town now but with nothing around it for me. It's cleaner than Casper.  Casper has the river, mountain (a good size butte) and lots of public land....but it is still a big zoning mess full of old oil field junk.  

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:42 PM, grandjean87 said:

I didn’t really list the mountain ranges, but I did mention the diversity.  Lost River, Lemhi, Bitterroot, and Beaverhead/Cont. Divide.  The Sawtooths are spectacular and much more  expansive than the Crags plus it’s just one of four or more adjacent ranges. White Clouds, Boulders, and the Smoky Mtns.  All that runs into the Pioneers, Soldier, Boise, and Salmon River ranges. The latter just keeps going north to Canada.  Other unique ranges like the Seven Devils and views 7,000’ down into Hells Canyon. The Owyhees. 
 

The Owyhee Canyonlands are amazing.  Different, but on par with some of Utah lands.  Even the main Snake has spectacular canyons south of Boise/Nampa and in the Twin Falls  area.  Shoshone Falls is incredible when running near highs.  

For sure.  The Batholith ranges like the Crags, Sawtooths, White Clouds, and Boulders offer those great granite peaks and faces, where as the inland rain forest ranges offer a different experience.  7 Devils are great, have not packed through them since I was a teen, would love to get back.  I would put the diversity of our ranges up with any state.  Vehicle issues made me delay this weeks camping trip (was supposed  to leave today).  Will be going up to the Lolo Motorway when we do go, up in the Clearwaters.  

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:56 PM, halfmanhalfbronco said:

For sure.  The Batholith ranges like the Crags, Sawtooths, White Clouds, and Boulders offer those great granite peaks and faces, where as the inland rain forest ranges offer a different experience.  7 Devils are great, have not packed through them since I was a teen, would love to get back.  I would put the diversity of our ranges up with any state.  Vehicle issues made me delay this weeks camping trip (was supposed  to leave today).  Will be going up to the Lolo Motorway when we do go, up in the Clearwaters.  

All of the West has incredible mountains.  The Wind Rivers (WY) are the one range I really want to pack through on a bucket list trek. 

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:54 PM, Jackrabbit said:

Midwest Edgerton, Wright, Moorcroft, Shoshoni....every state has them.   Remarkable thru the years how Gillette matured and cleaned up. It is actaully an attractive town now but with nothing around it for me. It's cleaner than Casper.  Casper has the river, mountain (a good size butte) and lots of public land....but it is still a big zoning mess full of old oil field junk.  

I haven't been to Gillette in probably 15 years or so.  Good to hear it has cleaned up.  It was kind of rough back then. 

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On 8/8/2022 at 2:11 PM, Wyobraska said:

I haven't been to Gillette in probably 15 years or so.  Good to hear it has cleaned up.  It was kind of rough back then. 

The reputation lives on...mnay folks havent seen it in decades and still hate it...the last boom was managed really well. 

 Many trashed  properties around the edges of town were flipped or levelled.   You still won't find a pothole there ..maybe in a state highway.

Not many friendlier towns or better places to raise a family anywhere...very few old money cliques or snobs. It was good to us.

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Wyoming has some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. Happy camper is right about that.

 Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma are putrid, as well as a lot of TX. I have not been to North Dakota, but it's got to be nearly as bad. The eastern 40% of Colorado is dog shit, so that should disqualify them from being so high.

Agree with Half Bronco that Alaska is likely the best. Just riding the ferry on the inside passage, or whatever it's called, is breathtaking. It's like looking at the Tetons for hundreds of miles, just the Tetons abruptly drop off into the ocean where there are insanely beautiful and innumerable islands and islets.

 

I have not been to MI, apparently I'm missing a lot.

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:40 PM, happycamper said:

gillette to casper is a decent drive.  but as i noted earlier, there are a few places between casper and other towns that are just... bleak. 

Casper south to Wheatland is a beautiful drive. I love that area of the state

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On 8/8/2022 at 2:09 PM, grandjean87 said:

All of the West has incredible mountains.  The Wind Rivers (WY) are the one range I really want to pack through on a bucket list trek. 

Too many people now. Don't go

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On 8/8/2022 at 4:23 PM, Bob said:

Wyoming has some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. Happy camper is right about that.

 Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma are putrid, as well as a lot of TX. I have not been to North Dakota, but it's got to be nearly as bad. The eastern 40% of Colorado is dog shit, so that should disqualify them from being so high.

Agree with Half Bronco that Alaska is likely the best. Just riding the ferry on the inside passage, or whatever it's called, is breathtaking. It's like looking at the Tetons for hundreds of miles, just the Tetons abruptly drop off into the ocean where there are insanely beautiful and innumerable islands and islets.

 

I have not been to MI, apparently I'm missing a lot.

I thought Fort Morgan was your favorite spot;)

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On 8/8/2022 at 3:35 PM, Bob said:

Casper south to Wheatland is a beautiful drive. I love that area of the state

Absolutely. I-25 with the rolling hills and waves of grass... super cool, and bluffs everywhere you look. 

Casper to Laramie though... I loved visiting Laramie. But man. you have to pay for it 🤣 Casper to Worland... Worland to Shoshone rules. and then.... brain off. 

