Backpacker Magazine – August 2009
From Boulder to Juneau to Bozeman, see which cities made the cut for the best place to raise an outdoor kid, and why.
by Jason Stevenson
(Photo by Kennan Harvey)
1. Boulder, CO
Pop: 94,673 Median home: $328,400 Overall score: 85
- Teens work summer jobs as junior rangers in city's mountain parks.
- Named America's "Smartest" and "Most Livable" town by Forbes; 105 miles of bike paths
- Yes, we live here, but Boudler wins on its merits. Longs Peak and Indian Peaks Wilderness (120 square miles of elk, trout, wildflowers, and glaciers) are less than an hour away
2. Jackson, WY
Pop: 9,631 Median home: $495,000 Overall score: 77
- Family climbing days led by world-famous Exum Mountain Guides
- Outdoor companies like Cloudveil born here; ACT scores 10% above national average
- Cheek-to-jowl with the Tetons, Yellowstone, and a bajillion elk, bison, and bears; a half-day or less to Wind Rivers and Idaho's empty Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness
3. Durango, CO
Pop: 13,922 Median home: $290,000 Overall score: 72
- Trail Trekkers hiking program for kids, plus free fly-fishing lessons
- Tax-supported open sapce and trails; 70,000-sq.-ft. rec center with climbing wall
- Surrounded by San Juans and uncrowded 14ers; Animas River runs through town (A+ fly-fishing and rafting); short drives to Mesa Verde, CDT, Arches, Moab, and Weminuche
4. Flagstaff, AZ
Pop: 52,894 Median home: $289,548 Overall score: 69
- Sixth-graders spend a week studying ecology near Humphreys Peak
- Home to N. Arizona University, USGS satellite office, and emerging green-job sector
- Gateway to Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Arizona's only 12,000-foot peaks; 1 hour to sweet Sedona hiking/biking; located in world's largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest
5. Juneau, AK
Pop: 30,711 Median home: $320,630 Overall score: 68
- Highest percentage of Boy Scouts in the West (13%, ages 10-17)
- Lowest state/local taxes in the country; $2,000 pipeline rebate in '08; 5 outdoor shops
- An unrivaled cornucopia: Glacier Bay National Park (ice, bears), Tongass National Forest (trees, bears), and Admiralty Island (fish, bears) total nearly 40 million acres
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Methodology
The stats and assumptions behind our rankings:
To determine which U.S. cities offer the most fertile soil for raising outdoor kids, we crunched 38 different metrics, from the distance to the nearest national park to the density of Boy's Life subscribers. We looked at climate stats, outdoor education figures, and unemployment and obesity rates. We also polled BACKPACKER readers and editors–because you can't reduce everything to numbers. For a full list of metrics and sources, go to www.backpacker.com/outdoorkids.
For the full list of the 25 top-ranked cities, click here.
(Photo by Justin Bailie)
(Photo by Kennan Harvey)
(Photo by Jymn Meier)