As someone who has lived in Denver for 10 years, I honestly think that’s probably the right call. Affordability aside, which is a problem for most of the Denver metro, frankly, but definitely Boulder, Boulder (and Boulder County) has a bit of a NIMBY attitude when it comes to MTB, and there are other places in CO and even on the Front Range that are better for MTB as a result.
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The key words there being better for MTB. Boulder has great road and gravel options, great tri community, overall a lot of positives for endurance sports but it just doesn’t have great out your back door MTB trail access and if your priority is relocate to MTB more then I feel like that’s an immediate disqualifier. Well that and astronomical prices.
My recommendation for OP would be to look at MTB Project for any of the places you’re considering and compare the trail access. Some of the places mentioned (Bend, Durango, Brevard) stand out in comparison to some of the others.
While I enjoy a good desert ride in the middle of winter when any alpine terrain is under snow, desert riding is really not the same as alpine riding and I personally strongly prefer forested single track over desert. Different strokes for different folks, but AZ is a hard pass for me.
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Ok so first of all, Bentonville is expensive as FUCK. My parents live in the center of Seattle in a reasonably nice home in a VERY desirable neighborhood and their house is worth the same as a whatever Bentonville house.
With that said. I moved from a Seattle to NY for grad school and recently relocated to Kansas for work and live 3.5h from Bentonville. I had the same attitude as you about Arkansas at first, but man the northwest corner of Arkansas is absolutely amazing. Definitely don’t write it off, suuuper desirable place to live.
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Yep, agree completely. Road and gravel are a totally different ballgame, but like you said Boulder is just so outrageously expensive at this point that, to me, even if road/gravel was the priority, it probably makes sense to look elsewhere in CO or live in the suburbs. I’d just add that some areas are better mapped on Trailforks than MTB Project, so it’s worth looking at both when looking for trail beta in a given area. CO has pretty good coverage on both apps, but some places definitely favor one over the other.
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I’ll take both, thank you 
I love the alpine riding in the mountains in Colorado. And desert riding in the likes of Moab and Sedona is among the best riding anywhere.
Course, best if you can combine everything - like the Whole Enchilada. I’m in Moab in a few weeks, and hoping I’ll be able to ride this. Depends on weather and family obligations.
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Burlington Vermont?
The Appalachians are right there, and they have plenty of hills too, and it’s a fairly progressive area around there with good healthcare and access to water sports and decent airport. Lots of great places to eat, explore. I did the App Gap years ago, and that is no joke. And the number of dirt roads coming off the main road made me wish I had something to explore them. I hear there is skiing close by too. And winter is also ‘no joke’ there. Having spent some time there, I could see being there for a longer term. There was a great little sporting goods store in town there, and I came back with a heavier suitcase.
Ashville was great with the Green Mountain Parkway there, but I could see riding the asphalt being stressful to potentially dangerous with all the tight curves and people that will want to test those laws of physics. I didn’t get off road there though.
(I’ve been contemplating moving to Bermuda actually. Great rides around the island, and it’s close enough to the states, etc. Winters are more wet than snow/cold)
Burlington is an awesome area, but it feels like winter and mud season until Memorial Day. Foliage is past and getting cold by the end of October too, so you better like skiing / boarding, fat biking, snowmobiling, or winter sports if you’re going to spend winters up there. Or just sitting inside by the fire and doing trainer rides. There are a bunch of great mountains within an hour - Sugarbush, Mad River, Stowe, Bolton. Pretty famous area for fly fishing, and Lake Champlain is huge. Take a ferry across the lake and you’re in the Adirondacks too. Great area, just know what you’re getting into with the 6+ months of winter and mud season.
I don’t see myself ever permanently leaving New England, we’ll probably do summers there (probable coast of Maine), and find someplace nicer for the winters where we can run/bike etc. more easily. We’ve talked about the Asheville area, I like the idea of southern Utah, or Arizona right now.
A friend that I lost track of over a decade ago got in touch and they moved to Arizona, near the mountains, and they are totally in love with the area. Riding, running, hiking, skiing, riding motorcycles in the mountains, etc. And a big airport close by too. They made it sound so perfect. (It’s just a little ‘backward’ for me. Depending on how all this political noise works out will radically change where we see relocating to. Yikes)
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Curious whether the OP ended up deciding on somewhere and moving?
I’d honestly recommend somewhere in West Denver over Boulder, if MTB is your focus. Golden, Morrison, Lakewood, Ken Caryl areas have great ride out your door access to awesome trails and are plenty close to all the best drive to trails.
@kenoll Where did you end up?
I second this. Did a a gravel race outside Fayetteville last weekend and was really impressed with the area. The swag bag included a 150-page Arkansas cycling guide for MTB, road and gravel. Here’s the MTB section:
Some interesting ideas here!
