Forest: Ahh, twenty acres of lodgepole pine! Stately conifers, reaching towards the clear blue skies of our western mountains. The average boomer's dream for that trophy home.
But, what about this: On the rain shadow side of the Pacific Crest, at elevations where those coveted evergreens grow, it will be cold for many months of the year. But it is also a very dry climate, meaning pine and fir forests mostly prosper on the moist north facing slopes.
So all those observations translate into deep shade, lingering snow banks and an extended cold season in the woods. Bad for gardening, unsuitable for solar electricity and passive solar heating. Add to this the real danger of forests fires, further exacerbated by epidemic insect infestations currently killing thousands of acres of trees in the west, and the generic tract of trees doesn't sound all that desireable after all..

Brush steppe / ranch land: This is the remaining territory. Low shrubs, such as bitterbrush and sagebrush, prosper. Wildflowers abound, and the sky is big. Except for a couple of scorching months in summer, this sort of environment is lovely.
Many of those abandoned alfalfa fields now offered on the real estate market used to be like this, but instead of native vegetation will likely come with inherent irrigation rights and the soil cleared of most rocks. Good for folks with green thumbs, but watch out: 5 acres of old fields, if not watered and tended to with some sort of cover crop, will mutate into a dusty expanse of the worst weeds in a few seasons. Just mention Barnaby, Russian Thistle and Goatheads to any western farmer, and watch the reaction.
Natural shade is virtually non-existent on these open properties. Consider this carefully. Trees that naturally fit in, grow very slowly.

River/creek front: Unaffordable for most folks reading the content on this site. Furthermore there's flooding hazards and, in some regions, additional taxation. Forget about it.

So this is all good and fine, but the most important feature is reliable water, whether from well or spring. Irrigation water from a ditch is an unsuitable substitute that most likely will be shut down at the end of the growing season.

For a prospective piece of land without water, consider drilling your future well during escrow. If all you find are dry holes, you can walk away from the deal with minimal losses, instead of sitting on worthless land.