Top 5 Bug Out Locations In The US

Bugging out or getting the heck out of Dodge when calamity strikes, is a tricky matter.

There are several different factors that you need to consider when choosing your spot including accessibility, vulnerability, resources and your ability to get there. Today we’re going to talk about the top 5 best bug out locations in the US. I’ve tried to pick some in every part of the country so that you have some options regardless of where you live.

Depending upon what the disaster is, you may not be able to go too far when bugging out so it may be wise to choose a location that’s not far from where you already are. That way, you can reasonably access it if you only have 1 tank of gas or have to go on foot.

That being said, if you’re serious about prepping and it’s an option for you, I’d recommend living in your preferred bug-out state, at the very least.

You may even choose to live in your bug out location and make it a bug in place instead. After all, if the place is secure enough, there’s no need to leave!

5 Points to Consider when Choosing a Bug Out Location

  1. Accessibility by YOU. First and foremost, you have to be able to get to your bug out location. If not, prepping to bug out isn’t going to do you any good at all.
  2. Resources. Is the property close to water? Is there plenty of game so that you’ll have fresh meat if you need it? Is the soil rich enough to grow food in? What about firewood?
  3. Vulnerability. How easy would it be for others to overtake your bug out location? Is it easily seen from a road? Are there trees around it to provide cover if you need to defend it?
  4. Weather. Is your proposed bug out place prone to extremes in weather? Does it regularly experience droughts or flooding? Does it get a lot of snow? If so, can you still get to it if it snows? Can you survive in the temperatures if need be in order to get there on foot? Also, consider the upkeep that will be required if you don’t live there. Snow can collapse a roof quickly so you’ll need to maintain the property a bit more carefully than if it’s in a location with a moderate climate.
  5. Location. Is your proposed bug out place close to major cities that may be targeted for attack? Will refugees from the city be able to find your place?

As you can see, there are many details to consider when choosing your bug out location. These are just a few and depending upon what you’re preparing for and how long you think you’ll need to be there, your list may be substantially longer!

Now, considering these points, let’s look at some great places that you may want to consider.

The Rocky Mountains

RockyMountainsLocatorMapColorado, Wyoming and Montana are wonderful states that offer a ton of locations that would make grand bug out locations.

The land is relatively affordable compared to many other places and it’s fairly easy to obtain permits to build whatever you want.

Guns and hunting aren’t frowned upon and resources, including water and game, are plentiful.

The only real downsides are that you can expect significant snowfall and low temperatures, and your place may not be easy to get to if SHTF in the winter.

On the upside, everybody else will have a hard time getting to your place, too!

The Appalachians

Appalachian_region_of_United_StatesThis mountain chain offers more temperate weather than the Rockies but it’s significantly more populated.

The land is generally cheap and guns and hunting aren’t just OK, they’re part of life.

Resources, including water and game, are plentiful and the land is typically rich enough to grow plenty of food, even on a smaller lot.

The major downside is that most of the major highways throughout the Appalachians lead from one big city to the next so travelling to your location may be an issue if people panic and clog the roadways.

However, there are many back roads that you can use to avoid the highways. Get to know those BEFORE you need them!

Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana

These states are as far south as you can get unless you want to go to Florida, which we don’t recommend because of population and transportation issues. Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana all offer plenty of hidey-hole type places that would be easy to defend and easy to get to.

Fresh water is plentiful and so is game. Temperatures can be wicked hot in the summer but are fairly temperate in the winter.

The only major downside to these locations is that there are a few major cities though none that would be high on the list for nuclear attack. You may have to worry about defending your bug out location though.

North and South Dakota

These two states have vast expanses of unoccupied land and the population is low.

There also aren’t many major cities and none really that are high up on the target list for attack.

Both states offer plentiful water and game and the soil is good for growing food. Hunting is huge so guns aren’t a problem.

The biggest downside here is that North and South Dakota get lots of snow and cold weather so be prepared for that.

Another concern is tornadoes. Some counties have higher instances than others so be aware of that when you purchase your property.

Pacific Northwest

Pacific NorthWestOregon and Washington are arguably two of the best states to plan a bug out location in.

They both have a decidedly anti-government mindset and guns and hunting aren’t frowned upon. The population is low in many areas.

Resources are plentiful and fresh water won’t be a problem in most areas. Some property prices may be a bit steep but just keep looking. You can easily grow food throughout the summer months.

The downsides of bugging out the Pacific Northwest are that you’re going to be dealing with lots of rain, especially in Washington, and you have to watch out for volcanic activity around the Mount St. Helens area. There will also be plenty of snow in the winter.

We know that many people consider Alaska a great place to bug out to but for us, the foul weather and the lack of accessibility just didn’t appeal to us. If you already live there, then great! If not, consider other, closer locations first.

Also, we didn’t include Texas on the list because of the border control issues. Depending upon the crisis, that may be a huge issue.

Now that you know OUR picks for the top 5 bug out locations in the US, what are yours? Do you have anything to add that we missed? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

USF1.3

This article has been written by Theresa Crouse for Survivopedia.

Written by

Theresa Crouse is a full-time writer currently living in central Florida. She was born and raised in the hills of West Virginia, where she learned to farm, hunt, fish, and live off the land from an early age. She prefers to live off the grid as much as possible and does her best to follow the “leave nothing behind but footprints” philosophy. For fun, she enjoys shooting, kayaking, tinkering on her car and motorcycle, and just about anything else that involves water, going fast, or the outdoors.

Latest comments
  • You forgot to mention Maine, especially mid to northern. Cheaper to live. Lots of farms, very rural,hunting, fishing and growing. A lot like Alaska. Downside, harsh winters, but many still heat with wood, which is plentiful.

    • The problem with Northern Maine is NYC is not THAT far away, nor is Boston. You’ll be dealing with a LOT more survivors/gangs/thugs than folks that live in the sticks of the upper Midwest or high mountain country (MT, WY, ID, etc.). No place is perfect but the key is the fewer people living in your area the better. For instance, there are 12 people in my township (36 square miles) and the largest city (over 1 million) is 8 hours (350 miles) away. Central AK would be the best spot in this hemisphere but my guess is less than .01% of all people could survive for more than a month or two there ,that’s about 30,000 people in the entire US. The bottom line is no place is perfect but if you live in a metro area and have no friends or family that live in the very remote areas of the US, you’re screwed.

      • The best thing that could be done with New york City would be to have the government blow up the tunnels and bridges going to it, and declare it to be a separate nation. Or, give it to the UN. It’s a definite fact that most of the rest of us in the State of New York don’t want them anymore than you folks do.

        • Don’t forget New Jersey, the stepchild of New York stupid.

          • So far nobody mentioned the Catskills, the Poconos, other forested hilly areas outside major population centers, but have seasonal properties for sale. IMHO, being in such places makes it easier to get to know your neighbors, attend a Church of your preference, become aware of the mindset of the locals when it comes to …standing your ground..Folks already in place in these more remote hilly areas have ‘connections’ bug-out preppers will never have. In other words, spend your vacations in the bug-out location of choice, become part of that social scene if you expect to survive the SHTF, even if it straddles the NY-NJ line area.

        • It is very sad in this day and age and in these times to find such ignorance. Do you even know the “them” that you are speaking about. Do you have any concept of where “they”mostly are,in the highest populations. When I look for information it saddens me to see uneducated and ignorant comments. Do some reading and educate yourself you’ll be more likely to live longer and have a better life.

          • Can I just second this comment? The mindset on these prepper and survivalist blogs just wreaks of ignorance. they assume that all preppers are gun-toting, church going neocons or else part of a phantom liberal illuminati out to “take away their freedoms”. And it is all based on ignorance of other people, how they live and how they think. Singling people out and assigning them a personality or beliefs based on ignorant biases because of where they happen to live is the dumbest thing in the world. as someone who is apolitical and neutral, it disgusts me to have to wade through all this redneck rhetoric just to get some tips on survival. some of these people need to grow up and read a book.

          • I have been to New York and as far as the city goes most or the residents go they are rude stuck up Liberal know it all’s that think they are superior to everyone else they have ever met.
            Which is why when people in that region retire they can’t get South of the Mason Dixon line fast enough.
            I have not heard these things about them I have lived among them
            Sorry if the truth offends

        • Shame on you, you hateful man. We are all Americans, and we should love and respect each other, regardless of our differences. Suggesting the destruction or abandonment of any of our citizens or cities is treasonous, and inhumane. I hope for your sake that you seek out God, and reevaluate your principles.

          • Do you honestly think the people of the unsustainable, gluttonous cesspits that our biggest cities have become are going to care how “humane” you are when SHTF? They will kill you, steal your stuff, and cannibalize your corpse. Quite frankly I think that God will be annoyed that you didn’t have sense enough to get farther away when you had the chance.

          • You may feel and think this way, but do know that the world’s numbers are against you. In-group preference exists. Yes, it’s best to be able to be in situations where we judge and discern individuals as individuals – but group-think does exist, and Jim Jam you are in the minority. It does not make one ‘hateful’ to talk about ‘them’. Yes, it’s best to be more articulate and state who ‘them’ is – and be mindful that there may be connections to ‘them’ that may be helpful to note. All that said, I do believe it’s evident that rings within rings within rings of power do exist. Talking about “shadow illuminati” and referencing people who have different opinions than you do as “rednecks” does not help your argument, by the way. On the contrary, it illustrates you to be one of ‘them’ in the first place. That is, those who profess a moral high ground and look down on others who do not belong to their church of ‘neutrality’ or worship at the same heterogeneous alter you do.

            Most people who choose to live in cities do for varied reasons – yes. And contribute to the cesspools that are cities simply by choosing to live there. Sometimes it feels unavoidable due financial needs of the family, etc. and sometimes it’s enjoyable due some of the opportunities that cities do create and enjoy. Yes, rural communities have drawbacks. I’ve lived in both – and my personal anecdotal evidence agrees with your points there. That said, you come across as an asshole. An ignorant, uninformed of the importance of demographics and in-group preference in voting among other areas, self-righteous person assuming that someone in Wyoming has a duty to find anything in common with someone living in Chicago – regardless background. ‘American’ really doesn’t mean the same thing to any of us any longer. We do not share a history, a people, a destiny, nor even simple ideals such as free speech – so what is ‘American’?

            Stop trying to shame people based on your own interpretation of what Christianity, moralistic living, or any other ideals and philosophy are. We all have our own model for how the world works – and mine certainly doesn’t agree with yours, but I’d never stoop low enough to bother calling you a ‘hateful man’. It’s retarded. Yes, retarded. In-group preference exists. The evidence of that is alllllll around you. Ignore it to your detriment and that of your children and grandchildren – if you have any.

            I hope for your sake that you seek out reason, statistics on so-called hate crimes, violent crime in general, voting stats, general intelligence testing and the 200 years of research in that area (not simply what mainstream prints), and reevaluate your assumptions.

          • Not now . Millions (yes millions)) have poured over our Southern border and scattered around the nation.. Many are not from Mexico or points South , but from the Middle East, China & Central Europe.. God knows how many terrorists (it only took 19 to pull off Sept. 11th) Between them & the millions of brain washed , brain dead products of our so-called education system that think Communism id superior to our Constitutional Republic The “Americans” you refer to are now in the minority.

        • I have some family and a few friends in upstate and they all say the same thing. Its ridiculous that one filthy city can dictate policy to an entire state

          • Yes. Hopefully we’ll be able to cut the cities off – the folks can live there and enjoy what they like to create. See John Mark for more on this ~

          • So true idk why everyone has to hate on NYC just because, yes, let’s be honest here, they can be stuck up, and quite selfish, and yes, I have been there several times, but to say you wish they were just gone is rude. Americans are Americans- period. We all have intrinsic worth.

      • Not a problem, both will disappear in flashes of blinding light. Don’t be there.

        Having friends/family living in remote areas will be of no value for most unless they’re within a three or four day hike and you get an early jump on ‘traffic’. You will have little chance of getting there.

    • SW Missouri, isn’t highly poplulated, located within 90 miles of population areas, fish and game plentiful, also access to Ozarks, South East Kansas all plentiful of rivers and game and even more remote bug out places. Hills, caves, 45 minutes from Army National Guard facilities, location of civilian airports w/i 30 miles, also private plane locations. Any silos here have hay in them (including the old missle sites).

