Best Rural Area of Each State Part 2
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2022
- Part 2 of the Best Rural Area of Each State video. Here I look at which rural parts most accurately reflect the surrounding culture, are not economically depressed, and are not overly touristy.
Best Rural Area of Each State Part 1
• Best Rural Area of Eac...
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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard- "Fishing for Fishies" (2019)
I think of the most interesting things, from the pictures you use, is how almost all these states have towns with a similar old-America downtown aesthetic. That Main Street lined with stone buildings a few stories high and decorative streetlights seems like an iconic American thing.
Had the same thought
My guess is it became so iconic because it's so ubiquitous, but that over time, it became the other way around, especially when it comes to renovating and expanding downtown/main street areas
@@BenMorelliRG Besides the decline of architecture and building materials, a large percentage of town have authoritarian zoning laws prohibiting those kind of buildings with apartments above the stores, even in libertarian states
because major cities had these areas bulldozed for automobile infrastructure.
The driftless area is beautiful I grew up in IA but live in CO and still think that area of IA, MN, IL and WI is just as beautiful.
Kyle you are right on with your choice for Minnesota. I've been in every corner of the state--the southwest half is farm country, the northeast half is swamp, lake and forest. But this little Southeast corner is the only area that is generally mosquito-free (the elevation changes mean no standing water). The area is known for the fantastic trout streams and the largest whitetail racks in the state. Stop into a VFW or Legion hall in the southeast and you'll hear Bluegrass music, or if you're lucky, a super cool polka band.
I agree on the Flint Hills in Kansas. Definitely the most scenic drive in Kansas is along I-35 between Emporia and Wichita, particularly in the spring/summer when the grass is green.
About to make that drive this evening!
i personally disagree and think the rolling hills in central kansas between hays and salina are far superior and far more rural but i will agree that the emporia rural-ness is much nicer than central I-70 rural-ness
Damn green grass?
Can't forget unbound gravel fka dirty kanza
@@lesserprairiechick3n I grew up in Hays & traveled all over western & central KS. And most people don’t realize how not flat KS is once you get off I-70. It’s not as boring as people think, & there are a lot of beautiful lakes.
I really liked your insightful choice of Alpine, Mono and Inyo Counties for the best rural area of California. It isn't an easy choice as the northeastern part of the state and the north coast are also nice rural areas. Many of the westside foothill counties are also very nice. The urban area population of California is 95% of the state's population, which leaves the largest part of the state being rural for the remaining 5% or 2 million people. These rural residents are spread out over a very large area. Some of the neatest counties are located north and east of Sacramento, those being eastern Placer, Nevada, Sierra and Plumas.
A few comments:
1. Mono County is not pronounced like the opposite of stereo or "Maw no." It is a Shoshone/Piute work referring to the indigenous people who lived around Mono Lake. It is pronounced "Mow no."
2. Summer tourism is higher in numbers than winter numbers in Mono and Inyo Counties. The big draws are the lakes and streams, the scenery, sites like the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Mono Lake, Devils Postpile National Monument, the entire Mammoth Lakes area, Mt. Whitney, Death Valley National Park and the John Muir and Ansel Adams Wilderness Areas. These wilderness areas get the most overnight use for any wilderness in the U.S. Only the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness gets close to these.
3. The numbers of summer visitors in the Mammoth Area exceed those in the winter. This is hard to believe, but the number of campgrounds with very high occupancy rates 7 days per week, beat the ski area numbers and the lodging in town because most of the high occupancy occurs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Most visitors leave on Sunday, so occupancy rates on Sunday night can be quite low.
4. European visitors are very well informed and know to visit in the shoulder seasons, after schools begin in mid August. They tend to skip Labor Day, but show up right after. In spring they come starting in mid April through Memorial Day.
5. The summer/fall tour bus business is very high and nearly non existent in the winter. Busses bring large groups and clubs to Mammoth Lakes in the winter though, but are single destination trips.
6. The eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park is only open in the summer to mid October on the average. Sometimes this extends to mid November. Once the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area opens this entrance is closed. This entrance gets a huge amount of visitor use.
7. The fall color season draws a large number of people.
8. A lot of roads are closed in the winter as are the campgrounds and some of the sites such as the Bristlecone Pine Forest.
