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The Fastest Growing Mountain Towns in America
Outside Magazine ^ | November 24, 2025 | Emilee Coblentz

Posted on 11/28/2025 4:05:04 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom

click here to read article


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I've lived in two of these places and spent time in another two. All great places...EXCEPT Coeur d'Alene, ID. You DON'T want to go there. Trust me on this. Ir'a horrible!

I lived in Pinetop, AZ 50 years ago. It's down the road from Show Low, but 2,500 ft higher. There were no traffic lights within 100 miles back then, but the roads have been widened, shopping centers built. I'm surprised it's as small as they say.

1 posted on 11/28/2025 4:05:04 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Lakeside Granny

PING!


2 posted on 11/28/2025 4:08:06 PM PST by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
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To: nutmeg

.


3 posted on 11/28/2025 4:08:57 PM PST by nutmeg (We are all Charlie Kirk now)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Why do you dislike Coeur d’Alene? Just out of curiosity, I’ve never been anywhere near.


4 posted on 11/28/2025 4:10:16 PM PST by Blurb2350 (posted from my 1500-watt blow dryer)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

All of those places have been “discovered” long ago, prices are through the roof and all the problems that come with California types flooding in. There are still places out there where you can get away from it all but they’re not on these top ten lists.


5 posted on 11/28/2025 4:15:44 PM PST by GaryCrow
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

STOP TELLING THEM ABOUT IT!!!!

Sheez man, whaddya want to happen?! Everyplace ends up like BozeAngeles?!

:^)


6 posted on 11/28/2025 4:16:27 PM PST by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Elizabeth, Colorado is certainly not a mountain town.


7 posted on 11/28/2025 4:18:24 PM PST by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: Blurb2350

Because we live just north of there and it’s WAY too crowded and getting worse all the time. Stay away!

Just kidding. All FRiends are welcome here!


8 posted on 11/28/2025 4:20:59 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

West Coast bias. How about Knoxville TN, Greenville SC, Tri-Cities TN/VA, New Hampshire?


9 posted on 11/28/2025 4:25:25 PM PST by Kenny Bania (Ovaltine? Why not call it Roundtine?)
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To: laplata
Elizabeth, Colorado is certainly not a mountain town.

And it's nowhere near Rocky Mountain National Park.

10 posted on 11/28/2025 4:31:18 PM PST by LittleBillyInfidel (This tagline has been formatted to fit the screen. Some content has been edited.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I’ve lived in mountain towns in excess of 7k elevation. Air starts getting thin, and it gets colder than %*#*. Snow, ice and all that misery.

Look for the sweet spots in the south between 3800 and 5k. A whole lot less misery!☺


11 posted on 11/28/2025 4:34:31 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dragnet2

Yep. We are at 2,200 feet here in North Idaho. This is the “Inland Northwest” where weather is still moderated by the Pacific Ocean. The winter temps are fairly moderate here. But, once you get over the mountains to the east of us and into western Montana, it gets a LOT colder.

I lived at 7,500 feet in Pinetop, AZ for the fall-winter-spring of 1975-76. It was darn cold up there. Just south of us was Hawley Lake, AZ which regularly got featured on the Today Show for having the coldest temps in the lower 48!

Our little town had a limited snow plowing budget. When the budget ran out in February, the road plowing simply stopped! I got real good at putting chains on and taking them off.


12 posted on 11/28/2025 5:01:26 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: dragnet2

Forgot to mention that my dad thought about buying a place on the golf course in Pinetop, but his doc told him moving to 7,500 feet in his late 50s wasn’t a good idea for his heart.


13 posted on 11/28/2025 5:03:06 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I live about 5 miles from “Barton” and never heard of it being a thing. As a matter of fact, I worked for Founder’s Ranch, the home range of the Single Action Shooting Society and their championship shooting range. It was bordered on the west by Barton Road (hellish in mud weather).

Not sure why it’s growing fast, most of it has no ground water, and many people haul water.


14 posted on 11/28/2025 5:09:23 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

There are mountains in the East, too.

Well ... sort of ...


15 posted on 11/28/2025 5:15:51 PM PST by x
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Btw, been in the west all my life and anything short of 4500 we considered a hill. Even the peaks around the LA area are in excess of 10k.


16 posted on 11/28/2025 5:19:48 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dragnet2

Funny you mention that. I was looking up the difference between “hill” and “mountain” just last week. It has a lot to do with the rise from the surrounding countryside. The peaks in LA are especially dramatic because of that huge rise from the surrounding plains.

I look out at 5,500 foot mountains but they are starting at a 2,200 foot elevation Rathdrum Prairie, so nowhere near as dramatic. There are quite a few rugged and remote ranges in Southern BC, North Idaho, NW Montana — the Selkirks and Cabinets. The Cabinets are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains at the western base of the Rockies.


17 posted on 11/28/2025 5:29:10 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: LittleBillyInfidel

That’s right.


18 posted on 11/28/2025 5:30:12 PM PST by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: nutmeg

After years along the eastern seaboard, mountains don’t thrill me none. Heck I get winded on Blue Ridge hiking trails, alongside the Shenandoah...


19 posted on 11/28/2025 5:35:54 PM PST by Clutch Martin ("The dawn cracks hard like a bull whip and it ain't taking no lip from the night before" Tom Waits)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I’ve done the dirt road living in excess of 7k. Always an adventure. I’ve now grown to like asphalt and paved.☺

White Mountains, Eastern AZ. Beautiful area btw...


20 posted on 11/28/2025 5:37:54 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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