      • I spent 20 years in the military and was stationed in many places, like Texas, Georgia, New Jersey, Missouri, Kansas, sent TDY to other places like Pennsylvania, Alabama, New York State, plus lots of places in Germany.

        Now to get back to misery, aka Missouri. Just check out all the actual gummint controlled facilities which are dual purpose for the military and the State they are located in.Army Reserve/ National Guard folks man quite a few of these facilities.

        Going from SW misery you reach Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and all of their gummint controlled locations. Here is a eye opener for ya. Every State Forest and National Park Service has personnel attached to the Army reserve/national guard to do the same functions I just mentioned above.

        In my humble opinion folks way out on the prairies, miles from their nearest neighbors equally isolated farm will experience fewer ‘threats’ when TSHTF ‘cuz of this isolation. Another way of putting it goes like this, if you see aircraft overhead on their way to or from a local airport as part of scheduled commercial flight paths, you are equally visible.

        To avoid unnecessary visits from folks who look at what is under these flight paths to determine if you are a potential threat to them the more desolate your farm appears the better. That means no visible vehicles, unplowed fields laying fallow, like those acres being put into gummints strategic reserve, butt, the farmer gets paid for leaving them unplowed, these folks will stay under the radar.

        Here in Florida with so much acreage set aside for productive agriculture, like citrus groves, and the fact this state is criss crossed by 100’s of flight paths, means all that acreage below them is suspect. I live under the approaches to Orlando airport and county police helicopters fly over and film these approach/takeoff lanes on a monthly basis.

        Point here being, its really hard to find any place in the U.S that is not being flown over. Lot’s of luck if you manage to find a secluded place in sw misery.

        • Unless you are at least 4th generation missourian you are not allowed to call it Missery. Sorry son.

          Been here since 1790 and LOVE Missouri.

      • show me stateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee jim the wonder dog marshallllll

    • true but nyc people are different than up state remember you need to know how to in your house better than your neighbor you know what mean boy scout motto be prepared but not doomsdayer good luck God bless darrell

    • I agree about Maine. I think Savvy Cowboyhasn’t seen how much green there is between portland and bangor. I can’t imagine people hoofing it all this way with little in between, especially in winter. Plus I think being near the coast is key! If assistance or evacuation comes from europe, Maine is the perfect place for them to land first before hitting the big cities. Not alot of places like maine that have remoteness and the coast. I doubt People inland will get supplies until the coastal needs are met. Not to mention MAINe has farmland and the rivers, lakes and ocean. All the fish and shellfish maine exports could feed people here. Just a thoughT!

      • I’ve been looking at Maine – I’m in the Intermountain West which is being rapidly invaded by uninvited migrants who vote 70-85% for curbs on free speech and gun ownership among other things ~ as well as being invaded by the more “liberally” inclined CA and WA techies. What strikes me about Maine is that the numerous amount of waterways and small islands can be either a boon or a bad thing. New Yorkers are about 10 hours away by car or train, it seems to me, and Toronto and Montreal, Quebec City, Boston and Portland itself – are also not that far away. That said, neither is Northeastern Canada…

        The winters are similar to what we experience in the Intermountain West. I thought they were supposed to be quite colder – but on closer look, they’re not really. The snow level is similar. Maine is far from potential volcanic fallout – and government weather machines do exist – including capability to begin earthquakes which is a number 1 cause of volcanic activity. Doesn’t seem to be many ammunitions depots…. but yes, there are huge potential drawbacks to Maine: New York City, Boston, Toronto, and other like urban centers.

        That said, you’re not just looking for a place to bug out. You want a place that will help you to “carry the torch’ and have resources in people– are the people like you? Do they share history/heritage/ outlook? Can you build and move forward? Are there bugout places accessible from the bugout places? Don’t back yourself into a corner. Do the people there share the knowledge or will they be amicable and receptive to knowledge that seems on first glance to be unethical or that we’ve been brainwashed about? Do they understand the importance of demographic destiny and why that actually matters? If not – you may simply be keeping yourself alive and condemning your kids and grand kids. I think that the best bug out plan is inclusive of your great-great-grandkids if possible. At least – your grand kids – with a bug out for their own bug out in mind.

    • No one ever mentions anything about nuclear power plants in picking out a bugout spot. Remember 3 mile island, Chenoble? You do not want the pick a bug out spot down wind of any of these things. In a shtf scenario those will melt down after the pumps shut down raining down poison for centuries across the country . No chance of waiting it out in a bunker. That leaves very few places left in the lower 48 states. Best spots would be along the Pacific Coast and those are not completely safe as the wind and weather could bring radiation your way. Then there is that fallout coming across the pacific. But at least most would be rained out hopefully by the time it hits the coast. Good luck out there everyone.

  • Whereabout in NV would be your best choice as a bug location and adjacent State location?- Vetdisb.

    • I bought some land up in the northeast corner of Nevada, in Elko county. The particular area only has about 500 people in an area of about 1,800 square miles.
      Plus, the land was almost free (price-wise)

      • Sorry to sound like this is going to sound, Kev, but you’re lucky you didn’t pay anything for it because it won’t be a big loss when you finally figure out you made a mistake and hopefully find a much better location.

        • How can you say that with nothing to back up your statement. Plus he didnt say what resources are available or the specific area. Thanks for the criticizing comment with nothing further to offer as to why or what a better option would be. Thanks for contributing.

    • Will Norva – Choose any area between Duck Valley (Indian Res.) and All around Wild Horse Reservoir – and East to Jarbridge. You are about 45-50 miles NNW of Elko (All in Elko County.) We live NW of there on the Idaho Side – overlooking the Snake River, on the rimrock.

  • You seem to forget about the major air force bases in both north and south Dakota. Also North Dakota is riddled with active nuclear missile silos making it target rich in any international event. China and Russia won’t forget they are there neither should we.

    • Don’t forget about the vast size of the missile locations from F.E. Warren AFB in Southwestern Wyoming, that place as well as the bases in the Dakotas will GLOW for decades after a nuclear strike. Prevailing winds ill share the fallout down wind and those issues will last a lifetime.

      • All of the 90th/89th MSS go into Ka,Ne.. There are hundreds of silos scattered across both states. Most are not seen from major hwys so it would be difficult to get away from a targeted area.

        • Actually after we dropped the bombs on Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were in the process of being rebuilt and today they are thriving cities as if they were never bombed. The most radioactive materials can be removed and the ground will be as if nothing ever happened. The US Army cleared an island in the South Pacific, in the 80s, that was used as a atomic bomb test range. Today it is a typical paradise. So no, just because a nuclear bomb was exploded somewhere, does not mean that it can never be used for a thousand years.

          • This is a misleading conclusion. A former nuclear site might be able to be used after “a thousand years’”, but that doesn’t automatically mean it can or should be used sooner. Nuclear materials leave harmful residues in the water table, soil, and wildlife. The US has not fully cleansed any of its nuclear test sites. The Marshall Islands, especially Bikini Atoll, to which I believe you are referring, continue to register radioactive levels 10 times more than some affected areas of Chernobyl which also remains uninhabitable due to dangerous radiation levels. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were able to rebuild after their cities were destroyed by nuclear bombs because the amount, reaction efficiency, and location created a “fortunate” trifecta of circumstances that mitigated the long-term effects of nuclear radiation. Further, the US has never been great at cleaning up after itself. Kaho’olawe, a Hawaiian island, was used as a bomb site for US military drills for decades after the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941. But they did not take responsibility for removing the debris, including unexploded ordinances. Instead, grassroots Hawai’i groups of everyday citizens have pulled together to clean the island up on their own. To this day, Kaho’olawe remains uninhabitable.

          • That is after people in the blast zone, who are found, are buried and those folks who get irradiated live out the remainder of their lives in misery.

    • Ummm, yes, that’s right, ND is not a good area. Stay away from ND. Please go somewhere else. We have Nukes nearby and cold, yes, oh so very cold weather. You’d never survive the winters, umm… yeah, that’s the ticket. They’re atrocious. Absolutely terrible.

      Go to one of those other four places. They’re much better. 🙂

  • It seems to me that those of us who live in a rural area and have some good land may want to stay where we are depending on the emergency of course.

    • Nick, how accepting would you be to Christian survivors occupping and help to protect what you have and are self contained with guns, ammo and food for a year plus. Along w/many other attributes, growing, building, McGuyvering, etc?

      • Id be into a Christian community. Historically they also survived together. And I do own property with natural resourcesI’d be into a Christian community.
        Lots of land around also re forests

        • Donner Party, anyone? When push comes to shove, Christianity or no other religion is going to overcome the starvation.

        • What about Kentucky? I’m considering two different properties currently. One is in South Western Kentucky near Missouri and Tennessee and the other is in South Central Kentucky between Bowling Green and Nashville.

          • I notice nobody has mentioned New Mexico. It’s a large state and has several sparsely populated areas. I was raised there (Albuquerque) but have lived in Texas for 43 years and over thirty of those years in West Texas. I currently own two pieces of property in New Mexico, one in west central NM (6.4 acres raw land and extremely remote) and one in southeast NM (2 acres with small cabin ,storage, septic, power, & 2000 gal water storage but no well). Most people think of NM as all desert but both properties have many trees. Larger parcel at 7,500 ft elevation and other is at 6,200 ft. 6+ acre is 20 miles from nearest town (a spot in the road and 60 from next largest town, Magdalena, NM. My cabin is 45 miles from nearest town (35,000-40,000 population) and is on a state highway which dead ends into a National Park campground. One way in, one way out. Highway traverses VERY rugged mountains while climbing to the top. Larger parcel is currently for sale and is located in what is the least populated county in the state. Love them both though.

    • I expect, when the dole stops, the rats will leave the cities after destroying them and go foraging for what they need in gangs of up to 30, killing and pillaging without remorse. With stolen pickup trucks or even National Guard attack vehicles no fence or gate will mean anything except a sign: “Here It Is!”
      A lot of folks are going to get killed if they think they’ll defend their home from such a force.
      I think my spot in the country (NE Florida) is really about as good as it gets. 5 acres with enough woods to be hidden from the road with an innocuous little dirt lane for access and several very nice places that will surely be attacked before mine, allowing us time to bug out to the backwoods before the mob gets to our place to find it looks already looted. The doors will be hanging open, the place will look ransacked, and there’ll be nothing to even look for!
      You see, when it looks like the crap has hit the fan we’ll prepare for attack by changing the place that way, and setting up a hiding spot out back in the woods a few yards. Sure, we’ll be armed, but only for protection in case we’re discovered.
      Consider: trying to shoot it out with a gang of probably better experienced thugs is a totally losing proposition; you or someone in your family is going to be shot and then what are you going to do? We may lose our garden and some stuff, but when they’re gone we’ll still be OK and have something to come back to.
      So, Rather than buying a remote bug out place you’ll probably not be able to get to I suggest you look much closer to home. Just look around with a new perspective, a more realistic one. Probably your own home right now will do, you needn’t go far to hide while the thugs are there…they’ll quickly move on to more promising targets.

      • Whatever your bugout location – if you are not a part of a group of effective, cohesive, trained people who can stand guard and tactically respond 24/7 you will likely die if you are engaged.
        ——
        “I am the leader of a band of 8-to-12 looters. I have some basic military training. We move from place to place like locusts devouring everything in our path. My group is armed with light weapons and can develop and follow simple plans of attack. We take what we want by force of arms. We prefer none of our victims survive because that could cause problems for us in the future.

        It has been six months since the grid went down. You and the other five members of your party have settled into what may be a long grinding existence. The every day tasks of growing and gathering have now become routine. The news from the outside is extremely limited but you don’t really miss it much. Life is simple but physically demanding.

        Although things may seem stable you will need to keep your team focused and alert. This is your first and most important layer of defense. You should hold an immediate reaction drill once per week. Keep things simple. Practice a specific response to such threats as injury, fire, attack and evacuation. Despite the challenges you must maintain contact with those around you such as neighbors for vital clues that trouble is brewing. Regular monitoring the radio will be critical in providing an early warning of trouble. You may be able to safely interview refugees with risking your party. Keep in mind the information you get from them may not always be reliable.

        While you have been farming I have been learning the best tactics to employ to seize your property and your goods. I have been refining them since we hit the road right after the lights went out. I have conducted eight “hits” so far and have been successful seven times. Here are some of my “lessons learned”.