9. We don't dislike all of the people from L.A. For the most part they are wonderful. The portion of them that are rude is about 5%. They are rude just like the 5% from any large urban area. Urban residents have anonymity and are not held accountable for their rude behavior. I lived and worked in 4 states and 5% of the people from urban areas in the 3 other states I worked in had rude behavior as well.
10. Eastern Alpine County is dissimilar to Inyo and Mono as it is heavily influenced by Nevada. It has a year round road crossing the Sierra Crest so it gets more Bay Area and Central Valley visitors year round. It has two ski areas.
I'm retired from the U.S. Forest Service and have lived in Mono Country for 41 years. I worked in recreation management and law enforcement. I know the patterns of visitor use quite well as a result.
Thanks for picking this area for the best rural area in California.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge - I have enjoyed my visits to the eastern Sierra Nevada area
Thank you for all of that useful info!
@@GeographyKing I thought I had proof read my comment, but just now I found a number of errors that changed the entire meaning of a couple of sentences.
@@GeographyKing Geography is such a fascinating subject. One reason I joined the U.S. Forest Service was it enabled me to live in 44 states and Puerto Rico in small isolated towns or in the agency's regional offices in big cities and even Washington, D.C. It was like living geography! I could have easily chosen a career of teaching geography at the college level. I'm a map freak or geek. I have 6 filing cabinet drawers full of maps. I'd have more if we didn't live in a 2 bedroom condo of 1200 square feet!
Excellent post! You wrote what I was thinking about writing and even more. I'm in Fresno and I try to visit the Hwy 395 corridor every year or two. I did two trips in 2020, one in February pre-lockdown and one in October for the Alabama Hills and fall color further north (Inyo and Mono Counties were not as strict with continuing lock-downs as was most of the rest of the state). I'm going again in about six weeks with a photography group I am part of.
As someone who’s lived in rural western MN for the past ten eleven years, I’d have gone with the North Shore, part of the Iron Range, and Boundary Waters area, maybe specifying northern St. Louis County to exclude Duluth. Yes, it can be touristy, but I’ve always enjoyed my time up there, whether along the shore or up in Ely and other interior towns.
The Winnona/Red wing area is definitely way nicer. A bit less touristy and lot fewer issues with crime and poverty.
I’m from minnesota as well and both those areas are great. I’d have to say the driftless region fits this list better though for the criteria he used. Northern minnesota has more cabins/summer homes so it feels less communal.
Boundary Waters area is awesome
Agree. Although I'm from MI I have travelled extensively along Superior North Shore, appreciate its beauty from Two Harbours thru to Grand Marais, area. Never been to the Range thou so maybe thats the negative about the area.. Perhaps someone can tell me
The Range is probably the least touristy area of Northeast MN, and still nice
6:30, As a certified Iowan, I can confirm. Everything Debuque and north along the river is fantastic country. Beautiful scenery, and the small towns don't feel like they are in depression due to all the tourism.
Thanks for highlighting these rural areas. A lot of the other geography channels focus on best and worst cities. Thanks for giving the rural areas some shine!
I live in that part of Mass and you are spot on. Very few areas of the country have such beautiful scenery, but little tourism. The Pittsfield and North Adams areas are kind of touristy, but besides that there's an old school New England feel to this area.
👍🏼 The Beautiful 💚 Berkshires! 😎✌🏼
Didn’t know Minnesota had hill and bluff country life that, especially down there. I just thought it was all flat, thanks for the enlightening videos GeogKing!
You should see the North Shore along Lake Superior. Some insane scenery up there especially in the fall
Google the driftless area. You won’t be disappointed. The north shore is amazing as well!
Thanks for doing this. While not everyone will agree with your choices, we are so fortunate as a nation to still have many rural areas. I went to Europe this summer, and was amazed how many people live in a relatively small area. We have so much area that we can call rural and are blessed.
well said.
Well to be fair Europe is slightly larger than the US, but not by much ... but Europe has nearly 800 million people, so they gotta live somewhere :)
@@GivemeTHEfoodNOW I think it all depends on what you mean when you say Europe. I was thinking of the EU, and should have used that term instead. The EU has a population of 510 million and about half of the land area of the US. To be fair we visited mostly the populated areas and did not get much of a chance to explore the rural areas.
@@woodwaker1 Europe as in the continent Europe. Yes, i thought so you visited the populated areas ... thats where most tourists go ... and you really should visit the rural areas if you love nature and quietness.
