Boise ranked top 10 on national hiking list. We’re not as high as you’d think

Shaun Goodwin
·2 min read
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It may not come as a surprise, but Boise has been ranked in the top 10 of another list of the best hiking cities in America.

What may come as a surprise is where in the top 10 Boise came in at No. 10.

Boise’s ranking is according to lawn care company LawnStarter, which compared the 200 biggest cities in the United States across five essential categories to a good hiking town: trail access, trail quality, access to supplies, climate, and safety.

Data was gathered from AllTrails, NeighborhoodScout and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other sources.

The Idaho capital ranked 10th with a score of 54.17 out of 100, narrowly behind Colorado Springs (55.47), but ahead of San Francisco (51.84). Under the five key categories, Boise ranked 6th for hiking access, 12th for hiking quality, 35th in access to supplies, 42nd for climate, 16th in safety.

Down at the other end of the spectrum, Jersey City in New Jersey ranked as the worst city for hikers, with a cumulative score of 23.63.

It’s no surprise that Boise is in the top 10, with over 200 miles of trails right on the city’s front door in the Boise Foothills. The Ridge to Rivers trail system’s interactive map outlines every hike in the Foothills, many of which feed directly into some of Boise’s most popular neighborhoods, such as the North End, East End and Northwest Boise.

Boiseans love their hiking so much that each year they even compete in the Boise Trails Challenge to hike over 170 miles of trails within a month or as fast as possible.

The Gem State was ranked the 4th-best state for camping, leaning even further into Idahoans’ love for nature and spending time on the state’s thousands of miles of hiking trails.

So it’s surprising to see Boise as low as it is, behind other cities that may not strike people as hiking paradises, such as a trio of cities in California. Perhaps the hike up to the Hollywood sign is giving Los Angeles a couple of extra bonus points.

Who else made the top 10?

According to LawnStarter, here are the top 10 cities in America for hiking, along with their cumulative score.

  1. Portland, Oregon (59.18)

  2. Phoenix, Arizona (57.93)

  3. Los Angeles, California (57.66)

  4. Honolulu, Hawaii (57.03)

  5. Tucson, Arizona (56.94)

  6. San Diego, California (56.55)

  7. Oakland, California (55.64)

  8. Salt Lake City, Utah (55.54)

  9. Colorado Springs, Colorado (55.47)

  10. Boise, Idaho (54.17)