        We search for victims night and day. During the day we are listening for the sounds of machinery, cars, tractors, gunfire or generators. Day or night without a lot of wind those sounds can carry for miles. At night I look for any sort of light. Even a small flash indicates somebody with electricity and that means a rich target. I always have somebody listing to the scanner for any news, leads or insecure chatter.”

        • Excellent post. Very interesting indeed….. I copied it and put it in my info – we’re actively preparing for our move within the next couple of years. I don’t love the term ‘bug out’. It isn’t accurate enough for what I want. I don’t want a simple hidey hole. It needs to be a place where not only I survive, but where my people survive long enough to pass the torch onward to the next ‘bug out’ location. I’m in no doubt that many will be necessary. So many things to consider… hidability a big one – and perhaps impossible in the long run so…. gotta just plan for as many contingencies as possible. And it’s daunting for sure.

        • Bragging that you are a looter binds you to a whole different classification of trash. THough your bodies would serve as a great food source for my pigs. Bad thing about your view is that no one will come looking for you, but when found your flesh will become a resource. Bragging about your loser ideology will only paint a target on you and worse your family. Too many proud looters feed sharks every year when the Hurricanes hit the Gulf. Even Law Enforcement will shoot a looter on site just to feed seagulls and crows. The only death fitting for one who steals – is and acts as a coward and will die like one.

      • Do not expect to survive long if you do not have a significant and entrenched MAG standing with you.

  • I think much of the far NE (Maine, NH, Vermont, upstate NY) could be good. The southeast (south of Macon, GA, NW of Jacksonville. FL out toward East TX) has some advantages such as were mentioned: easy terrain, decent seasons (summer can be hot), plenty of water and game, long growing seasons, acceptance of “off the grid” life styles, only a few large urban areas but those are rather isolated, independent spirit with wide acceptance of guns and respect for privacy. While the occasional hurricane can be a pest, that also provides good “cover” for prepping as most can be explained (when necessary) as “hurricane preparations”. Don’t forget the proximity of military installations: the East coast has plenty and the Gubmint owns vast sections of the Western half of the US! This could be “good news/bad news” depending on whose S hits whose F. This also applies to the northern tier of the Midwest (ND, SD, WY) where many ICBM and NORAD installations are located. Can you say “targets”? Idaho isn’t mentioned; too remote? And the Appalachians are nice but far more populated than many realize and bordered by many large cities. things could get tight there far faster than most would expect.

    • I dont think you realize how little Appalachia is actually populated. There are stretches of hundres of miles of nothing but mountain and wooded areas with nill to no one around in somecases for many miles… Not to mention it would be some much harder to find someone in those woods. Just don’t get caught on the wrong persons land 😉

  • Why are there any locations like Arizona and New Mexico selected. They both have mountain ranges, forests, water; the Colorado and other rivers that make them good bug out areas. Weather is no more problems than the other selections made in the article.

    • OK Irving, So tell me of a place in AZ that is a day’s drive from Phoenix and all that population.

      • Cochise County, Arizona. There are places where there are maybe 50 to 100 people in 25 to 50 square mile area. Weather is good, land is good with clean water.

      • Everything in AZ is a day’s drive from Phoenix O_o

    • One word : Mexicans

      • You have a problem with Mexicans? They’re welcome in my MAG.

    • I know right. I all ways hear Florida is the worse to Prepp!!!!! I think that is 100% wrong and these ancient peppers don’t have a very open mind of today. Actually Florida is one of the best if not the best place to live. You can easliy sail away from 95% of the worries you’ll have on land. Caribbean, Gulf coast States, All the way to NY if you need to get to Strong and Stable towns… Or just you own small Inhabitant island…. So much you can do from florida that you cant do any place else. And the Cost of the BUG OUT BOAT,,, I found an Ocean Cruising Sailboat `1980 for $20,000.. Ready to go…BY owner… Make Payments… Way cheaper than land and building…. and is all ready ready for off Grid…. Keep a open Mind Guys…

      • I am in Orlando and saw what happens when a hurricane hits. No body ain’t going nowhere. The batten down the hatches mentality of powers that be that run Fla don’t want roads clogged to the point of gridlock. In actuality it becomes 1 step short of anarchy when power grid shuts down. Law of the jungle-self preservation kicks in. Every person for themselves, to be more precisee. Those who really prep for a bug-in, meaning being armed, having a solar back-up in place, a hefty stash of grub, water filters, neighborhood watch set up will make it in Florida. Area of Orlando, Pine Hills, aka ‘crime hills’ to the locals, is already a no-go area, even for the police. Areas like these need to be attacked by the police to contain them. If no coordinated offensive police action takes place when SHTF, Orlando like every large city with poverty and unemployment become battlegrounds. Its already like that in the U.S today …yes?

    • In-group preference exists. Arizona is at an extreme disadvantage in this case as it is very heterogeneous. You may love your Honduran friend and their Vietnamese wife and her Pakistani best friend, and her Pakistani best friend’s father who is from Nigeria — but in-group preference does exist, and when things are good (there are trucks bringing food to grocery stores and people have money to pay for them), there is still in-fighting. Look at crime stats – be diligent and really really look at them. Look at how people, by group, vote. Arizona has many people from all backgrounds who are amazing and good people – which won’t matter a lot when things are bad and the numbers of people who have in-group preference overwhelm them, potentially.

      That said, something AZ DOES have going for it is people are more wise to the truth that diversity decreases group trust, volunteerism, acts of charity, etc. and these people will be more likely to separate willingly – and be more street savvy so-to-speak. There ARE a lot of great natural places in Arizona to hide, live, etc. That said, I wonder if it’ll be enough – due the increasing heterogeneity of Arizona. In other words, if you’re Caucasian – will any of these so-called ‘minority’ groups who are actual global majorities – will they fight for you, protect you, and advocate for you and your kids and Caucasian neighbors when things go wrong? Will their numbers be enough? Will great numbers of such “minorities” be a danger to you and yours?

      I live close to Arizona. I think the answer is a resounding – Yes. They will be a danger. I don’t advocate AZ if you can help it.

  • Yeah, great idea. The locals are ALL waiting with open arms, for a flood of suburban and urban free loaders to descend on them like a plague of locust. They all have massive, table cloth covered picnic tables, laden with biscuits, corn on the cob, fried chicken, potato salad and green beans for everyone. They welcome everyone to over fish their favorite fishing holes, kill every game animal in the woods, and devour their farm animals and crops.
    These folks will be blockading roads, turning people back, or hanging and shooting looters.
    If people want to have bug out locations, in the wilderness, BUY REAL ESTATE, even if you have to cooperate and share it with family and friends to make it work. The whole Bug Out idea is a massively flawed concept. Better to prepare, prepare, prepare, then run and pray.

    • I always thought part of the Bug Out idea WAS to buy real estate, or share the purchase of the same. Your claim that the BO idea is “massively flawed”, reveals that your understanding of it is massively flawed.
      I live right next to one of the largest military installations in the world. My family has a G.O.O.D. plan that involves our partial ownership of very rural property that is neither near a metropolitan area nor in radiological proximity to a high-value military target (assuming we get advance warning). We also have a plan to share this with other Christians who are similarly prepared and equipped to survive, defend, and assist others.
      A good bug-out plan (or SHTF plan, or Get Out Of Dodge plan) includes full or partial ownership of real estate AND a plan to help others.

      • Too many of you are worried, stop worrying first thing! Secondly, we NEED each other!!!! No one person or husband wife can defend what they have and where they are. Grouping together with those you TRUST will do what they need to do and help each other to survive is essential. Knowing the warning signs of when to go is VERY IMPORTANT. When it all goes south, you will have a MAX of 3 days before people start to gang up and when the gang mentality starts, its fair game. There will be no police, no EMS, no Fire Dept, NOTHING to help you but who you have brought into your world. Being able to see those coming after your position is essential.
        Take a look at Bullet Proof Your Home. Its a very good read and will enlighten very much.

        • Single man I am. Loner Can fend for myself. Don’t need the commune., maybe in a group of two or three maybe four. Have survival training and experience. Ready to take off now and let the rat racers have it. Anyone else ready? Don’t have to wait until SHTF.

          • I recall reading that gas masks are only important for the military because civilians get the hell out of areas that are hit with poison gas. Military have to stand where they are. same with SHTF, be best not to be nailed down to a location. be mobile and have a vehicle that can run on monoxide (wood smoke). things get bad move out of the danged way and let it flow past.

          • Hey there fellow survivalist….you just asked my question!
            Some of us are loners by circumstance or life choice or both!
            I personally could move quickly but had found it necessary to get rid of much of my real estate earlier in life and only having another country to go to which might NOT be too quick to move to.
            Care to exchange comments and ideas re such options here?

          • Single also loner myself
            Want to hook up with a Team
            Skills include use firearms, medicinal plants, leatherwork, bow making, warm clothing construction,
            Primitive lifestyle

        • That’s what worries me!! Knowing when to go… and who to trust. How do we know? I just have to admit all this upheaval is scary but we are trying our best to be ready. It would be nice to find a good source

          • Have you thought about the Bible? Maybe putting a little trust & faith on the Lord might be the ticket. If this nation had stayed on that path , it wouldn’t be in the mess it is in righ now.t

          • Re. the other reply (to which I cannot reply), I do not know if a god exists, I do not believe that it does, but I do know that it doesn’t help. Christians and other believers suffer and die and make wrong decisions every day. The word capricious comes to mind. At any rate, plan and act as if there is no god coming to your rescue and hope that there is.

      • The Bug out plan to most people is to pile into a truck or SUV with some guns a first aid kit, a few Mountain House number 10 cans, and get on the highway, and find a welcoming wilderness spot to set up camp. Most people are not buying land for that purpose.
        Its a shame how much rural land i now being sold by developers who subdivide it, add a bunch of restrictions, and turn it into HOAs in the woods.

    • Exactly. First of all, most will never make it out of any city alive… which is great! The cities are where the leftists live and I want them all dead anyway.

      Secondly, if they think they will make it 50 miles into rural America without being ambushed and killed, let them try.

      I pray for a massive solar event or EMP every day. To cleanse this country.

      • I live 100% off-the-grid on acreage now, grow most of my own food and have 600 acres of land around me that no one can build on. I have a small stockpile of arms, a bunker buried in my back yard close enough to keep an eye on the house, but far enough to not arouse curiosity. I have a year’s supply of food put aside, including vitamins – and a way of producing potable water for 100 people for 8-10 years. I have seeds, gardening tools, and everything I need to start over as necessary…including existing survival gardens that don’t resemble a garden on any level but are producing food. I am an RN/EMT and taking wilderness medicine courses and have a fully equipped stock of medical supplies.

        Oh, and I’m a Democrat, a happy liberal, progressive, whatever.

        I also have friends all over the country – from small towns to rural areas – that are liberals and also preppers. (Heck, the postmistress of my tiny post office in the village is a hard-core prepper with food caches all over her property. And she’s a liberal.)

        The arrogance of thinking that all liberals live in cities…the ignorance of believing that Democrats can’t be preppers or wouldn’t bother…that no one is preparing for bad times ahead except the right-wing. The idea that only the Trumpers or conservatives own guns.

        Well – that is the kind of stupidity that gets people killed.

        • My thoughts are that you identified yourself as a Democrat. While you may identify as a Democrat, I think that’s one of your lesser identities. You simply sound like a sound realist to me. Survival and common sense trumps (no pun) political parties. Nevertheless, I’m sure you know what people think when you identify with a party that is anti everything you are doing. I’m just saying. 🙂 You are what, republican (lesser identity) is striving for.

        • I’m always amused when Drmocrats post to such forums, planning to survive an apocalypse they are creating. This is not to say that Republicans are without fault, probably at least a third of that party is filled with self aggrandizing collaborators. But as we have seen over the past 8 months, voting democrats into power actively brings the zombie apocalypse closer. There is never a good reason for it.

          • Well said.

        • If you prep, and have weapons training; then welcome to the Republic. Democrat or not, Republicans have been trying to find a common ground with liberals and Democrats for years. (APPARENTLY ya’ll already know how screwed up your party is – Owning guns is the reason Republicans detest liberals. Libs want them out of our hands yet go to our training centers to learn how to use them.. Logic sucks…

    • Agreed. Well said. You can hide for only so long. The solution isn’t to just run and hide – it’s about ‘what comes next’ as well.

  • I would extend the Dakotas into northern Minnesota winters and all! Also, I would only include eastern portions of Washington and Oregon with Idaho in the Pacific northwest. The actually state governments of Washington and Oregon are getting quite leftist because of all the liberals that have moved there along the coast from California.

