OUTDOOR-FRIENDLY CITIES IN AMERICA RANKED

RVshare partnered with Cairn Consulting Group to identify the most and least outdoor-friendly cities across the U.S. Several factors were taken into consideration to determine which cities would receive these rankings, such as the number of visits to public parks and land, nights spent camping, membership in outdoor groups and many more.

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SEE HOW YOUR CITY RANKS

THE MOST AND LEAST

Do you live in or plan to visit one of these outdoor paradises? Discover the top fresh-air-filled destinations each city boasts, like some of the best skiing, kayaking, hiking, and National Park access. Find out why these cities were named the best in the U.S. for an outdoor lifestyle.

MOST OUTDOOR-FRIENDLY CITIES

LEAST OUTDOOR-FRIENDLY CITIES

Find a full breakdown of the least outdoor-friendly cities, including how they ranked for each determining factor, plus the bright side of these cities, from the outdoor-friendly areas they do have access to, to some of the biggest outdoor-draws such as National Parks that aren’t too far away.

HOW WERE SCORES DETERMINED?

The final rankings for the cities needed to take into account the relative importance each area of measurement has on the scoring. For example, even though intuitively it may seem that the average number of days residents participate in outdoor recreation would be an important determinant, it is, in fact, the least important predictor. What is most important are visits to public parks and lands, having access to Federal outdoor recreation opportunities, and whether residents and guests identify the city as offering great access and branded as an outdoor-friendly destination.

From each of these categories, the measurements were standardized to ensure that all cities were placed on equal footing, and no location had an advantage due to having an overabundance of one type of recreation based on climate or seasonality. Next, each item was weighted based on relative importance and contribution to the overall summary score. Finally, each of the contributing factors was ranked, ultimately determining the ranking for each of the cities, which again, minimizes the impact of having a location with an unfair advantage in a single category, as well as each city having a set of both objective and subject outcomes determine their place on the list.

THE FULL BREAKDOWN OF HOW THE MOST AND LEAST OUTDOOR-FRIENDLY CITIES WERE DETERMINED INCLUDE:

Number of days participated in outdoor recreation
Number of visits to public parks & land
Use of outdoor apps and planning tools
Types of activities to participate in
Equipment owned for outdoor recreation
Nights camping/RVing/glamping
Days spent at nature-based spaces
Membership in outdoor groups
Visits from travelers from other regions for the purpose of outdoor recreation
Rankings for access to outdoor recreation
Rankings for views on being outdoors-oriented
Proximity and access to State & Municipal Parks & Trails
Proximity and access to Federal Lands (e.g., National Parks, BLM land, National Forests, Wilderness areas)

Don’t see your city on the list? We compiled a full breakdown of each city we measured.