most scenic state in west
 

My wife and I have been to Banff/Jasper, AK, and many of our national parks. Which state do you feel is the best for scenery and wildlife, particularly birds? Thanks!

To quote Cousin Vinny - that is a Bogus question.

We live in Florida. For birds, our home state is unbelievable in that respect. We drive carefully in our neighborhood to avoid the sand hill cranes, ibis, and other walking birds. Osprey, eagle, vulture, several types of owls, various hawks, innumerable miscellaneous, smaller and songbirds abound. For landscape... not so much.

For scenery, that of course depends on your parameters. Mountains? Craggy ocean views? Tropical views? Desert and dry rock scenery? Large wildlife abounding, as you may find in Yellowstone? Rolling farmland?

We like the Pacific Northwest, Canadian Rockies, Oregon volcanic features and coast, various areas of my home state of California. Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, we wish we had begun our trips there many years ago. And New Mexico plus many surrounding areas for their unique geographic features and native peoples history and culture, etc.

In all, there is so much to like. We just prefer nature to urban attractions.

The most scenic states in the West are Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington--each for a different reason. They all have loads of birds.

HTtY

Thanks for your reply. My bros lives in Naples, FL and we love FL for its abundance of birds. We, too, love the Canadian Rockies, the Tetons, Yellowstone, etc. I loved your home state of CA where we went to Yosemite, Sequoia/King's Canyon in June. We could go back to any place we have been in the West and especially love Yellowstone. But how could a place be more striking than Glacier NP? To choose a place for next year's trip is going to be difficult. So much beauty everywhere! Thanks again!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. :)

Grew up in Oregon and am still partial to it - but love the other Western states - and British Columbia - as well. Take your pick - can't go too far wrong.

For something very different from the places you mention, look at southern Utah/northern Arizona: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon National Parks and Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon Navajo Parks.

Arizona, especially the southwest corner of the state, is renowned among birdwatchers for its biodiversity. 16 types of hummingbird! Southwest Wings is the big birding festival down there, held in the summer. Add in scenery, and I reckon I'd vote for Arizona to answer your question!

Btw, Florida, where I live, has loads of birds, but nowhere near the same diversity of species.

Well, Colorado is definitely the most "scenic" and the best state in the entire West!

But birds are not really our strong suit. Arizona sounds like it's got that covered. It's a gorgeous state, also.

Montana (maybe not for bird watching, though).

I love all the hummingbirds in Arizona!

Thanks for the responses. I'm checking into all the places mentioned that we haven't visited.

I wouldn't necessarily limit my trip to one state. You could easily do Bryce Canyon (Utah) and Sedona (Arizona). California is a huge state - you could start out in San Diego (we have some wonderful state parks such as Torrey Pines in Del Mar, Cuyamaca, etc) then drive up to Northern California and head for Yosemite and the Redwoods and Sequoia National Parks. Oregon has the Coulmbia River Gorge and Washington State has many parks and nature areas as well. You could do this in a two week trip.

I live in Washington. Is it the most beautiful? I don't know about that... But I think it is pretty great. You have a bit of everything here... From desert (featuring pheasants, quail, owls, hawks, bald eagles etc.) to rainforest , to beach, to mountains. Mt Rainier is breathtaking.
If you are traveling by car it is beautiful to drive up (or down) the coastal highway. Then you could potentially hit CA, OR, and WA.

Not sure about the birds, but IMO Colorado and Montana.

Alaska !!

Thanks again for the suggestions. A lot of places for us to consider. I wish we didn't have to wait until next year!

I think Cousin Vinny was right about the question. :)

You could spend many years exploring the beauty of the West alone.

During the Spring and Summer, Southern California is a freeway of birds. During the early summer there are jays, woodpeckers, crows (of course and ravens) finches, doves, red shouldered hawks, egrets, phoebes, sparrows and orioles and that's just from my kitchen window.

Go to the beach and you'll see more- oh and the wild parrots don't mind flying over my house now and then either.

The west is full of birds.

Beauty, Colorado.
Birds, Arizona as migrations from both north and south end up there. Many birding trips visit AZ from the UK.