We’ve been assessing options as well, although we’re heavily leaning towards the East Coast / northeast for family reasons. @KevinKlaes mentioned Hanover and @BCM mentioned Burlington.
In looking in New England, we’re narrowing more towards Hanover than East Burke (Northeast Kingdom with Kingdom Trails). We’ve been up here in NEK two summers in a row and love it. But there’s a much more limited arts scene in the area. And while it would be an hours drive to get from Hanover to NEK, there are still 4 parks in riding distance of Hanover, which is plenty during the week. I’m happy to drive an hour some weekends for the trails available in NEK.
Curious where the OP is focusing? And any updates on your plans @KevinKlaes ?
Our restrictions changed a bit with a layoff but we’re heading to Colorado in the fall unless a remote only gig pops up.
We just spent the weekend in New Hampshire and I’d still move there pretty quickly. Bend is still the top of my list.
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Hanover’s a good location. Pretty central to get to a bunch of different places. Killington is about an hour drive from Hanover and from what I’ve been told, probably the best park / downhill scene in the Northeast.
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I’ve been in Vermont about 30 years: 20ish in Burlington, ~10 in Washington County. There’s generally easy access to skiing/cycling in most of the state, with lots of good, local beer and food pretty much everywhere. However, it does get COLD. Winters can be bleak, and mud season (aka late winter/spring/early summer) can last until mid to late May:
Burlington/Chittenden County - Chittenden County (and especially Burlington proper) are being very heavily developed. Cost of living is quite high, and the infrastructure can barely handle the volume of people living in town, so traffic can get (relatively) bad. I used to love Burlington, but now I find it mostly annoying (NB: I’m old and grumpy). That said, it actually is a pretty cool town with a fair amount to do, but especially with easy access to skiing, cycling, paddling, etc. If I were moving to Chittenden County, I’d shoot for something like Essex/Jericho/Underhill or Richmond/Hinesburg/Huntington. Especially for remote workers who are less dependent on the local economy. Good schools, great riding out the front door (road/gravel/MTB), and easy access to Smuggs (or Bolton/Sugarbush/Mad River for Richmond) for skiing. Plus you’ve got Catamount and a ton of other good mountain biking in the area.
Central Vermont - No one asked, but I’m going to chime in here anyway. 
I’m in Washington County and honestly, have a hard time imagining living anywhere else. It can get quite rural but you generally still have easy access to towns (Montpelier, Barre, Waterbury, Randolph, Waitsfield), tons of outdoor access out the front door for bikes, lots of trail systems, and easy to access to Kingdom Trails, Millstone Trails, or Catamount for MTB, and for skiing (Sugarbush/Mad River/Bolton/Stowe). Again, it’s very rural and quiet, so not nearly as much to do as Burlington, but it’s also a pretty easy trip to Montreal or Boston when you want an actual city.
NEK (Northeast Kingdom) - Beautiful area to live, not super expensive, and with easy access to a ton of outdoor activities, with Kingdom Trails/Burke for MTB/skiing. That said, it’s very rural and has more to do with Appalachia than it does with Burlington. It’s frequently a super weird mix of deep hippie with deep backwoods growing up in isolation. The best representation of NEK life I’ve seen was, weirdly, in the Daredevil show on Netflix.
Upper Valley - Just a quick plug for this underappreciated part of Vermont. It’s been growing pretty quickly after getting a lot of in-migration, and White River Junction is a surprisingly cool town. Beautiful area and very easy access to tons of outdoor activities with a quick drive to Boston.
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Sorry to hear about the layoff - hope the CO transfer goes well!
Love all the comments!
Curious, where would Norwich VT and Hanover fit into this list of regions? My guess would be in the Upper Valley, but what would it actually be?
Yep! They’re both Upper Valley, too. It really is a nice area. Hanover’s pretty nice, although it’s New Hamphire which has its own wacky tendencies and attracts its own sort of in-migration.
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One thing to consider: NH has no income tax, but property taxes may be higher. (Maybe). Vermont tends to get a lot more people coming from NY/NJ on weekends too. I avoid Killington, Mount Snow, Stowe, etc. in the winters now in favor of heading towards Sunday River in Maine when I go skiing.
And, when you think about NH as a whole (just like VT or any other state) it’s going to be very different by region. I work in the Seacoast (Hampton) sandwiched in between Mass and Maine, and that’s different from a North Conway, which is different from Hanover, and very different from Pittsburg.
I don’t think you can go wrong with either, just have to pick the type of town that fits you best.
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100%! You can be on the coast enjoying some Lobstah for lunch and be in the mountains hiking in the afternoon.
I live out near Henniker, NH where I have gravel all day long! Hanover is lovely though. Beauty part of the state.
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