[ansible90]

I really don't understand why you are so adverse to getting in the car and driving 5 or 10 minutes to a trail head. There is NO traffic up here. There is no hassle getting from here to there in this area.

You might find a house with a trail entry off of your backyard, but after a few walks, you will most likely be looking for somewhere else to explore. So you will go onto TrailFinder and find someplace else nearby, hop it the car, and be there in 10 minutes.

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

Originally Posted by flyfishr

Your question is ridiculous because it is so situational and solely depends on the property you purchase/rent. You can find what you're looking for in any state, including Virginia. It just takes looking at where you're located in proximity to state forests, trust land, national forests/parks.

Oh good. Since you find my question "ridiculous," you must have some ideas about where I can get started. Especially in Virginia. Where I live and have asked multiple people in multiple areas across multiple forums if this is possible, and they've basically told me no--where they live in Virginia, this isn't possible. Because most people won't let others access their property. Because entry into the national parks isn't easy (if even possible) without driving in. Because most everywhere within proximity of a decent sized town is at minimum a twenty to thirty minute drive to the state parks. I have been on forums where they didn't even know what I was talking about or just kept telling me I didn't actually want what I wanted because there were plenty of parks "in town." And also shopping.

So, please, if you have any ideas where to look in Virginia, I would appreciate them. They need to be near decent sized towns where someone in the engineering field could find a job at a decent salary. There would preferably be multiple companies where employment might be possible in case of lay-offs or just for the sake of job growth. Easy peasy.

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

Originally Posted by ansible90

I really don't understand why you are so adverse to getting in the car and driving 5 or 10 minutes to a trail head. There is NO traffic up here. There is no hassle getting from here to there in this area.

You might find a house with a trail entry off of your backyard, but after a few walks, you will most likely be looking for somewhere else to explore. So you will go onto TrailFinder and find someplace else nearby, hop it the car, and be there in 10 minutes.

Lol. I guess no driving is my preference, but 5-10 minutes would be okay. I'm just looking for an area where we *could* walk out our door and down the street to a trail or where there would be numerous trails we could access in a short distance. I'm just so discouraged because I didn't think something like this would be so difficult. I've spoken to a few people who currently live in the more rural areas of Virginia (in close proximity of the mountains) who have also lived in Vermont and have told me they're driving 30-40 minutes to get into the mountains and that there's really no comparing the two areas in terms of access.

So, yeah, 5-10 minutes would be okay. Now if you could just do something about the cold...

[cgregor]

In Springfield for years I created my own snowshoeing and Nordic trails; I imagine you can do that in a lot of other places in Vermont.

Cold is Mother Nature's way of telling you you're alive. As I used to tell my employees, "If you're cold, you're not working hard enough."

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

Originally Posted by cgregor

In Springfield for years I created my own snowshoeing and Nordic trails; I imagine you can do that in a lot of other places in Vermont.

Cold is Mother Nature's way of telling you you're alive. As I used to tell my employees, "If you're cold, you're not working hard enough."

Lol. I've got four kids I homeschool three cats and a dog. I'm pretty sure I'm working hard enough, and I'm still cold, In Virginia.

I'm assuming this wasn't your own land you were creating the trails on, cgregor? I love that! My husband would be all over it. That's what I'm talking about--the room to move around in nature. Where we are, we're ten minutes from a very nice preserve called the Noland Trail. We can (drive to and) walk a five mile forested trail. It's lovely. But, directly from our house, there's nowhere to walk except through drainage-ditch (flood zone) lined residential neighborhoods. There's a pond nearby that you can see as you drive by, but there's no way to get there, and, even if there was, it's posted. When we lived in Albany, my husband would walk down our street and through a corn field to get to "nature" which was really just a small (privately-owned and probably posted, but long forgotten) wooded respite surrounded by businesses and office parks. Our neighbors would look at him oddly because, well, who walked in the woods?

This is kind of the vibe I get when I ask similar questions in Virginia forums (not City-Data). Who walks in the woods? There are city parks... You can get into the mountains! In forty minutes... But there's shopping!

My kids can't drive. I just want them to be able to play beyond our yard and maybe see a tree or two. I had assumed this would be easy in Virginia where there's all. that. land, but it's not as easy as I'd hoped. And nobody here seems to want it very much anyway.