    • Eastern Oregon and Washington are quite dry with little to no rain. In fact, Oregon is more than half desert. Open space, but little water or trees.

      Even the major cites in Oregon and Washington are experiencing drought over the last few years – and this year has been unusually warm and dry.

      • Thats true… and concerning Eastern Oregon, what standing water is there is usually alkaline. Unless you’re experienced at high dessert/ arid survival, one probably wants to make it as far to the center of the country as they can. IE Colorado Rockies, Northern New Mexico, Northern AZ, West/Centeral Montana, panhandle of Idaho, and Northern Washington. Im staying away from the coastal regions of Or, including the Cascades. Everyone with 2 legs will be headed there, in addition to whatever cali-folks make it out

  • You say that Washington and Oregon are anti-government, but they consisitently are big government Democrat controlled states. I’m glad you didn’t mention the one place in America which is the best “Place of Refuge.” This is an area ringed with high mountains (stunningly beautiful), with climates that range from cold in some places and warm in others (both alpine and desert), a place that is not too close to highly populated states, it has the highest population percentage that are Republicans of any state, it has low crime, is inexpensive to live, and has a devotely Christian population, and are the most generous people charity-wise by percentage of income in the United States. I live there so I really don’t want the place too crowded, even though the people here are rated the happiest people in the Country. They love strangers and are very hospitable. So, if you “Don’t want to raise your hand against your neighbor” in the ‘Last Days’ you might consider this gun and scripture loving place. One last thing, the people in this state are very organized and have one to two years supply of food against any disaster scenario. They will share it with the streams of people who come to our state. If you guess the state, which you didn’t mention at all, please continue not to mention it.

    Vern

    • I’m betting I know exactly where u are talking about since I live in that state as well. It to has its cons but I believe the pros outweigh those

      • Not sure about ALL of the cons in that state “not mentioned”, we now live there as well in the northern part. While every single state has it’s drawbacks be they population density, climate, topography, economy, etc. one needs to determine the best place for THEM and live with it.
        This IS our “bug-out location” so we are staying put. I am not wild about the culture here, not at all,even though I am well versed that behavior and “belong”. Not a native though, thankfully, we’ve got excellent neighbors that are like minded. Winters can be a bit rough, NO place is “perfect”, so make do where you are, or get to a better survivability locale.

        • I also live in this state, and while not a “member”, I have been treated very well. The culture of individual responsibility, freedom, helping others, and the healthy economy and “castle doctrine” have me convinced that this is the best place to be. Nice scenery too…

          • I also live here, but in the very southern desert part. Only 4% of our food is local, the rest gets shipped in. The big worry for people down here is that the “sinners” from the big metro area south of us by 2 hours will make their way up, and our city will be the first line of defense for the state. I have family up in the “alpine” northern district, so we have a G.O.O.D. plan that involves us going north if it gets too bad. Other than the water and lack of food though, it’s a great spot!

      • Well I’d love to know what state that is! We’ve lived in MI, NY, OK, SD, AL and now FL. I can tell you serious cons for all and serious pros for all. I’d love to be in Montana, personally. I’ve always dreamed about living there. My husband- ya… he’s anti-prepper. We married during my “clueless- what are preppers” days.

        • Julia, my take is they are talking about utah, and being a mormon, which means they take their food prepping seriously. I have been across most of the country ‘cuz my folks have relatives in over 1/2 of the states.

          I also criss crossed the country ‘cuz I was in the army for 20 years. From what I experienced, the place I felt most secure was in the Pennsylvania Alleghenies where my mom’s sister lives, not far from where I went to college in a really tiny coal miining town.

          Places like rural west virginia, rural Pennsylvania, rural upper new York State, rural Vermont, rural New Hampshire have similar hilly, heavily wooded terrain. plenty of drinkable water, decent growing soils,

          They also have many religious folks who take their religion seriously. I don’t mean going to places where rural alcoholic white trash living in beat up trailer parks congregate. You want to be as far away from those folks as possible…same goes for places where interbreeding is the social mode and the same white trash mentality is prevalent.

          This means actually traveling around the countryside you feel most comfortable being in, checking out the FBI crime stats of the area, find out if there are any major industrial polluters, like the kind that wreaked havoc recently in West Virginia, or Flint, Mich. It also means knowing proximity to gummint restricted areas.

          Since you are in Fla like I am, you are trapped. You are at the mercy of what or who are your neighbors. I don’t speak Spanish, for starters, which means I have to assume if they show up on my doorstep when TSHTF, I need to invest in a pitbull or 2.

          I mentioned in another post, of seeking permission to get a plot of ground, on or near the St. John’s river to get a rv fastened to a reinforced cement bargeto act as a houseboat and set up solar panels on the roof to recharge deep discharge batteries to propel the barge up or down river as the need arises.and to have a source of power to run a microwave.

          • Jake, all the plans that everyone here have mentioned, save a few who are prepping to stay home, is that an “emp” attack changes everything. your best plan is to be prepared to shelter-in-place, have food, ammo, and a plan to assist your neighbors come together to protect yourselves from looters and thugs. there is safety in numbers. a nuclear attack will create an “EMP” that will destroy all electronics, things with coils of wire, solar panels, generators and motorized vehicles. we will be back to the early 1900 century again. please get informed about the effects of nuclear fallout and radiation poisoning. this can save your life. after an “EMP” attack, up to 90% of the population will die in the first year. the remaining survivors will most likely be military, as they are prepped for anything. stay safe and may god keep us all safe.

          • Ever wonder why the Army placed all kinds of ships loaded with monitoring devices at bikini atoll when H-bomb testing was done? If that close up exposure to blast ionizing radiation didn’t obliterate the electronics on those ships we have nothing to fear. The so-called ELF, ELP and other acronyms floating around only effect miniaturized circuitry, just like an ordinary power surge does. Power generating plants around the world get hit regulary by direct hit lightning strikes. Ever hear of a farraday cage? These power plants keep on generating. .Its only when colossal stupidity gets involved like Chernobyl, 3 mile island do we see what happens to a single affected power plant. The entire power generating system didn’t go down. Another scenario of extreme overload as what happened to NY State when it endured a total blackout when millions of airconditioners were switched on and the resulting overload triggered off pre=planned phase downs to allow for the system to allow power to come back on line in a staggered, pre-planned brownout set up to give each affected area a brief respite from the heat. Yes, the entire system is antiquated. We need geothermal power like Iceland has. Yellowstone’s potential has never been exploited

        • In regards to your inquiry about the research ships around johnston island (H bomb test site in the pacific), those were surface detonations. check out the results of “starfish prime” ( 07/09/1962). 1.4 mg detonation over johnston Island 240 miles high. Caused massive damage to electric grid in Hawaii. Far exceeded what was expected and demonstrated how one thermonuclear blast in 200 mile range over the central us would knock out the electric grid of the entire nation. this was declared top secret at the time and so was conversation about the emp effect for years afterward.

    • I am so new to all of this….I need some guidance. I am a single mother and am not military trained…I have however, collected many readings on SHTF, bullet proofing the home, etc….but I need help. Can anyone out there at least direct me to a group who shares the same concerns where I might learn how to be more prepared for what is sure to come? God bless you all!

      • try the Preppers Way of Life group on FB.

    • I’m pretty sure I know which state you are in, but I think it’s too far away for me to consider.

    • Please tell, just what our small family needs!!

    • I’ll bet that when the food starts running short, they won’t be so welcoming or willing to share what they have. I use to live there and would again, however the northern half of the state has gotten just too crowded for me.

      • It is growing insanely. Everywhere. Not just Cache, but north of Cache. Even into Bear Lake. Not just Ogden – but North Ogden, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah County is the fastest growing place in the entire country. The problem with the good people here is that they equate crony capitalism with the free market and free enterprise and do not seem to understand that only homogeneous populations can actually implement a good form of capitalism where self responsibility helps you attain all you might – they do not understand that demographics is destiny, that some peoples – as groups (not as individuals) do have general intelligence in less amounts than others, that some groups may have more intelligence as a group but are also more neurotic and have more sexual dysfunction as groups – and in general, that groups by heritage and race differ.

        All of the state is growing – and the growth is mainly coming from CA, WA, and South of the border. Descendants of the original founders of the state are becoming a minority – and most of them do not realize this. It will be their downfall…. it would be extremely, extremely difficult to get from north to south or vice versa if shit hit the fan. You’d have to pass through three growing metropolitan areas — three valleys that are now full of people who’d be trying to do the same thing. You can go over the mountains or over the salt flats – but many would also be doing that.

    • *Well said about OR and WA. AND homelessness is increasing by the millions. Disease, including Bubonic Plague – is a factor for sure. Oregon and WA are cesspools now of people who LOVE big government, “diversity” (read, brown), and anti-traditional family values – which is a big boon to those who love big government as only the traditional family counters big government. ———–Re: the rest: You’re obviously speaking of Utah. Just a heads-up, the U of U demographics dept. states that by 2060, Caucasians will be a 48% minority in this state. Utahns have big hearts, but by and large do not understand the important of demographics and how it will change their Republican state into something else. They are having children at a rate of 2.09 per Caucasian woman, which is below replacement level. You’d think it was higher – it’s not. Only South Dakota meets the replacement level for Caucasian child births – at 2.1 per woman.

      Utahns need to stop “loving strangers.” They consider it Christian, but in fact it is masochistic and will destroy their own posterity. You can be that they will not share their 2 years of food supply with strangers who want to take it by force – and who are procreating at a faster rate and overtaking their towns.

  • I found only a few negative places listed… The Northwest including California
    may fall into the ocean, earthquakes and tidle waves. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming will be gone in minutes if Yellowstone Blows. Texas and Louisiana will be flood zones all the way up to Kansas (where I live). Sorry to be negative, but I’ve already got my location picked out and I only have room for 2 more families on the property. Looking for construction type people and medical type people. That is our goal. Say good Night Gracie…

    • Interesting to say the least, I agree and disagree regarding staying away from cities. The only main good reason for living in or near small or large cities and assuming your prepared, it makes it a lot easier to feel, see and hear bad guys coming, whereas in rural areas, unless on a mountain top to see all, you’d better be REAL prepared and/or have set up’s that allow you to see, feel or hear who is coming. Besides if it’s your time to go, so be it. I’m curious where do people interact and/or hook up with other like minded that want to financially among the other mutual ideas together to buy and share land.

    • MT will be gone if Yellowstone blows…..TX a flood zone all the way up to Kansas….??? I’ll be blunt: Exaggerate much there, dude?

      Come on. Yes, LA and portions of TX can experience flooding. Yes, if the Yellowstone Caldera goes up it would cause a lot of problems. But to make extreme exaggerations is just silly. People lose credibility with such statements.

      • It seems outlandish to talk about Yellowstone blowing. It isn’t. Why? Because seismic activity can cause volcanic activity in unstable areas. Yellowstone is unstable. There are machines that can cause seismic activity. No, that isn’t an exaggerated tinfoil conspiracy. If HAARP machines exist in Alaska, you can bet some due diligence will result in your finding through your own research and time investment – what I’m talking about.

        Who controls the ability to cause seismic activity? Would it be advantageous or disadvantageous to use such tech? I don’t know. I only know I consider it as I consider the rest: population numbers, demographics, voting stats, religious stats, proximity to nuclear waste, etc.

    • If yellowstone blows, everyplace well be buried in volcanic ash. Up to 500 kl from the explosion 1000 ml of ash , boise, rapid city, cheyenne, denver will have 100- 300 ml of ash, Fargo, lincoln, 30 -100 ml of ash, west coast, st louis chicago 10 – 30 ml of ash, South East and East coast 3-10 ml of ash northern mexico an southern canada 1- 3 ml of ash.Volcanic ash is is akin to microscopic shards of glass. Can do extensive damage to electronics machinery , livestock, and people. Mt st helens is to yellowstone what a firecracker is to an h bomb. if yellowstone “blows” the continental u.s. ceases to exist. There will be no bug out place.

      • I think worrying about Yellowstone blowing is to worry over being hit by a meteor. There are thousands of vent tubes running under the Yellowstone area, that would give relief to the area. Yes there could be several volcanos that would pop up, but I doubt that it would be the disaster everyone is prediction. Remember Y2K? Nothing happened then and probably nothing will happen to the Yellowstone area.

