I live in Southern Indiana-- 20 miles north of Louisville, KY.  We are 3 miles from a horse camp in a state forestry that has 100 miles of trails. 

Also-- the best thing of living here is we are within 4-5 hours of the BEST riding in the country - IMO  (not counting what is "local"-- within 30 miles or so)

We are 4 hours from Shawnee National Forest In IL - 5 hours from Big South Fork in TN - 8 hours from VA Mt Rogers Area--  8 hours from MO riding.

Just far enough out of the city-- but close if we want the conveniences--

My next place if I was going to move-- would be the Big South Fork area of TN- Jamestown TN area

Each person will have their own values of what is important to them.  I can't stand the humidity, heat and bugs. I can tolerate the winters and I do ride 12 months of the year regardless of the weather or season.

I live in Northern Utah. Cross roads of the west. I can be in Denver in 8 hours and all the rocky mountains are between me and Denver. I can be in Yelllowstone Park area in 4-5 hours for wonderful summer riding. I can be in Southern Utah riding around Bryce, Zion, Capital Reef, and the Grand Staircase Escalante in 4-5 hours. Southern Utah can be as much as 40* warmer in the winter months, So it's a great place to ride in the winter.  Over 70% of Utah and Nevada are Public lands.  Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado also have large percent of public lands. So access is easy.  But since it's public land, Lots of trails are never marked, some are rarely cleared.

When it's 90* here at home  at 4472 foot eleation, I can trailer 20-30 minutes and be at a trailhead at 7,000 foot elevation with temps 15-20* cooler than my home. Humidity in the summer is almost non-existant. 10% when we are in the 90s.

I absolutely agree with Painted Horse.  Utah is God's country, but colorado, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, etc are all great as well.  I don,t like the humidity and bugs in the rest of the country, and I prefer solitude to the hordes of humanity that swamps the rest of the world.  Give me anyplace where there are pine trees, running water, and solitude and I am a happy camper.

Marla

 We have been thinking the same thing for awhile since we retired and all things taken in consideration we are happy here in Arkansas. love out west but the winters are not for us. However we are looking at a secondary location in arkansas.