@@GivemeTHEfoodNOW Thanks fro the suggestion
Massachusetts has a lot of rural & idyllic, economically-depressed-but-still-cute-as-a-button areas that would fit the bill in Worcester county! I’m from a farming town of 5,000 residents central state. People generalize MA but it’s really quite diverse and not all Boston-y
Love this series!
Great vid! Florida calls the area you noted “the nature coast”, where Crystal River, Dunnellon/Rainbow Springs, et al. It lies just below “the big bend” where Cedar Key, Chiefland, etc are. FYI, Florida is planning on extending by the Turnpike from the north end in Wildwood to US19-98, which runs up that west coast. Lots of locals are fighting it as expected.
As an Alabamian, I agree that the Cullman area is nice but I really feel that the NE part of the state (Cherokee, Dekalb, Marshall and Jackson Counties) is the nicest rural part of the state. Multiple small towns including Guntersville, Scottsboro, and Mentone really make this area fantastic. Not to mention, Wiess Lake, Lake Guntersville, Little River Canyon, Cherokee Rock Village, and Little River Falls as well as Lookout Mountain are very pretty. NE Alabama is about an hour from Birmingham, an hour and a half from ATL, and an hour from Chattanooga but definitely still retains its country, rural feel.
I’m from Alabama too, Totally agree!
I go to UAB and my friends dei that area, especially the Guntersville area love where they grew up!
Not to mention, Cullman has a less-than-savory local ethos.
mentone is great. the haleyville area is also nice. avoid cullman smh
You are correct he missed the mark
Galena, IL is great!!!! Appreciate the work done on this video set.
Thank you so much for doing these. I love, Love, LOVE seeing all these out-of-the-way little places in our beautiful country. I've criss-crossed the US on road trips a few times but was always on a time crunch so I wasn't able to venture too far from whatever interstate I was on (usually I-70 or I-80). Seeing the spots you highlighted, like in Iowa and Kansas, gives me such a fresh new appreciation for and perspective on the so-called flyover states.
You're the best, Geography "Northwest Corner" King!
With all the love for the driftless area in this video, I’m somewhat surprised you didn’t choose Wisconsin’s corner of it
Yeah agreed. I'm really surprised he picked Door County for Wisconsin considering how touristy it is. He also mentioned the "upscale town of Whitefish Bay" being near Door County but that's not the case. Whitefish Bay is an 'upscale' town that is part of the Milwaukee metro area, more than 2 hours south of Door County.
@@drewo6388 I believe he meant Sturgeon Bay and just misspoke.
@@petuniasevan you're probably right :)
Hi Kyle! That area you chose for Florida is referred to around here as “the Nature Coast”. I think it’s a good pick. There’s some really nice clear water springs around there like Weeki Wachee, Rainbow River, and Crystal River. Great area to see manatees too.
As a Minnesota local I will say that you picked a very beautiful part of the state. Very few states have the cool river bluff topography. Love the videos!
I loved seeing both my college (Maryland), and my Dad's hometown (Iowa) as images that you selected for the video. Excellent picks. I wasn't sure you would pick southern Maryland, because the mountains are nice, too, but I knew you had to pick northeastern Iowa.
Great videos. I grew up in a rural area (the area you pointed out for GA, in fact) and love traveling in rural areas. So it was fun to see some that I have been to and many that I know nothing about.
That area of Florida that you chose is actually called Nature Coast, which seems pretty cool. I’ve lived in Florida all my life but that is one of the few areas I haven’t been to, so I should check it out sometime
nicely presented - i recall many of the areas you spoke of - thx
Absolutely love that stretch of CA you showed. Only drove through it once, but it left a life long lasting impression with it's beauty.
Very interesting! More like this Kyle!!!
I love this stuff can't get enough. Don't always agree with some of the selections but i like your rationale. You are spot on with your selection for Michigan (where I live), the North West Lower Penn. around Grand Traverse Bay with its wineries, apple orchards, its rolling hills and beautiful Lake Michigan where it intersects with Grand Traverse Bay and further up Lake Charlevoix. Its a thriving area year around. Nice work Kyle!
This was a great couple of videos illustrating areas I didn’t know about. Makes me want to road trip them!