      • Yep you got that right, Bill. The only people left will be folks in underground shelters with the ability to filter that nasty ash. My understanding of what I have read says that the ash will settle in our lungs and we will pass on due to lack of oxygen. I have stocked some surgical masks but I have a notion that the filters in the mask will fill up so quickly they will be next to worthless! On a happy note I will get to meet my maker, can you imagine the gardens in Heaven?

      • From what I’ve seen – you’re wrong. There are places that will survive. Yes, much of the continental US ceases to exist. Not all. And no, it isn’t stupid to consider it – You might move past it after realizing it’s improbable – but it isn’t stupid to consider it.

  • I live in an un incorporated area of LA county, CA and, by far do not fit Zelmer’s discription, no offense Z, I understand where you are coming from. If our little enclave is not turned to a sheet of glass by nukes to City of LA then we would have to stay, protect and produce enough for those other 12 families that might not be prepared. Live free or die, I’ll prepare where I am, God planted me here for now.

  • Theresa, I was surprised to see LA, MS and AL listed as good locations for bug out ONLY because of the “100 miles inland from coastal waterways are under federal government control” edict from obama and crew. What say you?

  • Montana SUCKS everyone stay away!!! Just kidding, from Butte, MT!

  • A part of the US nuclear deterrent is found in some of recommended states. This wasn’t a consideration?

  • What about Tennessee? How safe will it be in a SHTF situation?

    • Don’t forget about OakRidge, TN…it would be a sure target because of the nuclear business there. It makes the whole area unsafe even though there are woods and streams close by.

    • Nancer, I’ve tried Tennessee a couple times and while some of the countryside is nice, and the climate isn’t that severe the cons outweigh the pros, ALL things considered. Somebody here mentioned the enclaves of Muslim groups in certain places in the country and Tennessee is one of them. They happen to have one of the largest mosques in the county there and they hardly have any Muslims in the town where it’s built! What does that tell you about their plans.

      And there’s also that monster fault going right through the state that’s long over due for a huge Mississippi River altering earthquake that will Devastate most of the area…

      Elvis didn’t even hang around much after he discovered Hawaii, LOL

      I’d look elsewhere if you can.

    • Only parts of Tennessee would be safe. Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee would not be. East Tennessee has part of the Appalachian Trail but around the trail area would not be very safe. The best thing about E. Tn is there are TONs of good caves accessible to water or with water running through them. There is good hunting, fishing and wild plants to eat. The game is plentiful and there are mountains adjoining the Appalachian Trail that only the locals are familiar with. I have a friend who lived 3 years in one area and never saw one person except when he went into town for supplies. The higher elevations does have some snow occasionally but if using a large cave for primary residence, that really would not be a problem. If you take the time to research the areas it might be a life saver.

  • It’s nice to think that going to out of the way, remote, rural areas would be good places to bug out once SHTF. Just keep in mind folks that our enemies, i.e., islamic terrorists also prefer those places. In fact according to the FBI there are numerous “terrorist training camps” spread out throughout the USA at this very moment. I am from Texas and we have them here too. My son who is in the U.S. Army Infantry lives close to a major Army base in upstate New York where he is assigned. It’s a very rural area with a little over 700 people. My wife and I visited him and his family when he returned from his 4th combat tour overseas last year. I was very impressed with the little town. It’s got one stop light, one convenience store, one tiny post office, one good sized building that houses students from pre-K to 12th grade, a small all-volunteer fire department, also many small farms, where you can purchase organic grown produce and dairy products. I’ve traveled in many different parts of the world and in my active duty years in the service and most of the 50 states. This little town is in my opinion in the upper “10” of best places to live in the USA. The people are friendly, helpful, have a sense of community, patriotic, and many homes fly the flag. This is my bug out place where my son bought a home built in 1850. Of course no place is perfect. Winters are harsh and snowfall is one of highest in the USA. However, I found out that not even 50 miles away is a islamic site of the same nature as we have here in Texas where I live. Actually, law enforcement could hardly do anything to prevent these islamic groups from setting up their camps that they have bought and therefore legally theirs as long as they don’t blatantly break the law. So my fellow Americans, just watch yourself and make sure there are no islamic terrorist training camps next door to you when you bug out to a seemingly peaceful, remote, rural area. Our islamic enemies seem to prefer these places too where they can keep a very low profile until they’re ready to do their dastardly deeds. Take care. Lastly, if there are any doubters about the reality of islamic terrorist training camps in the good ‘ol U.S. of A, go ahead and google “islamic terrorist training camps in the U.S.A.

  • What about the Ozarks in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas? There’s plenty of fresh water and wildlife, and there’s really no large population centers.

    • I’m not ashamed to say I live in sw MO, winters are cold and we do get some snow. But not as badas northern states, but got lots of wooded areas lakes and streams, game and fish. We’re far enough from New Madrid fault line. The only real threats are tornados, severe weather and radiation. There’s a few nuclier facilities to the North. You can chek on line where they’ located and do look where the jet stream is going. I too would like a Christian community, my husband is retired military and i’m a nurse. God has called me to help in a community. Im stocking med supplies as well as other prepping stuff we have guns ammo, i have a crossbow. And for fun my husband welds and makes what he calls “Zombie tools” god bless you all

  • I live in South Dakota, and I love how the winters are overrated!! Yah, we might get a day or two of snow, then it melts in the higher temps, yees, we ice up once in a while, again it’s rarely for more than a week. Freezing temps for a couple months, but again freezes, then warms up. We have lots of caves and old mine shafts, where the temp won’t drop below 58 and they heat easily, if you block off what your not using!

    • You must live near the Black Hills, then. Get out towards Aberdeen and you’ll know how nasty winter can get. And it’s quite persistent.

  • The problem with any of the locations is there is always something. Maybe it’s bugs that cn transmit equine virus, Haunta virus, or sleeping sickness, (So much for being close to water and having a plae to grow things!) If you coose a dry place, you don’t have the bug problem so much, but you may have problems obtaining water and growing things. I’m sure with ingenuity any of those problems can be overcome. Water is the most important item. If you have a place of your own, awayfrom everything, you could have a wel, and from there, have an aquaponic farm. Meat is going to get scarce no matter what unless you grow your own and keep them away from predators and others.

    We have located in the southern part of the Rockies. We have a well, and good soil, but I think aquaponics may be the answer to farming, because we have tried, and the critters eat everything, and what they don’t the insects get Plus it isn’t as labor intensive as farming. So the wildlife that may give you meat will also be eating your veggies, fruit, and trees! Shelter, fire, water are the main things. Spare parts, self defense items, and inaccessibility work pretty good. However, the eye in the sky sees everything. Unless you are located in the montains, you may not be able to escape nuclear bomb fallout and other man made things. I have collected medical books, and supplies as well as other how to books. We are looking up javelina recipes….

  • NO place is “perfect”, one has to seek what is best for them. Good article though, lots of food for thought.

  • The trouble with bugging out to the northwest, to North or South Dakota or anywhere along the Rocky Mountains is the Yellowstone area and surrounds. There is a subterranean volcano under that place that is long overdue to erupt. If (when) it does, living west of the Mississippi River will be dangerous. It may even be an extinction event, depending on the size of the eruption. For certain, Washington, Oregon and California will be gone, along with most of the western US.

    • Dan…it ain’t going to matter a lot! Sending you this, and it’s all connected!!!

      Fast coming down the pike!!!!
      The US has to become a third world and bankrupt country within the next
      couple years, to advance the cause of the New World Order, and also
      because the US has NO part in the end times prophecy’s! If in fact in 2017
      Israel as predicted , signs a 7 year peace treaty with the Antichrist! 3½ years later
      Russia will invade Israel and be destroyed, then China and many nations
      plus all Muslim nations will invade, Scriptures says that a third of
      mankind will die! at the end of the 7 year period, the Lord sets up His
      kingdom in Israel!! PEACE and goodness will finally reign over the entire
      earth. If there is a Rapture, it will be before 2017 could be anytime between
      now and then!! But I believe it will be a could days after the Shemitah year,
      on the feast of trumpets!?
      Judah Bin Soloman
      I base this on the prophecy of a late 12th Century Priest/Prophet named
      Judah Bin Soloman. He said that in 4 Jubilee years, (200 years) the Turks
      would take Israel. It happened exactly on cue! Then he said the Turks
      would hold it for 8 Jubilee years (400 years) then leave without being
      driven out. An airplane from UK flew over Israel and Jerusalem with the
      word Allenday written on both sides of the plane, perhaps the
      manufacturer of the plane, or in memory of a early 1900’s UK General with
      a like spelling. The Turks thought it was their spelling for Allah, and
      that it meant they were to leave, they packed up and left Israel, and UK
      took it over, giving back to the Jews in 1948.Then Bin Soloman said, “On
      the next Jubilee, Israel would get Jerusalem back”…happened in the
      Jubilee year of 1967! Then he said” On the next and last Jubilee year,
      Israel would sign a 7 year peace agreement. The next Jubilee year is
      2017!! It will happen!! All the evil and ungodly will be done away with.
      The start of this Shemitah year was Mid August of this year…Ends about
      the same time or in Oct. of next year, when all hell will beak loose!!
      (The largest stock market crash in history, happened on Elul 29 last day of the Shemitah
      year, and every stock market crash happened in Shemitah years, Nations rise and fall in
      Shemitah years…This might be interesting for you to look at!!!)
      Video on upcoming Shemitah!!
      (This video with Johnathon Cahn is about the Shemitah that just started, Sept. 25 and what it means…what is likely to happen…what usually happens (Like always!) And 1 day after it’s end Sept. 13 2015 the Jubilee years starts, more great prophetic things to happen to us!! Fascinating!!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arBBn-1c0Rc

      Shemitah Year!!!
      I strongly suspect that the coming Shemitah is good news!!! and I look upon it as Great News!! I strongly suspect that the Shemitah year ending Oct 12 of 2015, Will see a total collapse of Wall St., our economy, and our country! But I also think since the day after Elul 29 is New Years day, AND the Feast of Trumpets…The Lord will blow the trumpet and say, “Come up hither” and the Rapture will take place! On Oct. 4 of 2015 the Day of Atonement takes place, and that is considered a “last chance” to make amends or atone, ask pardon, and ask the blood of Jesus to cleanse you of all your sins. The Day of atonement is considered by the Jews as a ‘last chance’ in the year to make right with God…that’s what it’s for! So let’s use it! and use it before the end of the Shemitah year. Here’s a few happenings in Schemitah years!
      Many nations rise and fall at the end of Shemitah years…Elul 29 it is indicative of very major changes, orchestrated by God. Nations rise and fall on Shemitah years! Every major collapse of the stock market was in a Shemitah year, and every US economic collapse in Shemitah years!! Expecting a biggie this time! The biggest of the biggies!!!
       
      Vile Vortices
      Here’s a pic of these vortices:
      http://s156.photobucket.com/user/Barnabus1/media/AAAAAAAVileVorticesAimages_zps27d9f26d.png.html
      Do you know that there are 10 devils triangles some say 12, called Vile Vortices around the world…evenly spaced between northern and southern hemisphere, and from each other. All with a radioactive aluminum isotope that is working to slow down the inner workings of earth. It will stop our magneto sphere to make it another Mars, a no atmosphere planet that no one can live on….and isn’t it amazing it will succeed around 2023!! We will lose the magnetic field that disperses the sun’s rays, and all its radiation…People on earth at that time will be baked!! BUT…The Bible says the sun will beat upon the people, causing them burns and huge problems…so…it’s gonna happen…Christians will be gone of course, that much is promised us in the Bible!! A Scientist and his large crew tried to use an IMP to destroy the vortice in North West Africa, and they were all vaporized, after the experiment failed when a guy pulled an electric cable across the vile vortice. They are no more..not even a particle of them! They believed “aliens” or ‘Demon spawn’ put these Vile Vortices in place!)

      • The pre-trib rapture isn’t in the Bible. It was a “prophecy” by a teenage girl in Britain in 1830. If you can find an old copy of The Incredible Cover-up by Dave Mac Pherson he explains its historic extra biblical origins.

        • The Rapture is in Paul’s writings, but part of it says, “You will not see the troubles of Jacob..ie Israel, so therefore we won’t be around at the furthest of 2½ years after 2017. When Russia attacks Israel, But this year will be the end of one of the 7 year Shemitah years, along with the Feast of Trumpets the day after Elul 299, which is Oct. 13 on our calendar…And the Bible says he will sound the trumpet! the one feast Christ did not fulfill…the Feast of Trumpets…so I’m prone to believe it will be in Oct, rather next year – 2016 when there is no such feast!! Besides our economy will totally collapse about that time, so it would save us much too!

