I’ll leave the interpretations of “large” and “major” up to you all.

41 comments

  2. I was just in LA and was shocked at how much nature is packed into the city, and I didn’t even make my way further out to Joshua Tree or San Bernadino National Forest.

    If you walk up to Griffith Observatory, you’re going to go through lush green environments full of big ass trees and frogs and turtles chilling in the stream. And then as you get further up, it pretty much looks like a scene from Breaking Bad.

    There are these great tree lined bouelvards that reminded me a lot of the ones I saw in Barcelona. And even random ass trees on the sidewalk can be big, thick trunked trees, not the puny street trees you often see in the Midwest.

    Is it the most scenic? I don’t know, maybe not. But the pereption LA has, I was floored at how much nature I could access, and the diversity of it, without even really leaving the city.

  3. Seattle and Portland are nice, although when I’ve been there I’ve been more focused on the cities themselves, didn’t really do a ton of nature shit. Did get out to mount rainier, though, and Forest Park in portland.

  4. I think the San Francisco Bay, and its nearby coastline, mountains and Redwood trees is beautiful.

  7. San Diego- gorgeous beaches, cliffs, valleys, inland hillsides, beautiful desert if you drive a bit east, and the mountains. Lots of parks and hiking trails in the city, especially in the numerous canyons. A diverse metro area where you can find a wide array of anything that might suit you preference.

  9. NYC is a dark horse pick imo. Of course in the actual city itself you’re not going to see much in the way of nature, but the surrounding areas are actually really nice from that perspective. A lot of the Hudson Valley, Long Island, Westchester, and Fairfield County are actually very green, hilly, and have lots of really pretty small towns of NYC commuters nestled in the hills and by the sea.

    Places like Greenwich, Westport, Darien, Tarrytown, Larchmont, Glen Cove all super nice places to live in.

  11. Practically every city of any size in WA, OR, and CA (except maybe the cities of CA’s central valley) are in extremely scenic natural settings.

    Other cities that come to mind that have their own scenic natural beauty include Denver; Pittsburgh; Boston; and NYC. Perhaps Madison WI too. Las Vegas and Reno, in their way, and Boise too. Any city in the western half of Montana. SLC For sure.

  14. Denver on the mountain side, though the east side of town isn’t as inspiring.

    I’ll count it as “major” since it’s a state capital: Madison, Wisconsin is beautifully situated on an isthmus between two lakes. It’s a gorgeous area.

  16. Probably Salt Lake City. There is not a single inch of that city that doesn’t have mountains visible in the background

  18. 1. Seattle
    2. San Diego
    3. Boston
    4. Phoenix
    5. Denver
    6. Phoenix

    Honorable mention: Salt Lake City. I’ve only seen pictures so it feels unfair to rank it.

    Edit: I’ve chosen to only include places I’ve been to

    Second disclaimer: this is only my personal dumb opinion based on the type of scenery I value.

  19. Tucson! It’s a special kind of beauty (desert), but if you like the desert it’s just sublime. The town is surrounded by 4 mountain ranges, some of which are tall enough to get decent snow and have pine forests, and it’s sandwiched between two halves of Saguaro National Park. The sunsets are also arguably the best in the country.

  24. I’ve of coursed biased, but Salt Lake City is amazing. In terms of access and views of the mountains it blows Denver out of the water. Phoenix is an underrated one I haven’t seen people mention yet. Dark horses: Pittsburgh and Miami

  25. Does Seattle count as a big/major city? Because if so, Seattle (tbh might be biased cuz i live there but still. It’s gorgeous)

  26. Anchorage Alaska, Fairbanks Alaska, Juneau Alaska, Albuquerque New Mexico, Seattle Washington.

  28. Asheville, NC is like a little slice of heaven. Bonus points if you’re into chicks with large thigh tattoos. They got those by the dozen.

  29. Minneapolis prides itself on its green space and is consistently rated as having one of the best park systems in the country, has the Mississippi River running through it and some nice lakes, kinda surprised no one’s mentioned it yet. Saint paul isn’t bad either, and has some really scenic bluffs along thr river.

  31. If the threshold is “large as in big-3 sports team,” my vote goes to Seattle

    SF might surpass it in my personal ranking but it’s hard for me to know how correct for hometown bias so I’ll recuse myself on SF

  32. San Francisco bay area. Close proximity to the ocean, lots of open space for hiking etc., in the lower hills, and about 3-4 hours from the ski resorts. Besides, the cities themselves are lovely, esp the newer ones like Pleasanton etc.,

    Sacramento. City is okay, but its barely 30 minutes from the mountains, and less than 2 hours from Ski resorts. Lovely mountain lakes and OHV trails are just 40 minutes away

    Reno – Desert city, but right next to the Sierras, less then 30-40 minutes from ski etc., and an hours drive can take you away to outwardly places like Lake Pyramid. Driving a couple of hours south can bring you to Bortle 1 night skies.

    eg -> https://tanveer.smugmug.com/Astrophotography/Landscape-Astro/i-LGTgMVW/A

    Las Vegas – Unusual contender, but 30 minutes from the city you can be in the desert or mountains. Very surreal desert landscapes of Death valley not too far away

    Any city of Utah – Enough said – National parks everywhere, with landscapes unseen anywhere!

    Boise, ID – If national forests are your thing, this is a lovely city

    Bend OR – Colder version of Sacramento and smaller, with nice volcanic features all around

    Overall, the western united states is very empty, with cities being islands in many cases.

    I am sure there are many more, but these are the ones I have been to and found extremely scenic

    if we talk about the city itself, I would say San Francisco. The landscapes inside the city itself are quite lovely.

  33. Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico is gorgeous. It may not qualify as a major city though.

  34. Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’d even say Huntsville, Alabama is slept on – lots of nearby hiking that’s some of the best in the region, but more people will probably go to the Chattanooga area between the two

  35. Phoenix has mountains in the middle of the city, kinda cool when you come visit from a place that’s flat like Florida.

    Salt lake has a giant lake and a mountain range to the east.

    Atlanta is in a forest.

    Miami borders a swamp and the ocean. Go east you hit water go west you are in the Everglades.

    All depends on your definition of big and scenic.

  36. Seattle- we have 3 national parks within a few hours’ drive, views of both the Cascades and the Olympics from the city and Mount Rainier on a clear day, the ocean and Puget Sound at your doorstep, rainforests and lakes and waterfalls all just outside the city. I don’t know of any other comparable cities that can top it.

  37. Definitely Seattle, San Francisco, Portland. Denver is a great town with the amazing Rockies as a backdrop

  40. While Richmond, Virginia as a river city has that going for it depending on where you are you may have more or less access to nature.

  41. How are more people not saying Los Angeles?

    LA has both SD and SF both beat in my opinion.

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