In Illinois, I would have added Ogle and maybe Stephenson counties. From what I'm told, Ogle is the most heavily wooded county in IL outside of the Shawnee National Forest, with 3 state parks and several state forests, state prairies and various preserves. Plus, there's the 50+' sculpture "The Eternal Indian" on the eastern bluff overlooking the Rock River, and a 94 year old castle on the opposite bluff, north of Oregon. And the original workshop for John Deere is a few miles further south in Grand Detour, IL.
Only thing about the Shawnee area is that you have Carbondale just north of it...
I agree somewhat with Kyle's pick as most other areas are either empty farmland with little of interest, suburban sprawl, or poverty (like many states). Unfortunately the only areas in Illinois with good economics are near the major metro areas. Also, there is no way Ogle is the most wooded outside of Shawnee though. Look at Fulton, Schuyler, and Brown. Despite the declining population of the driftless area though, it remains a gem for slowing down, canoeing (Wisconsin/Iowa/MN) and is a great representation of rural America
@@runvirtually5185 I live in Jo Daviess County right now and I grew up here. Excellent schools, but not a lot of jobs. Dubuque and Freeport aren't too far away. Madison is 2 hours at the most. It really is a great area (Stephenson, Ogle, Carroll, and Jo Daviess). I would add from Dewitt, Iowa including all the counties up to where Kyle added and Southwestern Wisconsin are all nice.
As someone who worked for 16 years in Mt. Morris, I do have to say that yes, Ogle and Stephenson are nice, but not quite at Jo Davies and Carroll Counties' level. The stretch between Mt. Morris and Lanark, for example, is kind of generic in places.
@@KennAKALeo agreed.
I love this channel! I’m a big Geography and Cultural Guru myself. I am so impressed how he’s able to speak these Facts! I couldn’t agree with him more regarding Wiggins or Stone County, Mississippi. You’re close yet far enough from the Extremely Vulnerable Coast where Hurricanes are the most brutal due to their shallow waters.
Litchfield County is definitely the prettiest part of Connecticut, and you chose the prettiest town to highlight, Cornwall, and specifically, West Cornwall, which has the covered bridge. I used to live about 300 feet away from the bridge. In summer it does attract a lot of people who fly fish and boat down the Housatonic River, and the leaf peepers descend when the fall colors come...
We passed through Salida, CO while they were holding the FIBArk Festival there last year and it was definitely a highlight of our trip - the entire area was just a joy to travel through!
Interesting call with Minnesota. Makes sense if you're going for overall livability. I love the Northwoods and Boundary Waters, but places like Ely are not super livable in the winter.
How about a series on the best mountain ranges? Like are the Sierra Nevada better than the Cascades? White Mountains in New Hampshire or Great Smokey Mountains? You could really separate the different ranges into different sections and talk about accessability, climate, biodiversity, uniqueness, etc. I know you are probably familiar with Mt San Jacinto here in CA, I think it is a very under the radar mountain!
I'd like to see a similar series on major rivers. He could have similar rating criteria, such as beauty, climate, biodiversity, pollution/cleanliness, urbanization vs natural features.
Maybe not a ranking, but some type of overview and classification with the factors you mentioned would be awesome
@@GRZUX ranking videos have higher probability to drive views due to the inherent differences of opinion. Just classifying mountain ranges is not as favorable for the YT platform. Perhaps in written form.
Best would really depend on what kind of activity you plan on doing in the mountains. Different answers for skiing, mountain biking, hiking, climbing, paddling, camping, etc.
I second this idea. Would definitely enjoy that.
I spent a year in Winona, MN. It was a fantastic haven for hiking and had a plethora of big city amenities with a small town feel. You nailed it!
Kyle, you've shown exquisite taste in using the northwest corner of Illinois for Illinois. I am an Illinoisan, and my mother's family all lived in and around Savanna. Despite not living there myself, I would visit it often. Sadly everyone in the family who lived there has now passed.
One minor correction, people say "Jo Daveez" not "Jo Davis" when referring to Jo Davies county.
Great info and visuals! Thanks so much for creating this vid and pt 1
It's pretty cool to see how many of the places you pick are places I've taken a road trip through. Quite a few! Glad to hear you're coming from a geology background too.
I live in Iowa and totally agree with your pick for us! And also your picks in MN, MO, and KS, I travel through those areas frequently. You did some good research and traveling!
