Outdoorsy liberal arts schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If “kayaking” means whitewater kayaking, Dartmouth has the most active club. Not a lot of schools sponsor participation in the sport probably for liability reasons. Greek life is prominent at Dartmouth. But also large population of outdoorsy students and many students don’t pledge or join an alternative or coed undergraduate society.

70% Greek sounds miserable and isolating. Would not recommend op.

[Anonymous]

Cornell, Penn state

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If “kayaking” means whitewater kayaking, Dartmouth has the most active club. Not a lot of schools sponsor participation in the sport probably for liability reasons. Greek life is prominent at Dartmouth. But also large population of outdoorsy students and many students don’t pledge or join an alternative or coed undergraduate society.

70% Greek sounds miserable and isolating. Would not recommend op.

Sorry you didn't get a bid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Who cares. There is no climbing in southern MN.

NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Would you like to elaborate on what schools I’m “thinking of?” Hiking isn’t just walking on flat trails either, and a student whose really outdoorsy would be bored out of their mind in Northfield.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If “kayaking” means whitewater kayaking, Dartmouth has the most active club. Not a lot of schools sponsor participation in the sport probably for liability reasons. Greek life is prominent at Dartmouth. But also large population of outdoorsy students and many students don’t pledge or join an alternative or coed undergraduate society.

70% Greek sounds miserable and isolating. Would not recommend op.

Sorry you didn't get a bid.

True I didn’t. My school didn’t have Greek life, cause we’re not into categorizing people by their Greek status. Anything else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Who cares. There is no climbing in southern MN.

NP

There is of course but you're just here to sneer, so you really don't care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Who cares. There is no climbing in southern MN.

NP

There is of course but you're just here to sneer, so you really don't care.

Where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Would you like to elaborate on what schools I’m “thinking of?” Hiking isn’t just walking on flat trails either, and a student who’s really outdoorsy would be bored out of their mind in Northfield.

That’s funny, cause our very hardcore outdoorsy CA kid who in high school enjoyed things like hiking the tallest mountain in the continental US, multi-day bike trips, skiing, surfing, rafting, and trips to the desert found the outdoors scene at Carleton so alluring they considered moving to Minnesota. Having an immersive 800 acre arboretum, river, and lakes at your dorm’s doorstep is rare. Some outdoorsy types want nature every day, not just on road trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Who cares. There is no climbing in southern MN.

NP

There is of course but you're just here to sneer, so you really don't care.

You think there’s good climbing opportunities in southern Minnesota? That’s silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and the outdoors.

Would you like to elaborate on what schools I’m “thinking of?” Hiking isn’t just walking on flat trails either, and a student who’s really outdoorsy would be bored out of their mind in Northfield.

That’s funny, cause our very hardcore outdoorsy CA kid who in high school enjoyed things like hiking the tallest mountain in the continental US, multi-day bike trips, skiing, surfing, rafting, and trips to the desert found the outdoors scene at Carleton so alluring they considered moving to Minnesota. Having an immersive 800 acre arboretum, river, and lakes at your dorm’s doorstep is rare. Some outdoorsy types want nature every day, not just on road trips.

That’s just a few bodies of water. It’s like calling uchicago outdoorsy, since the lake is only a few blocks away. There’s a ton of schools with a lot more nature that aren’t “road trips” away. You’re literally from California (must not be SoCal with this bizarre opinion) and don’t understand that?

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beginning to think about a college list for my sophomore son, who loves kayaking and rock climbing but doesn't like traditional sports (either as a participant or spectator) and probably won't be interested in Greek life. He will likely want to major in some sort of quantitative social science. At this point, open to all size schools.

UCLA- hiking and beach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton. The Cowling Arboretum, Lyman Lakes, and Cannon River are on campus (or run through campus) and make for great hiking, biking, running, and kayaking. In the winter there’s cross country skiing (and downhill skiing at an artificial slope 20 min away) in the Arb and skating on the Bald Spot. Lots of natural beauty!

Hiking in Minnesota is an absolute joke. The coasts are where this student needs to go.

Spoken like someone who has never been. There’s 15 miles of trails on Carleton’s campus, starting about a 1 min walk from the nearest dorm, almost all of which are out of sight of roads. Few if any of the schools you are thinking of can say the same. You have a narrow view of hiking and a the outdoors.

Would you like to elaborate on what schools I’m “thinking of?” Hiking isn’t just walking on flat trails either, and a student whose really outdoorsy would be bored out of their mind in Northfield.

Can’t say I know of others with 15 miles of trails starting at a dorm, but I’m willing to believe some might exist! But it would seem to me the burden of proof falls on those claiming MN has a poor outdoors scene. In fact the below ranking puts it well above average and ahead of all the NE states except Maine. That’s before adding the benefit of a college campus with its own arboretum, lakes, and river access.

https://www.culturalcurrents.institute/insights/best-states-for-nature-lovers