[elheffe80]

In the US we also have the largest park system that is quite cheap/free. Not every area is covered with parks, but there are enough green spaces within a short distance (less than 1 hour) that exploring should be possible. Further, a lot of people will let you go on their land if you ask them and are polite about your time on their land. Regardless- I agree that we do not have it as fun as they do in the UK and some other areas that treat land like they do.

[trgn]

> there are enough green spaces

that's the point. America has green spaces, UK has country side, terroir if you will.

A green space is a delineated, commoditized destination. Drive there, park there, do your thing, go back. A country-side can be enjoyed through osmosis, even when living in the city.

They're qualitatively different.

[hickelpickle]

There are also 300,000 square miles of national forest/grasslands which is 3x the size of the UK. All of which is freely available with the right to dispersed camping for up to 14 days at one spot, after which you must move camp 5 miles to camp more.

Opinions on property rights aside there is no lack of land to explore and enjoy.

Aside from there there are also state parks and forests, though the states define their own terms of use and enjoyment around them.

[trgn]

I'm not disagreeing. I'm just saying that they are a qualitative different experience, to the senses, in the way they are integrated in daily life.

[hickelpickle]

How popular is frequenting other peoples land for outdoor experiences? Genuinely curious, as I have heard about the lack of trespassing laws many times over the years, and know little about the experiences the UK countryside has to offer. Like what activities and locations do people partake in. Is it thing like hiking and waterway activities?

[trgn]

> Like what activities and locations do people partake in.

It's less about delineated activities (which are a number, countable, very modernist), and more the day2day enjoyment of nature, as it bleeds through city life, you don't necessarily seek it out, it just happens (which can't be put into a number, can only be waxed rhapsodically about, very humanist). It's visiting family one town over, leaving your city house and smelling cow shit as you bike there. It's a train commute and seeing the fog roll over centuries year old pastures on the way. It's eating venison in a tavern restaurant in fall, and was shot by the local hunter's club. It's a date that starts as a forest hike in the afternoon and imperceptibly blends into a pub crawl at night.

I live in a city of a state which is by all accounts rugged and rustic, in close proximity to wilderness, parks, farmland, etc... but there's a clear separation of intent. When I lived in Europe, the enjoyment of nature was more through a surrounding vapor, unconscious.

I'm not saying that one is necessarily worse, but to me the experience is starkly different, and that difference can't be captured in numbers.

It's also a spectrum, location dependent, ymmv, blah blah etc..

[beauzero]

This has been the hardest adjustment for me moving from Montana to the deep South. The south has definite advantages for me at this point. Stability, easier growing crops and animals, better infrastructure, etc. But not being able to just walk all over the place is hard. It was a lot easier to get away and I definitely feel claustrophobic (some of it is no mountains). I know opportunities here are better for my family but I miss home.

[Solvency]

Let's also not forget BLM land, where Americans can and do load up a F150 Raptor and run 90 mph across the desert, camping anywhere they want, shooting semiautomatic rifles into the air freely, living out their freedom fever dreams. Try doing that in the UK.

[ninju]

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) even has a portal with maps

https://www.blm.gov/maps/georeferenced-PDFs

[bombcar]

BLM land is a million square kilometers. That's about ten times the size of the UK.

There is something to be said for the UK traipsing laws from time immemorial - because you can explore something other than a million square kilometers of mostly unused land.

[samschooler]

This is what I'm doing this weekend. I'm not even joking, headed to Moab.

[harimau777]

It seems to me that the difference is that public land and national parks are more or less devoid of people while countryside is a combination of nature and people. There's lots of nature to explore but it's full of ancient cemeteries, small communities, farms, hills with various legends attached to them, etc.

To me there has to be the people to give the nature significance. Otherwise it's not so much exploration as it is just a massive camping trip.