Great stuff Kyle. Besides your well thought out content I, really love to scroll through the comments. Will use both to literally map out the next route.
You're awesome! Thanks for another good video.
I'm from the area you recommended in Louisiana, and I live on the Oregon Coast, so it's pretty neat that I've lived in two spots you chose.
You also chose my favorite spots in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah!
Nice pronunciation of Lafayette by the way ✌️
I'm so happy you chose East CA!! My favorite scenic highway in the US, always gotta stop through Bishop and that Chevron Lone Pine
I live one county to the west of Winona County in Minnesota and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else... It's just about the perfect mixture of urban and rural communities, so you kinda get the best of both worlds. The driftless area's scenery is great and it definitely gets overlooked by most and never heard of by even more.
As someone who recently stopped in Winona along the Empire Builder train route, I gotta say, we really need to put some respect on Winona's name more! Absolutely beautiful city and deserves more daily trains to hopefully boost that sleeper tourism. Thankfully TCMC/Great River starts this summer!
My family (I grew up in the Los Angeles area) used to vacation up the 395 corridor to Bishop, where we stayed and often fished in the Owens River (caught a lot of trout there). I still love that region and am quite gratified that you included it as "best rural area" of California. There are so very many rural regions in that state, many little-known to the outsider. This is one of them, and it's so very scenic to boot. I'd like to go back and visit someday.
Having lived in Maryland for 31 years, I think I would have chosen the western part of the state. The mountains and rolling farmland are quite lovely.
same, born and raised in the town he showed a photo of. it just looks cutesy, it's all navy employees and bmore investors
The Deep Creek Lake area is especially nice!
I agree. The chosen counties in Maryland have low population densities, but those numbers are achieved with big pockets of flat empty spaces. In western Maryland the population is more evenly spread out and the mountains are much more scenic. The problem is that many of those western areas are economically depressed which was one of his criteria.
Haha represent. I was gonna say the same thing
The Western Maryland mountain region was the most spellbindingly beautiful place I had ever visited. I was there in 1987.
Great video . Love this series
I do enjoy this series, maybe you'll do Canada next because I'll be visiting Canada next year
I have to salute the amount of work and thought you put into this, even if I would dispute your selections for a few of the states I am familiar with. Even with your stated criteria, it is bound to be pretty subjective.
Good pick for Florida. I live in Tampa and have visited that area a few times. It's called the Sun Coast. Always love watching your videos. Appreciate all your hard work in making them.
Super good video. I known the Midwest areas well. Great job!
Been waiting for part 2...not disappointed. U da man Kyle!
Great job Kyle
Wow! I live in Cullman Alabama. I drive on the roads right through that picture basically every day. lol. And I'd have to agree with what you said. Thanks for the shout out.
Good calls on both Arizona and California. I really love that area around Bishop, CA. There's so much amazing scenery and places to visit, from Mono Lake to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Southeast AZ also features a fantastic spot in Chiricahua National Monument (hopefully soon to be a national park).
I would have picked somewhere in Northern AZ personally, but I guess I’m a sucker for somewhere with more seasons than just “hot”
I was thinking it must be Cochise county or the Verde Valley, but the Verde Valley is definitely the more touristy of the two, with Sedona and Jerome just overflowing with tourists and for a greater portion of the year
Great videos! I was subscribed but your videos haven't been showing up in my feed so its been a while. I have clicked the notification bell so hopefully I will be here more regularly. I grew up in FL and currently live in WI and I could think of a few more really nice rural areas to live in both states. But I don't want to give them away hence they get ruined like my beloved hometown of Naples, FL. I really love your videos! You always give a thorough and fair assessment of the cities/areas you cover. Keep up the good work!
Good list man.
I was waiting for part 2 to see where you’d be in my home state of Alabama. Excited to see you chose Winston Co. I grew up in Double Springs. Check out the story of the Free State of Winston!
Loved this video ! keep it up Kyle
I just realized you have fishing for fishies in the background. Nice :)
For Hawai'i I probably would've picked anywhere in Molokai or the north part of the Big Island. Both of those areas are pretty rural and can be remote from any civilization and tourists.
Agree with Molokai
North part of big island peaked my interest, too. Verdant farms and quaint communities and rural villages that just look “normal” and not touristy. But I discovered on further investigation that it’s downside is that unless you’re extremely rich or your family has lived there for generations, you’ll never be able to buy property there.