On 8/8/2022 at 12:54 PM, Jackrabbit said:

Midwest Edgerton, Wright, Moorcroft, Shoshoni....every state has them.   Remarkable thru the years how Gillette matured and cleaned up. It is actaully an attractive town now but with nothing around it for me. It's cleaner than Casper.  Casper has the river, mountain (a good size butte) and lots of public land....but it is still a big zoning mess full of old oil field junk.  

yeah I was really impressed with Casper's outdoor activities. We used the platte river trails a lot, with the girls, I ran them a lot, and our gym did boot camp style classes on them. Rotary park, and even further up, braille trail are awesome. Casper is super windy but a lot of the town and outdoor areas are built to mitigate that. 

Gillette really cleaned it up. I lived there in the mid ;90s and it was... a pit. The best part was that there were leopard frogs everywhere (we lived in sleepy hollow) and I built a little "river system " pond in our backyard and would put frogs back there. went back in the mid 00s... no more frogs. too much development and drought. 

Remember that every argument you have with someone on MWCboard is actually the continuation of a different argument they had with someone else also on MWCboard. 

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On 8/8/2022 at 4:23 PM, Bob said:

Wyoming has some of the highest highs and some of the lowest lows. Happy camper is right about that.

 Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma are putrid, as well as a lot of TX. I have not been to North Dakota, but it's got to be nearly as bad. The eastern 40% of Colorado is dog shit, so that should disqualify them from being so high.

Agree with Half Bronco that Alaska is likely the best. Just riding the ferry on the inside passage, or whatever it's called, is breathtaking. It's like looking at the Tetons for hundreds of miles, just the Tetons abruptly drop off into the ocean where there are insanely beautiful and innumerable islands and islets.

 

I have not been to MI, apparently I'm missing a lot.

The Sandhills in Nebraska are magical. 

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On 8/8/2022 at 4:36 PM, Wyobraska said:

The Sandhills in Nebraska are magical. 

When I drove through Nebraska last, I wanted to take a route that went through there but had to cross it off for various reasons. I regret it still. 

Planning is an exercise of power, and in a modern state much real power is suffused with boredom. The agents of planning are usually boring; the planning process is boring; the implementation of plans is always boring. In a democracy boredom works for bureaucracies and corporations as smell works for skunk. It keeps danger away. Power does not have to be exercised behind the scenes. It can be open. The audience is asleep. The modern world is forged amidst our inattention.

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On 8/8/2022 at 1:42 AM, thelawlorfaithful said:

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

....for amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain.

God done shed his grace on thee...indeed.

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On 8/8/2022 at 12:16 PM, TheSanDiegan said:

Yeah but only one state has the honor of being deemed such a useless barren wasteland our government decided to detonate nukes there. Because it wouldn't matter. :hahaha:

Plus they knew the wind would blow it to Utah.

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On 8/8/2022 at 5:18 PM, happycamper said:

Absolutely. I-25 with the rolling hills and waves of grass... super cool, and bluffs everywhere you look. 

Casper to Laramie though... I loved visiting Laramie. But man. you have to pay for it 🤣 Casper to Worland... Worland to Shoshone rules. and then.... brain off. 

yeah I was really impressed with Casper's outdoor activities. We used the platte river trails a lot, with the girls, I ran them a lot, and our gym did boot camp style classes on them. Rotary park, and even further up, braille trail are awesome. Casper is super windy but a lot of the town and outdoor areas are built to mitigate that. 

Gillette really cleaned it up. I lived there in the mid ;90s and it was... a pit. The best part was that there were leopard frogs everywhere (we lived in sleepy hollow) and I built a little "river system " pond in our backyard and would put frogs back there. went back in the mid 00s... no more frogs. too much development and drought. 

I'm gonna push back here.  Casper to Medicine Bow with chalk buttes and mesas followed by the austere moonscape of Shirley Basin in winter (and so many adorable antelope fawns this summer) followed by the chance to see hundreds of elk and/or be blown off the highway at the base of the Freezeouts is what makes Wyoming, Wyoming.  

Medicine Bow to Laramie is meh, but Elk Mtn and the Snowies are always good in the distance.  

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On 8/8/2022 at 4:36 PM, Wyobraska said:

The Sandhills in Nebraska are magical. 

The ranch I grew up on and still to this day call home even though I haven't lived there since 1996 is in the Sandhills of South Dakota.  The Ogallala aquifer and the Sandhills both spill over just a bit into SD.  Whether it's a dirtbike, horse or snowmobile whenever I'm home I go for day long rides.  I'll never tire of the Sandhills.

A majestic resource – preserving the Nebraska Sandhills ...

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On 8/8/2022 at 11:32 PM, Milton Roe said:

I'm gonna push back here.  Casper to Medicine Bow with chalk buttes and mesas followed by the austere moonscape of Shirley Basin in winter (and so many adorable antelope fawns this summer) followed by the chance to see hundreds of elk and/or be blown off the highway at the base of the Freezeouts is what makes Wyoming, Wyoming.  

Medicine Bow to Laramie is meh, but Elk Mtn and the Snowies are always good in the distance.  

No.... casper to the basin is okay. 

The basin... is not.  It is very Wyoming.  But again,  it has less beauty than almost any other landscape I've ever seen.  It's like a modern art painting of one color. Which is why I say Wyoming has such contrasts. 

If we go down the rabbit hole of " it must be good because it is in Wyoming" then we're just doing sports stuff on the wrong forum :)

Remember that every argument you have with someone on MWCboard is actually the continuation of a different argument they had with someone else also on MWCboard. 

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