<p>Are there any good schools (tier 1) that have a very green campus (access to actual wilderness is a plus) that are close to big cities?</p>
<p>I'm not sure what "tier 1" is, but Middlebury in Vermont is green (environmentally friendly and literally "green") and is only a few hours away from Montreal, Boston, NYC...</p>
<p>According to the Princeton Review, Georgia Institute of Technology was selected for having one of the greenest campus, which is in the city of Atlanta. I believe Georgia Tech scored 99 out of 100.</p>
<p>I think what the OP is asking for is a list of colleges with nearby access to cities that are also green as in trees, woodlands, buccolic natural setting. The list is shorter than one might expect if only "tier 1" schools are considered.</p>
<p>Carleton College would seem a perfect fit. The school adjoins Northfield, a great historic town (think Jesse James) with a population around 20,000 including about 5,000 college students. A more than 800 acre arboretum with 13 miles of running, hiking, biking, cross country skiing trails constitutes another flank of the campus. Runner's World has voted "The Arb" as the best place to run in Minnesota. Beyond the two on campus, there are another 10,000 lakes in the state (if you believe license plates) ready to be explored.
Carleton</a> College: Cowling Arboretum: Introduction
The twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul lie only about 45 minutes away from Carleton and offer up a endless supply of weekend music, theater, club, pro sports options.</p>
<p>Other schools to consider include Davidson (Charlotte nearby, though more suburban feel), Bowdoin (Portland, Me nearby, though much smaller city), and Pomona (really a suburban location but LA and wilderness access via car possible).</p>
<p>UT Austin. Austin is the greenest city in America.</p>
<p>Wisconsin</p>
<p>The lakes offer many nature spots and walking trails. Just outside the city there's more.
And you're located in one of the coolest college towns.</p>
<p>Don't know how accurate it is, but have you seen this article?</p>
<p>A lot of top schools are on the list, which is (in order): College of the Atlantic, Middlebury, EARTH University (Costa Rica), Evergreen State College, Oberlin, Harvard, University of British Columbia, UC-Chico, Tufts, Leeds, Green Mountain College, Yale, Aquinas College, Glasgow University, University of Maryland, plus some runners-up.</p>
<p>Wow, I'm stupid and thought you meant 'green' as in environmentally friendly. Yes, I know how to read!</p>