I should have scrolled down lol, you are correct imo.
I lived in Greenfield MA for a year and Hadley for two years. I miss it, you had all the amenities you could want from an urban area and beautiful small towns, farms and mountains all within less than an hours drive. Plus one of the best food scenes for a non-urban area in the country.
Always liked the local FM station there, on the drive from Boston.... 😎✌🏼
Thanks for the great content!
Being from Alaska, I absolutely miss Seward. It’s one of my favorite places on Earth. It’s so beautiful there and the people are always friendly.
Very neat Kyle! 😀 This is one of your best yet, and all of them are quite good so this one rocked!
Very nice. Thank you.
I lived in Florida , a town in
Western Massachusetts, so nice.
It's about half the size of Boston with
just 300 people.
@@howarddamico1237 Love that pic
Love the vid!
Please consider coming to Colorful Colorado and visiting the rural Southwestern Colorado. We can see in a four hour drive elk, deer, pronghorn, big horn sheep, bear, and countless species of birds. Your videos are fun and informative. Keep it up!
As a Mississippian that live right below Wiggins and travels to Wiggins all the time I agree. Everywhere else is kind of scary.
I used to live in SE Minnesota. You are correct in your pronunciation of Winona. You are also correct in that the SE portion of the state along the river is very scenic and laid back. I'm now in Colorado. I'd avoid the big ski resort towns. But the areas south of Grand Mesa all the way down to the Pagosa Springs and the NM border are very nice.
I’m loving the king gizzard and the lizard wizard LP in the background
Fishing for Fishies rules
Colorado has so many lovely areas, it's gotta be hard to choose just one. That said, if you haven't been to the Black Hawk area, stop in next time. BH is known for its casinos, but as soon as you get out of the gaming district, it's a bit of rural mountain paradise. Try taking CO 119 from Black Hawk to Nederland, and from there continue on down to Boulder if you please. Bringing up another point for BH...it is still pretty close to the Denver metro, so you can have the best of both.
As someone from Kansas, I would've chosen a portion of the flint hills as well. Great pick!
Good choice on the CA picks. 👍🤙
For Florida that's basically what we call the Nature Coast, minus Pasco county.
Yeah somewhat as you go to Spring Hill it becomes Tampa Bay Exurbs
Crazy coincidence Kyle. I actually just went on a spring break trip with our college Earth Science department to Inyo and Mono County in California too. I wholeheartedly agree, a very charming area tucked away between the mountain ranges
Western Massachusetts has the Berkshire Mountains, so it is lovely. Also, it has the "five college" region, so you have a lot of nice college towns there (Williams, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, etc.).
Williams is a fine school, but not part of the 5 colleges. Amerhst, Mt Holyoke, Hampshire, UMASS, Smith. Those are the 5.
My husband and I concluded that Berkshire and Franklin counties are the only rural counties in Massachusetts. Hampshire county is still somewhat rural
@@espalier Really? That's not what I had heard.
I agree with you about the northern counties of Arkansas. I believe they are higher in elevation than the rest of the state so they can be a bit cooler in the summer.
However, I don't see how you can say finding rural areas in Arizona can be a challenge. Are you not familiar with the forests in the northern part of the state? Forest cities like Prescott and Flagstaff win hands down over the dusty, desert areas of the southeast part of the state.
I 100% agree with your choice of the eastern Sierra. Bishop is a great town. Bodie, Mono Lake (with it's tufa mounds and fantastic obsidian domes), June Lakes, Devil's postpile, various beautiful lakes up in the eastern Sierra, the fabulous White Mtns with the bristlecone pines, and the new museum at Manzanar - something for everyone at any time of year.
Regarding other people's choice of Humboldt and Del Norte counties - those are spectacularly beautiful no doubt, but less scenic and cultural variety. And if hot temps bother you, don't visit the eastern Sierra in the summer. But the other 9 months are great.
Love these videos, Kyle.
@@howarddamico1237 Lol!!!!!
LETS GOOOO Cullman, AL represent. Doubt anyone else born and raised in cullman will see this but lets gooooooo
GOOD CALL on the Ellijay/Blue Ridge area of Georgia. Both of those towns are adorable, pretty, safe, and fun! With really nice wineries in that area too. It's a great, fairly affordable area to enjoy the lush, mountainous outdoors all just 80 minutes from Atlanta with really mild winters. That's HARD to do (mild winters in the mountains), but the far southern tip of Appalachia around Ellijay pulls it off! Just a few inches of snow per year there.
