Best State To Live and Off-Road?

[Bird Dog Off Road]

Where are some of best places to live and have daily access to great off-roading?

State, County, Towns. Etc..

Very subjective question, so expect a wide variety of answers. I'd say Colorado, Utah, and maybe California probably have the most trails based on what I've seen online over the last 4 years.

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[FLSTFI Dave]

It's frustrating and I get it, because eastern WA and north ID has been through the left coast invasion too.

I promise, if/when I move to TN, I'm going to embrace the local culture. I told my wife we're going to tell people we came from ID so we get less stink eye. Only a tiny fib since I have lived in ID twice.

Biggest frustrations for me is the change to the atmosphere of my neighborhood. Then the congestion on the inter stating going to Knoxville and congestion in Knoxville.

NB: Adding the quote made this post too long, so in response to FLSTFI Dave:

I'll take a property tax increase as long as the ratio of increase is less than the ratio of increase in home value. My increase sure is (and so was yours using 900k to 2.5million ratio versus 2130/3750 ratio).

And they can look down on me all they want... they're the dingleberries paying $2,550,000 for the 2,600 sq. ft. home across from my 2,500 sq ft. home built the same year (2011) that I paid (rounded) $400,000 and the only "renovations" the folks who moved out did were change some light fixtures and slap on some paint on the walls. They can look down all they want. I'm the one laughing at them.

I could care less that my home went up in value. It costs me money, both in insurance and taxes. I'm on a fixed income. I have no desire to sell, or move. Love living on the lake, and looking at the hills of east TN from my Deck.

Really don't care what the transplants from CA, NY, MA, CT and so on think of me. What I do care about is them destroying the friendly deep south atmosphere of my neighborhood. Transplants want an HOA, which will never happen, but they are pushing it hard. 2 years ago everyone knew everyone, everyone waved, everyone watched out for each other. The Transplants do not wavy, do not speak, do not watch out for their neighbors. Worst of all, its a 8 mile hilly and very curvy road, and they cant stay in their lane.

Hey Tennessee folks.... What's the deal with a high violent crime rates? Never when I was comparing states, I never thought to compare violent crimes and when I did, Tennessee pretty high.

It's gone up sharply in the last couple years in Knoxville, Nashville and Chattanoga, Memphis has always been bad, but has gotten worse. Several reason but one of the biggest is the soft on Crime policies. Couple that with the population explosion since 2020 in Nashville and Knoxville.

Seeing I know Knoxville best, Rent has gone up 61% since COVID, which is causing much more homeless people. Population of TN went up 23% in 2020, much of that growth in Nashville, and Knoxville. TN according to U-haul was the number 1 destination in 2020 edging out TX and FL

 

[TinStar]

Illinois, it has plenty of Malls

 

[JBlanco]

NC is horrible for this. Stay Away!!

 

[Tacanta14]

Congrats! Hope you enjoy those trails, Wasichu!

Thanks, "Mr" Ford!

 

[Tricky Dick]

Seeing I know Knoxville best, Rent has gone up 61% since COVID, which is causing much more homeless people. Population of TN went up 23% in 2020, much of that growth in Nashville, and Knoxville. TN according to U-haul was the number 1 destination in 2020 edging out TX and FL

Ouch. 23% could flip a state overnight and undo everything that makes it great. Knoxville is where I'd want to be too.

 

[Big Diamond]

I certainly wouldn't say it's best for off roading, but....
Georgia is where I've been for almost 20 years and I love being in the South. I was raised in coastal Florida and as much as I liked it, it just doesn't feel like the south at all to me compared to Georgia.
I'm in Atlanta and own a business here with my best friends. Blue ridge is 1.5 hours away. We have the Georgia Traverse and lots of Forest service roads. The coast isn't far. TN isn't far. NC isn't far.
Now back to Florida...
I'm in the restaurant business and we closed one restaurant permanently due to the pandemic, while at the same time started a very small oyster farm on the forgotten coast of Florida. There is a lot of dirt roads to explore. It takes 5 hours to get from Atlanta to the oyster farm and it's a beautiful drive with a lot of back roads. Way better for off-roading than the Florida I grew up in.

