25 beautiful US cities to live in if you love spending time outdoors

It's too often assumed that moving to a big city - like San Francisco, New York, or Boston - means giving up your love for nature. Fortunately, that doesn't always have to be the case.

A recent ranking by Niche, a company that researches and compiles information on cities, revealed the best cities for outdoor activities in America, proving that city life and the great outdoors are not always mutually exclusive.

To compile its ranking, Niche gathered data on 227 US cities including local weather and air quality, access to natural amenities like beaches and state parks (counting those within 100 miles of the city), access to national parks and forests (counting those within 200 miles of the city), and general access to nearby outdoor recreation facilities. (Read the full methodology here.)

The resulting list reveals that some of the best cities to live in if you love spending time outdoors are in the Western US. In fact, 22 of the top 25 cities are in the West, with several located in the Pacific Northwest, specifically.

Below, check out the 25 best cities for outdoor enthusiasts.