If city life is urban, what do you call living in a forest?

I know that rural relates to living in the countryside, and urban and suburban refer to living in cities, towns or residential areas. But some places, like in upstate New York, have dense trees and woodland. A forest, basically. What do you call that?

Urban life and (required word) life?


Try sylvan from the Latin silva, a wood.

From Wingless Flights: Appalachian Women in Fiction by Danny Miller

Likewise, much of Frost's language in this article emphasizes the golden age simplicity and wholesomeness of the Appalachian region. He speaks of his "sylvan hosts" on his visits to the mountaineers and of their "sylvan life".


To classify it in the range that includes urban and suburban, a forested area beyond those sections would still be classified as rural.

Note that you could have a densely wooded area within the boundaries of an otherwise built up city. It might be considered an urban forest. You could also have a totally denuded area, far from any city (such as a strip mine) which would be considered rural.

So, urban vs. suburban vs. rural basically indicates the locality's population density, rather than the specific amount of natural vegetation.

EDIT — I also like @deadrat's answer of "sylvan", but wanted to show a horrible example of how that word is often misappropriated by development marketers, in places that are clearly suburban: enter image description here


"Woodland" is a clear and simple adjective without baggage.


I would throw in "bucolic".

relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life.


Example usage from Seabiscuit: An American Legend:

Even in the bucolic surroundings of Columbia, Seabiscuit could not escape the carnival atmosphere.