Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Outdoors

How well does your home state rank for adventure? Study reveals the best and worst states

Here are the best (and worst) states for adventure

Sarah Joseph
By
Family camping
Daiga Ellaby / Unsplash

Are you planning your next family vacation and are looking for an adventure-filled experience? It’s essential to choose a state that offers a wide range of activities to keep everyone entertained.

Luckily, Family Vacation Guide has conducted a comprehensive analysis and ranked all 50 states in America based on their adventure offerings. By considering factors such as accessibility to ski resorts, mountain bike trails, horseback riding trails, national parks, camping areas, and water sports, they have determined the best states for outdoor lovers and which ones you may want to avoid.

Recommended Videos

The view from an MSR tent looking out over camping chairs and a lake.

Top 3 states for adventure

#1: Wyoming (Adventure Score: 9.36/10)

When it comes to the ultimate outdoor adventure destination for your family, Wyoming takes the crown. This remarkable state offers a stunning array of attractions, from ski mountains to National Parks like Yellowstone. Wyoming is truly a haven for camping enthusiasts, boasting an impressive ratio of 1.2 national parks per 100,000 people. Whatever adventure you’re craving, you’ll definitely find it here.

Related

#2: Montana (Adventure Score: 9.12/10)

Montana is well-known for its vast, open spaces and enchanting starlit skies. This makes it a dream destination for a family vacation. Hiking lovers will definitely find adventure on Montana’s 342 trails per 100,000 people. Moreover, Montana stands out as a frontrunner in mountain biking locations, with 286 trails per 100,000 people. Montana is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, promising an unforgettable adventure for the whole family to cherish.

#3: Utah (Adventure Score: 8.65/10)

With enchanting waterfalls and serene wildlife encounters, Utah presents nature enthusiasts with an unforgettable experience. Explorers passionate about horseback riding will be thrilled by Utah’s abundant 47 trails per 100,000 people, offering a diverse range of terrains and scenic routes. Among these, Family Vacation Guide highlights the Hidden Canyon trail beckons thrill-seekers with its reputation as a hotspot for rock crawling enthusiasts. Utah is chock-full of adventures waiting to be discovered. You won’t regret choosing it for your next adventure.

The Indiana Dunes in Chesterton, Indiana.

Worst 3 states for adventure

#48: Indiana (1.85/10)

While not entirely devoid of adventure opportunities, Indiana falls short compared to other states. With only 23 camping spots per 100,000 people and limited options for skiing or horseback riding, finding outdoor thrills will be far more challenging here.

#49: Oklahoma (1.79/10)

Oklahoma offers 37 camping spots per 100,000 people but lacks significant opportunities for skiing, swimming, hiking, backpacking, or camping. For those seeking a true adventure experience, exploring other states might be a more suitable choice.

#50: Louisiana (1.74/10)

Ranked last on our list is Louisiana, where snow sports are nonexistent, and options for hiking, swimming, and camping are limited. If you’re looking for an action-packed vacation, it’s advisable to consider alternative destinations.

Man walking with hiking poles
Jan Niclas Aberle / Unsplash

Conclusion

Wyoming, Montana, and Utah stand out as the top states for thrilling outdoor experiences, offering abundant opportunities for horseback riding, hiking, and camping. On the other hand, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have relatively fewer adventure options available for your family’s next journey. Hopefully, this ranking by Family Vacation Guide makes the choice easy.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Sarah Joseph
Sarah Joseph
Contributor
Sarah is a lover of all things outdoors. With a bright sense of adventure and a heart for the mountains, she is always…
Costco has a secret online store, Costco Next, that any member can access – here’s how
It's just like Costco, only premium - and there are no hot dogs
Ft. Wayne - Circa August 2017: Costco Wholesale Location. Costco Wholesale is a Multi-Billion Dollar Global Retailer X

 

Whether you have a bunch of kids and need that Costco membership for the snacks or are entering your middle-age era and have started shopping for your jeans there, Costco membership holders are die-hard people. There are whole Reddit pages dedicated to how to best shop at the store and plenty of TikToks showing how to maximize Costco hauls. Plus, where else do you get a hot dog and a drink for $1.50 these days? But we all know that staying home and ordering online from your favorite store is where it's at, so get ready to be blown away by how to access Costco Next, Costco's best-hidden feature.

Read more
How to poop in the woods: A guide for when nature calls when you’re out in nature
Bears do it, birds do it, and man did it for thousands of years before the advent of modern plumbing
A wooden outhouse with a crescent moon cutout on the door.

Maybe you’re looking to save the environment one sh** at a time or you prefer to steer clear of danger while doing manly things in the wilderness. Either way, this guide on how to poop in the woods will probably come in handy sooner or later.

Until 206 B.C., which is believed to be when China invented the first water closet system (what we call outhouses today), man was pooping in the woods without a care in the world. But there came a time when defecating among the wilderness creatures indiscriminately just didn’t seem civil anymore. Soon after, pooping in the woods became unpopular because it attracted predators, made it hard to create a community with such waste, and quite simply smelled really, really bad.

Read more
How to treat a snake bite when you’re stuck in a worst-case scenario
Follow these first-aid tips, and you'll live to hike another day
Rattlesnake in the desert

In the summertime, the call of the wild demands to be answered. Whether you’re hiking, camping, enjoying your backyard, or you just live in Florida, there’s a small chance that answering that call will be met with some aggressive fauna. The usually silent slithering of a snake can ruin a day spent basking in nature, but a snake bite doesn't have to ruin your life. Keep reading to learn hot to treat a snake bite.

What to do immediately after a snake bite
"The first thing to do is get away from the snake — don't try to capture it, that's just going to provide the potential for more people to get hurt," Dr. Nicholas Kman, professor of emergency medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Live Science.

Read more