    • Actually there’s at least a hundred active volcanos in the Western third of the country including the Yellowstone Cauldera which when it blows will make every where within a 500 mile radius virtually inhabitable afterward if anyone’s still alive, and its devastating ash deposits and adverse weather influence will wreak havoc out to a 1000 mile radius.

      There are a lot of things people forget when trying to choose a good permanent BOL. But when you are thinking about out West, always remember that the government owns around 30 perent of the land in America.

      Most of it is in the Western Third of the country. In Nevada, for instance, The
      G owns over 80% of the land.

      • Mahatma Muhjesbude, you as well as 95% of American citizens are wrong about federal lands. The US Constitution forbids the Federal Government to own land other than (1) 10 miles square for the national seat of government, Washingto DC, (2) military “powderhouses” which would currently include sites of storage of supplies and administration, and (3) land comprising US territories which reverts to State-owned land upon the territory’s reaching statehood. Nearly everything the Feds do is unconstitutional, including such bogus departments as BLM, US Fish & Game, EPA, FEMA, Dept. of Homeland Security, etc. Every Federal Government employee is required to take an oath to “Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States”, and it’s an oath to God. You need to study the Constitution as you have believed the lies of our rulers, who have gradually turned into tyrants and dictators. Revelation has started!!!

        • Whip, I might be ‘wrong’, but you’re not ‘right’.

          The Constititution allows the government to possess and control lands in three forms: Territories, Enclaves, and ‘other properties’. There are no acre amount restrictions to this format. The U.S. government purchased Louisiana and Alaska under this authority.

          What you are referring to is the actual government agency restrictions to prohibit all public access and utility under strict ‘official’ functional proprietorship.

          But of course they can and do ‘get around’ that ‘limitation’ virtually any time they want where they have expansive military bases and ‘other’ government facilities.

          As far as other ‘Federal Lands’ under the police state Federal Land Management tyranny, These are technically prioritized by the states as authority, and private reset by purchase, but since the Fed G thrives on acquisition and taxation they can scam everyone into ‘never minding’ that they control their ‘Federal Lands’ simply by saying they are purchasing and maintaining and ‘controlling’ the land for ‘public usage’.

          States have the option to jump through some ‘hoops if they want to ‘own’ the land, providing they can satisfy the EPA on ‘maintenance’ and preservation requirements. But most states decline due to financial limitations to afford this.

          So, yes, as usual, the government regime is abusing the Constitution.

          But my point in context here had nothing to do with the ‘Constitution’ or the continuous government violations of it., and is still correct in pragmatic application to this article, ie., the government possesses, controls, manages, and secures, and therefore “owns’about 1/3 of American lands.

          YOU need to ‘study’ the Constitution and get your head screwed on tight enough with a reality tune up because it sounds like you’re getting a bit ‘scatter-brained’?

          Start with a little meditation on some profound wisdom…
          …”it’s not that people don’t know so much…it’s just that so much of what people ‘know’, just ain’t so!” Mark Twain.

  • Where in Illinois would be good???? Just moved here and doesn’t seem very good for bugging out

    • Chicago knocked IL out! Too liberal and city dwellers will be roaming countryside.

    • sorry Justin, Illinois is one of the worst States for many reasons. Best you can do temporarily is plan a BOL an hour or so South in some forest area if you are too close to Chicago. The interstate and roads going that way are pretty good and clear, so if it’s a really bad disaster you shouldn’t have too difficult a time getting to it easily enough.

  • I don’t know why you think all of Texas has problems . Only about fifty miles from the border are there any problems with the border crossers. Texas is close to five to seven hundred miles north to south. It has desert, forest, plains, and lakes

    • Way overpopulated. (Massive recent influx from California and Mexico)
      Huge military bases.
      4 of the largest cities in the country.
      Mostly flat with small trees (save east Texas).
      Huge police state.
      Ridiculous land prices AND property taxes.
      Interstate highways 35, 20, 10 – ’nuff said.
      And thats just the beginning.

      I’ve been here most of my life, and I have to get out. Tennessee’s on my mind…

    • Texas is turning “purple” which means very heterogeneous – which also means the people there will be majority their own group preference as well as strong advocates of gun control and limits on free speech – -which means before any SHTF that there may be attempts to curb your freedoms with possible successes in doing so, and less testosterone of your own group to help deal with issues.

  • I’ve already got a good location, in the rural area of northeast Florida. 5 acres near lots of great fishing and state forestland for hunting. A cooperative neighborhood for mutual defense. In fact, there is a 10 acre estate for sale behind mine that could be virtually self-sustaining. An unobtrusive private dirt lane leads to both which can’t be seen from the road. Well water is excellent.
    This area isn’t downwind from any nuclear targets and doesn’t have severe climate. There are a lot of huge farms around here.

    • You forget Fla is home to Eglin AFB in your back yard, MacDill AFB in Tampa, Homestead in Miami with their strategic importance, Pensacola Naval Air, home of Top Gun training, etc. No location along entire East Coast is safe due to proliferation of many strategic mil bases. I’m in Orlando, S, N, E are swamps, ‘cuz of St. John’s river drainage area. West is gridlocked Disney World. Fla is a bug-in, die in place location, OR…make a d-i-y mini noah’s ark, by placing a 16 ft camper trailer securely on a 20 ft cement barge, kind used in construction sites. Have entire bottom rigged with a 2nd reinforced air tight bottom, place flotable boat bumpers on all sides, haul it to St. John’s river when TSHTF. The snakes and gators out there will keep swimmers away. Enjoy the fishing

      • Homestead is long gone
        Pensacola is flight school. Top Gun is out west
        Where did you get your miss information?

        • Whale(well) it goes like this. Gummint has a peculiar way of transferring property so it looks like…on paper…the military pulled up stakes and moved on to greener pastures. .

          Places like Homestead modified their ‘mission’, butt.. Uncle still calls the shots, same goes for Pensacola when the Navy has to ramp up its ability to train pilots to land on an air craft carrier. Top Gun starts out in Pensacola…if ya get my drift.

          I was stationed at Fort lost in the woods in misery, aka Fort Leonard Wood, which is now a combined UN/ NATO designated training area…yet… the Ar,my trains military police there, and use Fort McClellan, the old MP School for other UN/NATO training.

          When I was stationed at Fort Benning, where ranger school starts out, initial parachute training starts out, Pathfinder School starts out also has an entity called School of the Americas, where Spanish is the predominant lingo.

          BTW, if ya look at where places like Fort Bragg, Fort Campbell, Fort Knox are located, the Appalachians are just extended training areas for all of them. Throw in places like Fort McClellan, Fort McPherson on the south end, Fort Belvoir, on the east flank, Fort Drum on the north end, plus West Point they all have ongoing large scale infiltration exercises going on.

          Folks are not exaggerating when they see swarms of Blackhawks all up and down the east coast. Places like Fort puke, aka Fort Polk are used for swamp/jungle training. These folks get around, so looser-iana ain’t zakly a nifty spot to bug out to, unless ya like mangrove swamps infested with all sorts of creepy crawlers, just like we got here in Florida.

          ITs open season on pythons and boa constrictors here…plus bears that are losing natural habitat and wander into neighborhoods to rip open garbage cans for their next meal. We also have a new recent menace, wild monkeys, that do the same as the bears.

          If folks want a little adventure with Their bug own quest might want to try their hand at panning for gold in the Appalachians in North Carolina. I don’t recommend staying permanently, just long enough to get a feel for what it takes to set up a sluice and damn up a pond to stock it with fish.

          I watched ranger cadre at the Camp in Dahlonega, north Georgia do this to pass away their down time between training cycles.. These guys told me the fish they catch is the best part of any meal they get from their mre’s or lrp’s. They use slindshots to bring down small game for the same purpose.

          What I mention here is anybody can survive in the woods if they get fundamentals down and constantly learn new skill sets. From impromptu makeshift shelters, setting traps and snares, multi functional fireplaces, for heat and cooking,

          My boyscout days prepared me well for army life when it came to roughing it…plus ya gotta be able to deal with loneliness and isolation, even if ya bug out with a small group of folks. Each person has to carve out their own survival niche so the group as a whole can survive…just like the pioneers did when they trekked across the continent.

          My tip for everybody interested in bugging out is to visit an amish village and talk to them to get their take on what kind of a mind Set ya need to survive off the grid. They are masters at this.

          jake

  • Need to take fault lines and nuclear power plants into consideration also. You have 2 days to get out before all roads and exits are blocked, it’s a different set of rules of three.

  • Not sure how you consider WA and OR “anti-government”… neither are anything of the kind and both are hugely liberal/progressive which is a big-government nanny state philosophy.

    • And attracting more heterogeneity – which fosters more of the former (nanny state philosophy)

  • I am so bewildered by some of the places you picked. Washington state really I believe that you really should do more homework before you put this up. Idaho or should I say the forgotten part of idaho way up north by Canada is a good choice. It is no buding permits good growing season and much more tollerable with guns. There are other states I think you need to research more also. There is also pleniful game fishing and many mountains. Thank you Jessi

  • Don’t go to TN or AR. The natives can be hostile!

    • That’s exactly the kind of folks I want to be around when shtf. Hostile to outsiders

  • My area of nw Florida is pretty good…at the end of my private dirt lane, invisible from the road, surrounded by more tempting targets, with a neighborhood mutually supportive armed folks, I feel at least more secure than any other cold-belt preppers. The 10 acre 4 bedroom estate for sale at the end of my lane would support a large family out of sight from anyone. The wilderness around us would allow temporary bug-out without much trouble and the well water is superb. Until the trouble begins everything you need is within 20 minutes.

    • Be so kind, read my Fla ‘take’. You are completely surrounded by very strategic mil bases( Read…targets). Go N, you are in the Okeefenokee Swamps, go S you are in the Gulf of Mexico, so why not plan for a houseboat option, just hug the coast where the mangrove swamps are, go fishing. Hurricanes are your biggest threat … yes? Check out my d-i-y houseboat idea.

  • If our stellar political negotiators choose to let Iran have the weapon in their wisdom…then there is the possibility that the cloud from their very first explosion will float across the globe in 3 weeks and the contaminated rainfall will taint all of our water supplies and will pollute all of our grassy fields with strontium 90 and other lasting contaminants. City and country folk alike will need to understand how to protect themselves from this ubiquitous kind of new hazzard.

    • One of the key things to do is to check the wind patterns across the area you are considering…New England, for example, is the beneficiary (I right-clicked that word to get the spelling right, something I wish others would do) of converging winds from all across the US.
      Pollution, including fallout from major targets, drifts across there.

    • ? Nuclear attack from Iran may happen if Iranians realize how much the US is owned by the bankster elite who also rule Israel. US is an Israeli puppet.– and they hate Caucasians. Hate them. In fact, they, per a PEW poll view Sunni and Shiite Muslims more favorably than White Protestants. Just so you know….

  • Consider Indiana, folks. Good hard working people with a penchant for hospitality and temperate weather. The “snow belt” ends around Lafayette IN so we don’t get snowfall measured in feet. Coldest weather comes during the last two weeks of January and seldom makes it below zero. I have lived in Atlanta GA and their weather was quite similar. Normally, you don’t see weather below 20 degrees F.

    Summers can be very warm, but not intolerable. Few days near 100 degrees F.

    Southern Indiana would be best, with rolling hills, plenty of fish and game, and good water. Many small lakes and ponds.

    My advice would be to get there early though. As hospitable as Hoosiers are, they can be quite protective when it comes to interlopers. If you are known as one of the “good guys” before the SHTF, then you will be welcome.

    Indiana is still a Christian state and sodomites are not welcome. We would have to be considered “conservative” politically, although there are an equal number of democrats here. This is largely due to a leftover of when Democrats were still the working man’s party, MANY years ago.

    Right now, you can be warmly welcomed by Hoosier Hospitality, but we are fierce when protecting friends and loved ones.

    Come visit us. See for yourself.

    • Those weapons were single devices with yields measured in kilotons. Modern ICBMs carry up to 38 warheads and each warhead has megatons of explosive power.

