Press release

Santa Fe, N.M. (April 26, 2016) — OUTSIDE Magazine, America’s preeminent active and adventure lifestyle brand, is asking its readers to select the Best Town in America: the kind of place with top-notch restaurants, vibrant farmers’ markets, friendly neighborhoods, and unparalleled access to hiking and biking trails. In short, the perfect jumping-off point for adventure. This year, Best Towns are grouped into four key categories: Beach, River, Mountain and Culture.

Photo courtesy Mammoth Mountain

 OUTSIDE readers can vote for their favorite towns at OUTSIDE Online. The initial bracket is made up of 60 towns selected by OUTSIDE editors and four Wild Card Entries. Wild Card entries were chosen by OUTSIDE readers through a social media-driven voting process on Instagram which used the hashtag #BestTowns2016.

The four Wild Card winners are Mammoth Lakes, Calif. (Mountain); Imperial Beach, Calif. (Culture); Billings, Mont. (River); Grand Marais, Minn. (Beach).

Over the next six weeks, readers will be able to vote once per round for each of the six rounds of voting on OUTSIDE Online. The winners of each round will advance until the final two towns face off in a showdown to determine the Best Town of 2016.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Kirk
Mt. Tom, as seen west of Bishop

OUTSIDE will feature the final 16 towns in its September 2016 issue.  This year’s contest was made possible through a partnership with lifestyle apparel company Toad&Co.

OUTSIDE’s Best Towns 2016 Competition features:

BEACH: Bolinas, Calif.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Bellingham, Wash.; Cape May, N.J.; Wilmington, N.C.; Ketchikan, Ala.; Ludington, Mich.; Miami, Fla.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Duxbury, Mass.; Islamorada, Fla.; Fairhope, Ala.; Yachats, Ore.; Bayfield, Wis.; Pacific Grove, Calif.; Grand Marais, Minn.  

RIVER: Milford, Ohio; Phillipsburg, Mont.; St. Louis, Mo.; Portland, Ore.; Salida, Colo.; New Orleans, La.; Nevada City, Calif.; Livingston, Mont.; Boise, Idaho; Bend, Ore.; Gunnison, Colo.;Charlotte, N.C.; Leavenworth, Wash.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Harper’s Ferry, W.Va.; Billings, Mont.

MOUNTAIN: Silver City, N.M.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Durango, Colo.; Jackson, Wyo.; Sun Valley, Idaho; Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Sedona, Ariz.; Tucson, Ariz.; Bishop, Calif.; Waynesville, N.C.; Waterbury, Vt.; Marquette, Mich.; Jim Thorpe, Pa.; Staunton, Va.; Talkeetna, Alaska; Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

CULTURE: Cleveland, Ohio; Ojai, Calif.; Taos, N.M.; Atlanta, Ga.; Princeton, N.J.; Austin, Texas; Seattle, Wash.; Denver, Colo.; Amherst, Mass.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Brunswick, Maine; Hanalei, Hawaii; Aspen, Colo.; Savannah, Ga.; Beacon, N.Y.; Imperial Beach, Calif.

To view the Best Towns 2015 winners click here. For more information or to schedule an interview with an OUTSIDE representative, contact Thomas Giordonello at The Rosen Group, 212.255.0945 or[email protected].

About OUTSIDE:  OUTSIDE is America’s leading active lifestyle brand. Since 1977,OUTSIDE has covered travel, sports, adventure, health, and fitness, as well as the personalities, the environment, and the style and culture of the world OUTSIDE.

The OUTSIDE family includes OUTSIDE magazine, the only magazine to win three consecutive National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, The OUTSIDE Buyer’s Guides, OUTSIDE Online, OUTSIDE Television, OUTSIDE Events, OUTSIDE + for the iPad,OUTSIDE tablet edition, OUTSIDE Books, and now OUTSIDE GO, a revolutionary, 21st-century adventure-travel company. Visit us online and on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.