Lastly, @MadMan4BamaNATL, I own a bar/restaurant in Atlanta. We have good bourbon. We'd love to have you in one of our stools some day.

 

[FLSTFI Dave]

Ouch. 23% could flip a state overnight and undo everything that makes it great. Knoxville is where I'd want to be too.

Knoxville area is nice, I'm 45 miles out of it by design. Maryville Is very nice, just east of Knoxville, about 15 minutes away. Maryville is closer to SMNP, and the national forests.

I'm in the restaurant business and we closed one restaurant permanently due to the pandemic, while at the same time started a very small oyster farm on the forgotten coast of Florida. There is a lot of dirt roads to explore. It takes 5 hours to get from Atlanta to the oyster farm and it's a beautiful drive with a lot of back roads. Way better for off-roading than the Florida I grew up in.

Lastly, @MadMan4BamaNATL, I own a bar/restaurant in Atlanta. We have good bourbon. We'd love to have you in one of our stools some day.

Forgotten coast of FL is nice. Very good oysters come out of that area, especially Apalatchacola bay.

Good Bourbon and Good Oysters are hard to beat.

 

[stickshifthappy]

Here in Va. we have great off road opportunities at any number of college football tailgate "courses".

 

[Patkachu]

Any good places to off road in New York State? Nothing extreme just want to stretch the badlands sas legs.

thanks

 

[Callelk]

Red is mostly off-road/public land area...take your pick!

 

[Oldhippie]

Calif is terrible! They have either paved or closed all the trails…please do not come here…

 

[woodysfj40]

Utah is closed, the moose out front shoulda told ya....

 

[Area51BS]

I’d have to say Nevada, Utah and Arizona area. Anywhere except Florida. Just sand and mud here. Or man made courses.

 

[userdude]

Man! Finally a thread where the Born-in-Texas crowd isn't drowning out the lesser-thans! I mean, ain't my fault you were born somewhere that's not Texas. Bwahaha!

For me, I'd say California. Irrespective of the blather, as @Snacktime said, you're never but a couple/few hours from something awesome.

However, I'm here to pimp Texas as a great place to be an off roader. You do got options! As they say, we're a state that's a country unto itself!

West Texas: Merus Adventure Park, right in Palo Duro Canyon (checkout my profile pic), it's awesome and only getting better. Escondido Draw Recreational Area and Big Bend National Park are far away but destinations in their own rights. Yes, there are mountains, if not alpines.

Central Texas: Hidden Falls in the Hill Country. There's more, I assume around Dripping Springs and Fredericksburg, which are both awesome. Hill Country is a great place to be.

East/South Texas: Barnwell Mountain, plus the whole East Texas thing including Xtreme Off Road Park. General Sams near Huntsville and in the beautiful Sam Houston Forest. They do things a little different out there. Growing up in East Houston, saw some pretty wild off road rigs, including some that cut through swamps. There's also beaches if you're into that thing.

North Texas: This is where I live and we have Northwest OHV, run by Bridgeport. We had at least one more but they closed.

Texas of course is huge, so geography is both a bonus and a hindrance. Being around DFW and on I-35, it's a run up the road to Cross Bar Ranch, and a weekender up to Broken Row Rec Area, Gruber OHV and Little Blue Disney (Ultra4). The Boston Mountains and Arkansas are right there, too, with all those mountain trails. If you're willing to traverse Texas, southern New Mexico and of course Colorado aren't too far away.

I've missed a lot I'm just not aware of. There's Rednecks with Paychecks, which I gotta check out in September. I know I see a lot of off road rigs around Texas, and there's a lot of differentiated experiences to be had. You just gotta get here!

(General Sams)

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