      I don’t know where you get your information but some of our last above ground tests in 1954 were done on the bikini atol islands. The largest had a 15 megaton yeald and that island has a dangerous level of radiation to this day.

      Modern nukes have yields below 2 megaton by treaty but the Russians tested a 50 megaton weapon and we tested a 25 megaton weapon. I highly doubt the under 2 megaton nukes are the largest in anyone’s collection.

      If you think that it’s nothing to sneeze at and dissipates quickly, go live in Chernobyl.

  • Why not Central or South Florida? Plant growth year round. A couple cold days but never never a frozen state. Hurricane…yes, but not as often as the general public thinks….last one 10 and 11 yrs ago!! before that 13yrs, before that 30 yrs

    • Miami.

    • It just takes ONE.

  • The next world war would be the only major reason for bugging out in todays world realistically. One can try to argue that economic collapse or grid failure would be reasons but if those events transpired it would merely be an indication of the pending global war. With that said bugging out may buy you a few weeks or a month but in reality its not going to matter where you attempt to hide because once nuclear bombs start detonating that contamination is going to be in the atmosphere as well as the waters all over the planet. If wild life cant find fresh untainted drinking water and vegetation its going to die off quickly, the same holds true for man kind, if you cant find fresh clean water your dead, cant find wild life to hunt, your dead, even if you find animals to hunt, odds are going to be good that they are contaminated and by ingesting them you will also be contaminated. Cooking meat does not remove radioactive isotopes.

    • This idea that a nuclear war will make the whole world radioactive is hooey.
      Consider the history of Japan…both cities are now, and have been for many decades, fully occupied and successful. The bombs dropped were extremely dirty by today’s standards. Advances in technology have made the radiation much more limited, the byproducts decaying to safe levels quickly (it wouldn’t make sense to spread a deadly cloud over your own country would it?).
      No country is going to want to blast the US (except the Muslims, whose lifestyle is stone age anyway) because our submarine deterrent is totally prepared to fry anyone in return…no protection from retaliation is possible, not even an EMP can affect the all-metal sub below the ocean’s surface.
      Our spy satellites can track any missile launch, probably not in time to interdict, but to determine who to fry.

    • Not a very rationally-thought out statement. World war is not the only major reason for bugging out –

  • I am currently living in South Florida and am interested in what u would have to say about bugging IN right where I am. I can plant veggies here and there is a small pond. Animals would not work here though. I am where I am though and would like to do the best I can in place.
    MamaKayPrepper

  • I live in Sacramento CA is there any place safe to bug out? Or somewhere near .

  • Bugging out or Bugging in? I don’t think anyone really realizes what’s coming. We’re looking at a massive economic collapse 1000 times worse than the great Depression. Americans are going to suffer horrendously and wish they had not survived what’s coming. One reason is because of our population problems. Also think about how dissociated we are from are food source in America. Another reason is because Americans have lived spoiled rotten lives and everything is taken for granted ( all our modern day conveniences). You think you can trust people, band together, be safe? When adversity strikes and everything is gone, Human Nature rears it’s ugly head fast! I live in a part of the country where I deal with horrible, selfish, spoiled, rotten, people, on a daily basis. I know when it all goes south, these people are going to snap and cut your throat for a piece of bread! And these are the “good people”. What about the ruthless criminals? Trust me, bugged in or bugged out you don’t want to deal with what’s coming.

    • Unfortunately, I believe you’re absolutely correct.

  • I was looking into Washington, but have changed my mind. They are staring to get really strict on their gun laws. You now can’t even loan a gun to anyone, not even a family member. So I would think twice on a bug out location in Washington.

  • why not use the upper pennisula of michigan ?We have almost no bad weather except for winters and hunting and fishing is life . The well water has no contaminats due to sandstone and limestone in the ground which filters everything out and there is Marquette where it is large but not a target compared to every other city . there is next to vigin forests it seems because of our tall tree you’ll see what i mean

  • Guns are cool in Wa/ore???
    What year was this article written.
    As a former wa state(seattle area)
    I can tell you first hand that isnt the case, at least western and southern wa.
    Oregon is the same, mostly everywhere-
    These are politically liberal states, so the anti
    Gov. Comment is far from realistic.
    Living in Idaho, i believe that this state is a top
    Bug out place-
    Outside of Ada county, where Boise is,,,,

  • I’m not so sure about Washington and Oregon as excellent bug out locations. “They both have a decidedly anti-government mindset and guns and hunting aren’t frowned upon.” Not true, especially in uber-Liberal Washington, where they do stuff like make collecting rainwater or building a pond on your own property, illegal, with heavy fines. I have a friend up in Washington and Oregon, and he says they are also systematically closing down dirt back roads and campgrounds, to “save the environment”. IMHO the ultra-Lefty Greenie politics of Seattle and Portland cancel out the more Libertarian leanings of the dryer, more desert like Eastern sides of the states.

  • California!!! I know, I know….earthquakes and Tsunamis…BUT…in Northeastern California…west of Reno…the terrain is beautiful wilderness…think Yosemite. That area is east of the fault zones, so as long as you don’t build beneath a bunch of overhanging boulders and such. Your far enough west of Yellowstone that while you will still get ash…maybe a foot…you can recover. No nuclear reactors nearby…safe from floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. And the weather is mild. Not too hot and not too cold. The soil is rocky but proper garden preparation and the use of a green house solves that. Water in the mountains should not be a huge issue. Anyway, just my two cents worth.

  • Northern Minnesota…
    Yes winter can be tough…
    But it is abundant with wood, Wild game, lakes rivers ponds and lots of fish. Rich soil for growing food. And guns are not frowned upon here. Expecially from Central Minnesota north
    And easy to move over the border to the north if need be…

  • Hi, would it be a bad idea to live near Fort Knox, Kentucky? We were thinking of buying a property near there. Thanks.

  • I have been thinking of this for some time. It seems to me that a bug out location should be within one tank full of fuel plus perhaps one 5 gallon can or perhaps 2. For most that means about 500 miles from home max. I have been thinking of the Ozark Mountains which is within that range. (not mentioned). I am also thinking that one will need some friends to share the site with. One person I do not believe can do it by him/her self. I think perhaps 3 to 6 adults is maybe the range that would be about optimal. Beyond about 6 adults the space requirements would be too great. Less than 3 there would not be sufficient to do the required work that will be required. I also think that barter might be a very important consideration and silver will be the best barter material–especially pre 1965 dimes and quarters. Next might be 22 rim fire amo. Chickens, potatos, wheat, and peanuts will be very important crops to consider raising and growing. Chickens can be raised just running wild. They can take care of themselves. They love to eat bugs. You are going to need friends in the surrounding homesteads. Best to make friends with them at least 2 years in advance. You will need water so I am very skeptical of drier areas. You will need about 40 inches of rain a year. You will not want to live very near a river because flood water could be the end of you–at least 30 feet above the nearest river. A horse will become extremely valuable because gasoline might become unobtainable. A plow too. The Amish are going to be in a very good position if society collapses. Perhaps a location near them would not be without merit.

  • This article recommends some places that will no longer exist after a pole shift and the rising sea level. States that will most likely be gone are Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, the entire Eastern seaboard, and the majority of the West Coast. Possibly also parts of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona and the state of Wisconsin will become part of the Great Lakes.

  • Would eastern Kentucky be a good place to settle down and buy a home on the side of a hill with several neighbors? It’s bordering Virginia and west Virginia in coal country. I figure some of the folks there already know how to rough it. There’s 12 acres, but most of it is a steep hill, which I thought might be good to keep goats. The home already had an alarm system, so would that mean more trouble when the power goes out?

  • Great post, you have pointed out some great points, I too think this is a very great website.

  • While Montana is a great place to consider, it is not that easy to get to. Considerations of availability of gas stations, non hub airports etc have to be factored in. There is one stretch of highway (I90) that has no service stations for hundreds of miles. You had better have a full tank of gas (or full gas cans) before starting on that stretch. If there is a national crisis, Montana will be low on priorities for fuel shipments. Know how to ride and take care of horses? They are still essential animals for transportation. Many a time I have seen horses or mules tied to lamp posts in town. Horses require a minimum of twenty acres per animal for year round grazing unless you are lucky enough to have some bottom land.
    Depending upon the time of year, you may have to contend with nearly a thousand miles of icy, snowy roads and possible blizzard conditions. Roads are not always cleared right away. Sometimes it might take a week. If you are in a remote area, forget about it unless you have your own tractor.
    It also does not have a long growing season. No matter how fertile your land might be, if there isn’t enough frost free days, you will not be able to grow a decent crop unless you like lots of root vegetables or have the machinery to harvest winter wheat. Greenhouses are a must for any other veggies. It is best for ranching. Rainfall is about 13 inches a year! You must supplement your water for good crop yields.
    The major plus for Montana is it is off the beaten track for most areas of the state, there are lots and lots of game available for hunting. In fact, hunting and fishing is a common means to supplement the larder there. And it is very tasty.
    Snow can be as much as 3 feet or more in a decent year. Other years, there may be so little that drought conditions are very real. Winter temperatures are very cold at times. -30F. at times. Be prepared for well heads freezing and breaking if you haven’t insulated them properly. Wind power is more reliable than solar power.
    Properties near or on rivers are very expensive. Year round springs or creeks are scarce. Only in drier less accessible areas can land be dirt cheap. Fracking activity has begun to seriously contaminate many water supplies.
    Jobs are scarce except for entrepreneurial or service industries. Most are low paying.
    It is a state for people who have no real health concerns. You must be physically fit to live well there. Montana is considered a medically underserved region. If it hadn’t been for my health deteriorating, I would still be there yet. My son still lives there.
    Firewood is plentiful in many areas, but you have to get it yourself or pay others for it.
    How do I know this? I lived there for 20 years.

  • I have yet to read a comment stating the obvious, by this I mean why drive yourself crazy looking for a safe place when its virtually right in front of you. Many church denominations have rural retreats for their parishioners to find peace and solitude. These places are very definitely livable and welcoming to members of their congregation. As an example check out the trappist monastery in Gethsemane, Kentucky. It is located in a rural setting with small farms surrounding it. This is what I refer to, go to a place where peace and solitude is the reason folks go there.

    The trappists make awesome fruitcakes which provide tasty sustenance when TSHTF, just be prepared to have patience, ‘cuz they have to outsource the items they can’t grow themselves. The hint here is to become a nominal catholic and be tolerant of their adherents who come from every country on the planet. BTW, the word catholic is greek for universal, which is what they strive to achieve.

    If you are a die hard bigot belonging to strange sects like 7th day adventists, jehovahs witnessess they do not tolerate any sort of diversity. Amish areas are a preppers paradise, but they don’t wantto be subjected to well-meaning folks who insist they ‘modernize’…if you get my drift here.. Do your self a favor and actually go to these churchy retreats in your own state and pay close attention to the surrounding locale. If you find a small farm for sale…buy it…and save it for a rainy day.

    • “If you are a die hard bigot belonging to strange sects like 7th day adventists, jehovahs witnessess they do not tolerate any sort of diversity. ” What the hell is that? A ‘die-hard bigot’? Weird comment. I’ve never met a ‘die-hard bigot’. I’m certain they exist…. after all, 90% of all ‘hate crimes’ are committed by presumed ‘die-hard bigots’ of a certain demographic according to the FBI, but I’ve yet to actually meet a ‘die-hard bigot’ of the Caucasian type, which is essentially what you’re eluding to after following up with ‘7th day adventists, jehova witnesses’. I’m not a Bible thumper myself, of any type, but I assume most adventists and JW are Caucasian. You’re an asshole.

      In-group preference exists. Mostly outside of Caucasians, actually. Do yourself a favor and start actually looking at the world around you instead of continually marinating in the propaganda you’ve been consuming all your life.

      • Umm ever heard of White Man’s Burden? The Indian Wars? Slavery? The Holocaust?

        Yep, in-group preference sure does exist. But Caucasians are historically the worst perpetrators. I’m Caucasian, so it can be hard to admit how awful our people have been. The truth hurts….and yet it shall set you free! Try it.

  • After reading all these posts, i’ve decided “screw it”. i’m 70 yrs old, had a great life, made my peace with god, ready to accept his will for me. if i get nuked, then i will be going out with a bang! this world is beginning to suck anyway.

    • William, you are a breath of fresh air here! When our time comes, may we all go with God.

