Placer and Nevada County CA ranked tops in nation for recreation

WHETHER IT’S BIKING, HIKING, camping, swimming or picnicking, Placer and Nevada Counties are ranked among America’s 50 best counties for outdoor activities, according to a new survey.

Placer County ranked #36, Nevada County ranked #47 and El Dorado ranked #49 in the nation, according to Niche, which runs a popular ranking and review site. The top counties were dominated by Colorado (Pitkin, home to Aspen, was #1; and Eagle, where Vail is located, was #3).

In California, Placer County ranked #3, Nevada County ranked #6 and El Dorado County ranked #7 in outdoor activities among the state’s 58 counties — an impressive result. Calaveras County ranked #1.

The 2015 Niche rankings “takes into account key indicators of a location’s environment and surroundings, including air quality, local weather, and access to natural amenities and outdoor recreation, in an attempt to measure an area’s quality of and access to the outdoors.”

In addition, these locales in our region ranked in the top 100 as the nation’s best places for outdoor activities: Placerville (#30), the North and West Shore of Lake Tahoe (#35), Auburn (#40), South Lake Tahoe (#48), Grass Valley (#54) and Pollock Pines (#41).

In California, our local towns ranked high for outdoor activities: Placerville was #2, Lake Tahoe was #7, Auburn was #9 and Grass Valley was #18.

Our region also showed up on the “best towns in America list.” Truckee ranked #65 and Placerville ranked #95.

In California, Truckee ranked #23, Placerville ranked #27, Auburn ranked #29, South Lake Tahoe ranked #33 and Grass Valley ranked #39. Palo Alto was ranked the best town in America.

Our local towns generally received higher marks for things to do, outdoor activities, commuting and their weather (mostly “A’s”).

Grass Valley ranked #98 on the “American Towns with the Most Things to Do.”

A place is defined as being located within a Census-defined urbanized cluster or a principal city for an urbanized area with a population greater than or equal to 5,000 and less than 100,000. Nevada City’s population is less than 5,000, so it was not part of the analysis.

(Photo: Rachid Dahnoun)

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