The great state-border-crossing challenge

I don't think I had ever once wondered how many different borders there are among the lower 48 states before seeing a Facebook group post the following list a few years ago. It definitely caught my attention.

Without flying or using ferries, here are the 107 state borders that can be crossed by driving.

Alabama Florida
Alabama Georgia
Alabama Mississippi  ✅
Alabama Tennessee   ✅
Arizona California   🙁
Arizona Colorado   ✅🥾
Arizona New Mexico  ✅🥾
Arizona Nevada   ✅
Arizona  Utah  ✅🥾
Arkansas Louisiana  ✅
Arkansas Mississippi   🙁
Arkansas Missouri   🙁
Arkansas Oklahoma   ✅
Arkansas Tennessee   ✅
Arkansas Texas   ✅
California Nevada   ✅🥾
California Oregon  ✅
Colorado Kansas
Colorado Nebraska
Colorado New Mexico  ✅🥾
Colorado Oklahoma
Colorado Utah   ✅🥾
Colorado Wyoming   ✅
Connecticut Massachusetts   ✅
Connecticut New York   ✅
Connecticut Rhode Island   ✅
Delaware Maryland   ✅
Delaware New Jersey   ✅
Delaware Pennsylvania   ✅
Florida Georgia   ✅
Georgia North Carolina
Georgia South Carolina   ✅
Georgia Tennessee   ✅
Idaho Montana   ✅
Idaho Nevada
Idaho Oregon   ✅
Idaho Utah   ✅
Idaho Washington   ✅
Idaho Wyoming   ✅
Illinois Indiana   ✅
Illinois Iowa   ✅
Illinois Kentucky   ✅
Illinois Missouri   ✅
Illinois Wisconsin   ✅
Indiana Kentucky   ✅
Indiana Michigan   ✅
Indiana Ohio   ✅
Iowa Minnesota   🙁
Iowa Missouri   ✅
Iowa Nebraska   ✅🥾
Iowa South Dakota   ✅
Iowa Wisconsin   ✅
Kansas Missouri   ✅
Kansas Nebraska   ✅
Kansas Oklahoma   ✅
Kentucky Missouri
Kentucky Ohio   ✅🥾
Kentucky Tennessee   ✅
Kentucky Virginia
Kentucky West Virginia   ✅
Louisiana Mississippi   ✅
Louisiana Texas   ✅
Maine New Hampshire   ✅
Maryland Pennsylvania   ✅
Maryland Virginia   ✅
Maryland West Virginia   ✅
Massachusetts New Hampshire   ✅
Massachusetts  New York   ✅🥾
Massachusetts  Rhode Island   ✅
Massachusetts  Vermont   ✅
Michigan  Ohio   ✅
Michigan  Wisconsin
Minnesota  North Dakota   ✅🥾
Minnesota  South Dakota   ✅
Minnesota  Wisconsin   ✅
Mississippi  Tennessee     ✅
Missouri  Nebraska  
Missouri  Oklahoma  
Missouri  Tennessee  
Montana  North Dakota   ✅
Montana  South Dakota   
Montana  Wyoming   ✅
Nebraska  South Dakota  
Nebraska  Wyoming
Nevada  Oregon   
Nevada  Utah   ✅
New Hampshire  Vermont   ✅
New Jersey  New York   ✅
New Jersey  Pennsylvania   ✅
New Mexico  Oklahoma
New Mexico Texas   ✅
New Mexico  Utah   ✅🥾
New York  Pennsylvania   ✅
New York  Vermont   ✅
North Carolina  South Carolina   ✅
North Carolina  Tennessee   ✅
North Carolina  Virginia   ✅
North Dakota  South Dakota   ✅
Ohio  Pennsylvania   ✅
Ohio  West Virginia   ✅
Oklahoma  Texas   ✅
Oregon  Washington   ✅
Pennsylvania  West Virginia   ✅
South Dakota  Wyoming   ✅
Tennessee  Virginia   ✅
Utah  Wyoming   ✅
Virginia  West Virginia   ✅

That's 85 of 107 or 79% of them checked. 

The sad faces mean that I was really close in these cases, and, had I known this would be a future quest, they'd be so crossed by now. A peculiar GPS routing had me miss AR-MS on a 2015 trip, which I recall because I didn't cross the Mississippi River where I thought I would on one trip, and crossings of that river are something I note (in fact, crossing the Big Muddy helped with two of the checked crossings above long before I was aware of this state-border idea). Six years earlier, I was near the AR-MO border, with a fleeting thought about checking out Branson. The killer, however, was missing AZ-CA last year, on two different trips. A tad more planning would have made it relatively easy in each case. But, I do have reasons to ultimately explore more of these areas, and I like to think I'll get another chance.


The boot is for ones where I also walked across a state border. The Four Corners gave me a bunch in one swoop. There may be more on-foot crossings; those notated are the ones where I am sure. There's a tri-state marker where NY, NJ and PA meet. I've walked that area, but don't recall traversing a state line. Catamount in the Berkshires straddles NY and MA, and I've skied across that. I had the same hopes when in Heavenly to ski between CA and NV, but wind holds on the gondola thwarted that plan.

Some road trips I have sketched for these next few years will actually have me close to a few more crossings. All 107 though? I don't know, as some of them would take a fair amount of effort to achieve. Still, if there's an NPS site, ballpark, etc., nearby, who knows...

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