  • All this planning for when “shtf”. Keep in mind that in todays world there is little left to the imagination and fewer places to run to. Sometimes the best place to hide out is right in the open. as for friends, you won’t have any and your neighbor will become your greatest threat in the short term. trust will become a thing of the past and your basic instincts will become your greatest asset. For many people there instincts or lack of, will be their doom. The fact is you can’t learn over night to survive if you have never had to in the first place and you won’t be able to learn in the short term Most people can’t control or contain themselves during everyday life situtations and I do not expect they will be able to so in a major castrophy. what one can expect should the “shtf” is to be ready to do the unthinkable in almost any situation because life as you know it will have changed forever.

    • This response is the best and most accurate summation of tell it like it is when it comes to trust one’s fellow man. Some churchy folk like the amish already know how to survive and thrive and they are the best role models when it comes to shtf scenarios.

      As for bug out locations, weirdly ’nuff real estate agents are the biggest threat to security. Once anybody registers a plot of ground to be later homesteaded, the multiple listing services will disclose that location quicker than stink on a fart, regardless of where you go, be it in the isolated hills of the great Smokies, Ozarks, Adirondaks, Rockies, there is a part time real estate agent lurking there.

  • I have done a lot of research in areas to live to bug in, and so many areas have to be eliminated due to 1) intrusive state and local government, 2) liberals, 3) large city populations,
    The hardest thing to find is a home set away from the main streets, hidden by hills/trees/ anything!
    Most houses I see, even in rural areas appear to be easy targets to spot and rob.

  • After so many nuclear bombs are detonated there will be tremendous amounts of lethal radiation raining down that being saved from the blast you can then die from radiation poisoning. A full scale nuclear war will poison the air, land and water over most of the world. There will not be a winner!

  • Regarding Washington State. The state just passed an extremely limiting firearms law worse then California. It prosecuted around nine hundred Red Flag violations in King County in 2018. The west side of the state is ultra liberal. We have one of if not the largest military contingents in the country. We have the largest nuclear submarine base in the US, aircraft carrier port and a substantial array of military aircraft not to mention a huge army facility. We sit on a number of earthquake zones and are surrounded by active volcano’s which according to the seismic folks at the University of Washington are ready to blow there tops. After reading this I think I’ll move to Idaho.

  • Oregon and Washington are very much anti gun. Oregon is fine for now but the snowflake Governor in Oregon, Brown, along with the anti gun kids from Florida are currently trying to pass a vast number of antigun legislation, including licenses to buy guns, a five round limit on Magazines and limiting the purchase of ammunition to twenty rounds a year (this is not a misprint 20 rounds a year). I moved to Oregon from the communist republic of California. looks like Idaho is the next option.

  • CANADA run out west, Alberta, try meeting at NORDEGG has small hotel, for nearby proposed Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park, to the east and below Jasper and above Banff National parks. be wary near Edmonton …

  • Perhaps you should up date this article. Washington and Oregon Have become anti-gun bastions of liberalism. They have passed laws limiting the ownership of firearms and who can possess them. You should also add a section labeled the Southwest, considering that there are lots of open and cheap land. While there are water issues, wells can be drilled to provide access to water. The climate is good for growing food and to live in. While is does get hot in summer, winter is easy on the body, with no snow.

  • The only bug-out location worth anything is one where your survival facilities are completely hidden underground. That includes you food raising operation. A property, no matter where it’s located, that has caves or abandoned mines (i.e. like those in SW Missouri) might be ideal, provided they were accessible and geologically stable. Such already existing below-ground structures would be a big head-start on building a finished and livable hidden underground retreat. Secrecy during the building process could be more easily maintained as well. With a properly concealed entrance, worry over marauders would be eliminated. Also, the weather conditions outside would be a non-factor. With the large amount of space such structures provide, it would be possible to build something that people could tolerate living inside of for a much longer period of time than most constructed and buried bunker do.

  • Ya know I’m just going to keep this short and SWEET..Everyone has their special place in the area you live or come from. I’m from Oregon and now live in Arizona. There are great places in both states, but also places in those states to not consider. I think all states are that way. Wherever you are you know your state or area better than those who have probably never been there. There is no right or wrong answer here. This article. I’m sure, was not to offend individuals area of “hone”. This author was written to show the over all reasonable locations by geological location, including weather, hunting, nearest grocery store…lol…not to pick apart where people live. If the SH** does hit the fan, all of us know where to go, at least inienically. I can’t afford to pay for land to build a cabin on and I’m sure there are a lot of us who don’t. Instead of calling people names or degrading where they live, know your area, prepare and be safe.

    • Since you live in Arizona now, unless you live in the Phoenix or Tucson areas, there are lots of places that are safe that don’t cost a lot of money. There are some places where you can buy land for as little as $300.00 an acre. Its not close to any cities, but it is safe to say there aren’t many people in the area. It’ll take a bit of research but you can find what you can afford.

      • someone commented as if I was in Arizona? no, that tip was for if you need to run to Canada it was 150 miles West of Red Deer Alberta, Ghost Town of Nordegg along Bighorn Wildland area … under Jasper and over Banff

  • I meant HOME…..

  • I’ve got my land. 40 acres. Cabins, well water, solar. 25 miles from the nearest SMALL town and 70 miles from the nearest mid-sized city. 370 miles from big cities. We are almost ready. Going to finish up a couple of other buildings on the premises and then move up there this summer. I have a FEW people chosen who will be welcome to come with me, but they will be productive AND have skills to offer. I won’t be opening up my place to just anyone. It’s amazing how many people seem to think they will be welcome just because. And they have no idea how to get there. It’s hard to find for anyone who doesn’t already know where it is. Perfect place!

    • Elizabeth that is what I will do if I can get the place I mentioned. They will also have to be productive and help provide the best they can

  • There was a detailed analytical study back 5 years or so, that said the best bug out place in the country was Jackson County, in the panhandle of Florida. growing season , water, weather etc. Well Friend of mine followed up on that, built a nice compound etc. Hurricane Micheal came this fall and killed his bees, chickens, solar panels and turned his fruit trees and forest into a giant pongee stick pit. Best laid plans of mice and men. I always kidded him about the Tsunami threat, he replied its 70 miles inland. Yup, guess not far enough. Only safe place is to hear His voice and obey His will and all should work out, or see you on the sea of fire and glass when the smoke clears.

  • You should stay away from the Denver Area in Colorado. Stay away from Cheyenne Mountain too and the Denver Airport. Many high ranking globalist and Government officials have underground bunkers and facilities they plan on hiding in during SHTF in those areas.
    Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon as well as Utah are good places to go.
    Read Joel Skowsans Book Strategic Relocation.
    You need to look at places to live places to work cost of living gun laws taxes etc. etc etc. etc
    You also need to look at potential Man Made and Natural threats like Volcanoes, Hurricanes Tornadoes Floods, Blizzards, Landslides, Military Bases and Facilities, Nuclear Silos and Weapons Bases, and Centers of High Population and Population Density.

  • “Civilization is a pact – between the living, their fathers who have passed, and those yet to be born.” Edmund Burke

    ‘Bugging out’ is not inclusive enough of what you need to consider if you want it to mean anything other than a few more years of your own life. You want to consider a place where you can ‘pass the torch.’ If you’re here without doing any research on why demographics matter, you’re not optimizing your bug out research. No, we do not differ from place to place based on ‘socio-economic factors’. It’s simpler and also more complex than that. What creates the ‘socio-economic factors’? IQ matters. There are also different types of intelligence – and groups differ. You’re more likely to be fast due your prevalence of fast-twitch muscle fibers, if your people are from West Africa. You’re superior in your mountainous Amazonian environment if you’re Siberian Amazonian . You’re statistically more likely to be better at quantitative reasoning if you’re Japanese than if you’re Kenyan or Finnish. Individuals differ — but when you’re talking about millions of people and groups in general, demographics absolutely matter. People vote differently – as groups – whether they consider themselves as groups or not. People commit crime differently – as groups – whether they consider themselves groups or not.

    If you don’t understand how in-group preference matters, you will endanger yourself and those you are responsible for – and your neighbors as well – even if you ‘bug out’. This factor – above many others – matters.

  • Those who may consider Alabama take note: Stay away from Mobile and Baldwin counties. Lots of “City Slickers” are swarming into these two counties, and the land rapists are flattening the forests on a level like what’s being done in the Amazon rain forest. Traffic is a pain in the ass on a good day. I’ve decided to move to the Nevada desert, where I own some land in a remote area which does have some natural springs, and the nearest big city is about 150 miles away. The desert can support you if you learn what to look for, and has far more wildlife and edible vegetation than most think.
    The biggest drawback to where I live now (Baldwin County, Alabama) is it being located between two high-priority nuclear targets – Mobile, for the extensive seaport docks, and Pensacola’s Naval Air Station AND seaport docks. Plus, both cities have municipal airports with runways capable of supporting our heaviest bombers.
    I can’t wait to get out of this insane area.

  • Bah. If you want mild seasons where you can grow your own crops and raise livestock in low population density areas then think Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama.

  • So many good comments here! I have a great place in western Montana. It’s 22 acres on a river, end of road location, very large irrigated garden and pasture. It is south facing with room for additional homes (no building restrictions) or bunkers. The thirty-five gpm well provides ample water for the eight bedroom home, garden, pasture, and several out buildings including a canning kitchen and larder. Two large barns and a set of corrals are arranged for livestock care and protection. As an “inholding” property, it is surrounded by several hundred acres of state forest that is permanently gated for non-motorized use year around. The river is full of fish and the location being just down stream from a long stretch of tricky rapids prevents any boat traffic. Our nearest two neighbors are a mile away and a third neighbor grows hundreds of acres of wheat. We have annual community gatherings of like-minded families. Thousands of square miles of usfs lands surround this area where wild game is plentiful. The property’s topography and buildings make it fairly defensible. All this, and yet it still lacks some prepping. So if some folks with conservative values are interested in a BOL, please get in touch. Ray 406-207-0673

  • Good website, keep up.

  • North Dakota has the advantage of low population density, but there are lots of ICBM silos peppered across parts of North Dakota. These missile bases have a high likelihood of being subjected to a “counterforce” strike in a major nuclear war with either Russia or China.

  • WOW. A lot of you sound like very immature, self righteous, ignorant, judgemental children. If you do not like the article, the site, the subject, the comments… WHATEVER, Just shut up and sit down and keep scrolling.

  • I have an honest comment/question. I’m fairly new to this, but my question is, what good is buying property/real estate, if SHTF? If there’s no country, no gov’t, or it’s an environment type catastrophe, what good is having a piece of paper that says you own a piece of land? Won’t people just bug out where they can?

  • No one mentioned New Mexico. There are a lot of places where you can go, Right now I am checking on a Log Cabin Ghost town. It is in the mountains. And hunting and carrying guns is encouraged. I think it will be my little bit of heaven.

  • I would avoid any area that is within 500 miles of the Yellowstone caldera. It’s not a matter of “if” it will blow, but a matter of when. It is way past its time to let off some steam as well.

      • TYPO should be wwww.youtube.com/watch?v=c5NQOgm91pw

    • 500 miles is not going to cut it. if the amount of ash occurs that they predict occurs you will need to be up to 1000 miles away..

  • You forgot to mention that North Dakota is home to two very air force bases that would be targeted and the Air National Guard base located in Fargo.

  • With all due respect, this article is simply wrong for at least half of preppers. I’ve lived in the South all of my life and I simply could not survive in those climes. I’ve tried and that was living in a heated, modern home – it took hours to warm my bones when I went out. I have zero intent of moving up there – ever. Even if you’re comfortable up there, you have to move up there NOW to within a three or four day walk of your BOL in the dead of winter or the hottest, driest days of summer. Your BOL is going to have to be a fully furnished homestead complete with at least six months of food and a winter supply of firewood, ready for livestock (which you’ll get someplace) and ready for plowing and planting. Good luck finding a mule or plow horse – they will be very, very expensive.

    We all aren’t going to move up to those latitudes. Find a reasonably remote place within a four day walk of where you live now in the harshest of weather. Buy a piece of property there. Visit often working on those things that will keep you alive. Spend time visiting neighbors and people who attend farmers’ markets on the weekends. You will desperately need these people and the MAG they will form when the need arises.

    When you get right down to it, nobody needs a BOL…they need a surrounding community capable of both sustaining itself and of defending itself from roving gangs. That’s tough to do in the city where MAG participants are hard to identify and there is no easily defensible location but most of us have little choice.

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