Florida native here - the FL counties you picked are Levy, Citrus, and Hernando (from N to S). They are part of what's called the Nature Coast of Florida. That area is not known at all for beaches, because there are so few. That whole stretch is almost all marshland, with the occasional habitable island. The area is well known for manatees and natural springs. One of the coolest small towns ever is in Levy County, called Cedar Key. Check it out.
Honestly he could have picked a bunch of counties in Florida. Especially the area around Lake Okeechobee like Glades County
I wanna go to cedar key
As someone who lives in Rural Alabama, I can say that Cullman and Windsor counties are indeed nice and peaceful rural areas. Towns nearest to Huntsville tend to get the benefits of being near one of the fastest growing economic cities in the state. Also the natural scenery is definitely a win.
As a Massachusetts resident, while I can confirm much of Berkshire and Franklin Counties are really nice there are a lot of really nice rural towns throughout the state including in the Boston exurbs. Bristol, Plymouth, Essex and Middlesex counties all have a lot of nice rural towns.
I also just recently visited Litchfield County (also known as the Litchfield Hills) for the first time and really enjoyed it!
Liking your choices here for Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. I used to drive from Anamosa IA to Menominee WI to visit my then girlfriend and that drive along the Mississippi was so beautiful. Plus the artist Grant Wood (of American Gothic fame) was from Stone City Iowa. If you look at any of his landscape artwork, you can see how the rolling hills of that part of the state influenced him.
Thanks for teaching me about the Driftless Area. I feel pretty silly that I’ve lived in Illinois for 20 years and never heard of the term…
northwest michigan is full of fresh fruit, beer, and wine, too! the cherry season is amazing, you can get a giant bag at u-pick places. strawberries, blueberries, apples… all in our wine and beer as well. i recommend Mawby’s winery outside Traverse and Short’s brewery in Bellaire
Thank you excellent
Really interesting take on under-covered parts of the US.
I’m happy living along the Colorado Front Range, but you’ve given me some intriguing places to road trip to…..thereby helping to spoil their out of the way vibe. 😉
I think the southwestern portions of kentucky would be a cool place to live if i were to choose somewhere else in KY to live. The rural parts near Paducah and Mayfield are really calm, you are close to some large towns/small cities but are also within decent proximity to the land between the lakes for great nature. A 2 hour drive from Nashville isn't too bad either, as well as a 3 hour drive to St. Louis or Memphis. There are a lot of decent options in KY for rural living honestly
I agree that the Traverse City, Mi part of Michigan is beautiful and unspoiled. I just took a weeks vacation in Frankfort, Mi. Which is near the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The scenery is breathtaking
Great job on both these videos!
I've definitely noticed a few regional trends.
In addition to the criteria you mentioned (not poor/economically depressed, but not overrun with tourists, or too close to bigger cities to be more exurban than rural, though still maybe close enough for an easy trip to the bigger city) - I noticed a few trends.
You seem to like New England rural areas/small towns the best (who doesn't?), but the southern New England with the exception of a few corners of the states are too suburban/exurban, while inland Maine is a bit rough (yes, other people including my own family who have been Baxter state park commented on this), the rest is picture perfect it seems.
Southern states which the exception of Florida, which has the opposite of having experienced too much growth all over, the rural areas are pretty poor/depressed, and have fewer nice rural areas than most other states. You definitely seemed leaning towards the Blue Ridge mountains as well as the Chesapeake Bay and Delmarva peninsula - again makes sense. Oceans and mountains are scenic. (The West coast has both in the same location).
In the Midwest - definitely seemed like there was a big emphasis on bluffs and rivers. (Makes sense as these are the few "scenic" areas in the states, though closer to the Ohio river - gets a bit poorer). Also, interesting that despite easy day trip distance from Chicago, the most scenic areas of Wisconsin and Michigan are not priced out by the wealthy. Growing up near Chicago, it seems like the wealthy often don't like to go far from their city for their lake houses, or the opposite - they'll fly somewhere exotic for their vacations.