[flyfishr]

Originally Posted by Isabella Tiger Moth

Oh good. Since you find my question "ridiculous," you must have some ideas about where I can get started. Especially in Virginia... So, please, if you have any ideas where to look in Virginia, I would appreciate them. They need to be near decent sized towns where someone in the engineering field could find a job at a decent salary. There would preferably be multiple companies where employment might be possible in case of lay-offs or just for the sake of job growth. Easy peasy.

I would look around Harrisonburg down to Staunton. That way you can find properties that are near the George Washington/Jefferson National Forests. Lots of mountains, rivers, trails to explore. Points north of Blacksburg might be worth a look since it's located along the spine of the Appalachians and near National Forest.

And yes, in VT you can technically access non-posted private land, but you probably won't endear yourself to any of your neighbors by using their property without permission first. You should also expect others to use your property for hiking, hunting, access as well.


Since you're criteria also includes a "decent sized town" (not sure what that means to you) with an engineering job market with multiple employers, you will likely be limited to Burlington or Montpelier. I'd suggest checking out Huntington, Hinesburg, Starksboro for Burlington and Northfield, Calais, Plainfield, Marshfield, Worcester for Montpelier.

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

Originally Posted by flyfishr

I would look around Harrisonburg down to Staunton. That way you can find properties that are near the George Washington/Jefferson National Forests. Lots of mountains, rivers, trails to explore. Points north of Blacksburg might be worth a look since it's located along the spine of the Appalachians and near National Forest.

Okay, thanks. I have actually talked to people in these areas (I've got a post in the Virginia forum right now and I've asked in several VA homeschooling groups), and people aren't terribly encouraging about the prospects for finding what I'm looking for. From the times I've driven out there, I'm inclined to believe they're right. It's mostly parcels of land divided into individual properties, often fenced. There's the national parks, but those can be more of a drive than I'm anxious to make on a regular basis. I think VT is our better bet because nature is generally closer to "civilization," so it wouldn't be such a trek for my husband to make daily to work (been there, done that when we lived in the CA mountains). Plus, I'm getting kind of bummed at the prospect of living away from my extended family...forever. My kids would like to be closer to their cousins, I'd like to be closer to my parents and siblings, etc. And I still have good friends in the northeast whereas I've struggled to make close friends with the people here in Virginia (so friggin' churchy). At this point, I'm really just trying to make sure I'm not missing some perfect place that meets all my criteria here in VA so I can move on in peace. I will most definitely miss the climate, though.

Originally Posted by flyfishr

Since you're criteria also includes a "decent sized town" (not sure what that means to you) with an engineering job market with multiple employers, you will likely be limited to Burlington or Montpelier. I'd suggest checking out Huntington, Hinesburg, Starksboro for Burlington and Northfield, Calais, Plainfield, Marshfield, Worcester for Montpelier.

Great tips! Thanks again.

[cgregor]

Isabella Tiger Moth, there just aren't that many people in Vermont to overuse the woods individually. One time when I was snowshoeing for three hours, I was surprised to run across another set of tracks-- but they turned out to be mine, before I got lost... When you're the only person out there-- or the only family, for that matter-- nobody minds much. Snowmobiling is different, for the most part.

Springfield has a Trails and Greenways group which is rounding up all the information about ways to move outdoors, from snowmobiling on upward. One of its members just reported the existence of a trail which starts downtown, loops through three miles of woods and emerges on the very popular bike trail which leads back to downtown. You can keep tabs on what they're doing by getting on the town website, and if you want the maps they're collecting, just click on the links or ask.

[ansible90]

Originally Posted by Isabella Tiger Moth

Lol. I guess no driving is my preference, but 5-10 minutes would be okay. I'm just looking for an area where we *could* walk out our door and down the street to a trail or where there would be numerous trails we could access in a short distance. I'm just so discouraged because I didn't think something like this would be so difficult. I've spoken to a few people who currently live in the more rural areas of Virginia (in close proximity of the mountains) who have also lived in Vermont and have told me they're driving 30-40 minutes to get into the mountains and that there's really no comparing the two areas in terms of access.

So, yeah, 5-10 minutes would be okay. Now if you could just do something about the cold...

Don't blame the cold on VT; it comes down from Canada.

[ansible90]

Don't know how useful this might be. What part of VA are you in?

https://www.trails.com/virginia

Also, if you are looking for a place with engineering jobs (you didn't say what kind of engineering), that will limit you to the few places in VT that have such jobs. Upper Valley (near Dartmouth) has a few companies. We also have excellent schools so you might end up looking for a different day job.

We are also near a rail trail that starts in Lebanon NH and goes east for 30 or 50 miles (can't remember exactly how long it is).