In the Intermountain West - the most scenic areas have gotten too touristy/"yuppified" or "discovered" (though still the best option for access to real wilderness) so the second or third most scenic regions are chosen. And the towns of the Desert Southwest are too rough (though also are some of the best options for access to real wilderness).
Also, interesting for Alaska, you picked the places that are closest to, though not in or just outside Anchorage as they at least have some access to basic civilization and are not in a climate that will kill you.
Is this all about right?
Living in KY, my favorite part is the inner bluegrass, so around the Lexington area. Amazing horse farms and beautiful rolling green fields. On a pretty spring/summer day, you almost have to stop and just enjoy it
Never thought I'd see downtown Bishop, CA on one of your videos! Hit the nail on the head about the L.A. folks. Haha
That part of Michigan is really nice. Lots to do around there. I’m thinking about a trip to that part of the state later in the spring.
Very good review. You should look at far northern California and southern Oregon.
That part of Iowa is sometimes referred to as Little Switzerland. One of the major reasons that the physical geography of that part of the state is so different from the rest of the state has to do with the glacial periods. There were five major glacial periods in Iowa’s past and while most of the state’s topography was affected by at least two of the glaciers, that part was only affected by one.
For Indiana, I'd personally pick the area between Indy and Bloomington. Nashville Indiana was so nice and so was brown, Morgan, and Hendricks counties in general.
Yep. I live up more towards where he listed and while Steuben is nice with lakes the others are pretty industrial counties with lots of drug issues. I wouldn’t want to live there
Thanks for mentioning Jo Davies and Carroll County Illinois! They are very unlike the rest of Illinois since they are hilly rather than flat. The highest point in the state is in this area (Charles Mound near Galena)
While I agree with his pick, being from the northern edge of the state, I almost wished he had picked the far southeastern portion down along the Ohio River. Like the Galena area, the Southeastern end of the state is unlike the rest of the state in terrain and beauty. There are some amazing state parks down there, along with some wonderful small back woods towns.
I will say that we do get a lot of Chicago tourists in Galena
@@sydney4911 I would agree to an extent. The only thing about southern Illinois is it's economy. As an Illinoisan myself, the state hasn't really been taking the best care of any of it's rural communities, but Galena in the northwestern corner is doing okay and there's Dubuque (though that would only be a benefit to western Jo Daviess county anyways). Southern Illinois has Paducah and maybe Cape Girardeau, though the latter would only be of useful for Alexander County. Though I have driven through Metropolis, and I will say that it's a cute little town. Other than economy, southern Illinois does check off everything else. It really depends on what you think is more important.
@@jrhaven Your admonition of the state's treatment of its rural area is on point. I am from west central, Schuyler County. Jo Davies is about the only county almost any Chicago Metro inhabitant goes to on purpose, so it made that area an easy option for this list. It does look beautiful up there though. West central does have a large draw for deer hunters in season, but our area may be generally too poor to be considered. A lot of people in and out of Illinois don't realize how beautiful the Western half of the state is, all up and down, really. All of the major river valleys flowing towards the Mississippi, giving far more variance in topography than is often known. Schuyler borders the Illinois River, so our whole area drains that direction making deeply cut and heavily wooded hills and hollers. Yes, hollers.
@@ryantrone4140 Yeah facts. I travel east and west there on US 20 somewhat frequently. The part between Galena and Elizabeth is really scenic. I haven't personally seen much of the west side of the state, but the UA-camr Chris Harden has done videos where he drives around some of the smaller towns there, and it seems to be pretty nice. Definitely not what one would expect considering the stereotype of Illinois.
As a lifelong Minnesotan I whole-heartedly agree. The North Shore and Boundary Waters probably win for absolute natural beauty, but in looking for a really lovely place where a few people live and also isn't too touristy, the SE is really gorgeous. You can even see it start in the SE Twin Cities, which is the prettiest area of the metro, imo. There's a lot of beautiful, rolly polly little towns like Lanesboro in SE MN. And everything around there in neighboring states is great too, La Croix, WI being one of the prettiest towns of this area. If you go there at the right time in a wet winter, you see some incredible giant ice formations hanging from the cliffs.
I'm in Lagrange county Indiana. 50 minutes from Fort Wayne, 30 minutes from Elkhart, Mishawaka and South Bend. We are in a perfect spot here... 3 hrs from Traverse city and Bloomington too. Lagrange/Elkhart counties has a very high amish population, very rural