DESCRIPTION: These maps show counties (and independent cities) in the Continental US (CONUS) I have visited in the past 50+ years or so (OK, I was born in 1958, but shown here are the places I have visited since roughly 1968 when I was 10 and have records/can remember). The initial view of the map shows counties visited or not ("on or off"). The color scheme in the first map below shows counties I have visited as Orange and Non-Visited Counties as White.
Counties Visited - Simple
The second map below shows a visit sequence of when and with whom I visited a place in the CONUS. The color scheme for the Period display depicts the following "eras" and persons with whom I visited a place:
0-White: Never Visited - (357 Total and 335 in CONUS)
1-Blue: Visited with my father/parents 1968-1980 (1,208 Total/1,196 CONUS)
2-Dark Green: Visited by myself, or with persons not otherwise listed (127 in CONUS)
3-Lite Green: Visited with OSU Colleagues since 1996 (203 in CONUS)
4-Red: Visited with my wife Tanya since 1980 (255 in CONUS)
5-Brown: Visited with my son Curtis since 2000 (83 in CONUS)
6-Orange: Visited with Tanya & Curtis since 1990 (909 in CONUS)
The final maps are “zoomed in” versions of the Detailed map showing the core of the northeastern US/Megalopolis and a simple map for the state of Alaska. I included the maps because many of the counties in in the Northeast are among the largest in population and most diverse in the country but they are so small they are impossible to see on the other images, and because Alaska is not visible on the CONUS maps shown above. My visit to Alaska was in the early 70s when I was a teen and unfortunately I have not been able to return - perhaps in the future?
I have not included a map of Hawaii since I have visited all of the counties in this beautiful state.
Counties Visited - Detailed
Counties Visited - Megalopolis Core
Boroughs of Alaska - Visited or Not
As of 17 March 2024 I have made at least one cursory visit to 2,773 of the 3,108 county level or similar political entities in the CONUS (89.22%). I have also visited all of the primary counties (5) and major cities in Hawaii, as well as 7 of the 29 boroughs/census zones in Alaska. My Alaska visits have also included Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Denali/Mt McKinley National Park. For the entire US I have visited 2,785 of 3,142 county level political entities (88.64%).
The categories are hierarchical, in that if a county is in group 1,2, or 3, and then I visit with Tanya and/or Curtis, it becomes a 4, 5, or 6.
I have completed all of the county visits for the following 30 States and the District of Columbia (1,712 Total County level units):
Arizona (15)
Arkansas (75)
Colorado (64)
Connecticut (8)
Delaware (3)
District of Columbia (1)
Florida (67)
Hawaii (5)
Illinois (102)
Indiana (92)
Kansas (105)
Louisiana (64) - Parishes
Maine (17)
Maryland (24) - 23 Counties & City of Baltimore
Massachusetts (14)
Mississippi (82)
Missouri (115) - 114 Counties & City of St Louis
Nevada (16)
New Hampshire (10)
New Jersey (21)
New Mexico (33)
North Carolina (100)
Oklahoma (77)
Rhode Island (5)
Tennessee (95)
Texas (254) - State with the most counties
Utah (29)
Vermont (14)
Virginia (133) - 95 Counties & 38 Independent Cities
Wisconsin (72)
Here are the state by state totals for the 357 non-visited counties/county equivalents (out of 1430 total counties) from each state (335 unvisited out of 1401 in CONUS):
Alabama (15 of 67)
Alaska (22 of 29) - Boroughs/County Equivalents
California (14 of 58)
Georgia (68 of 159) - most counties remaining to be visited
Idaho (2 of 44)
Iowa (7 of 99)
Kentucky (15 of 120)
Michigan (15 of 83)
Minnesota (22 of 87)
Montana (24 of 56)
Nebraska (40 of 93) - highest proportion of a CONUS state remaining
New York (12 of 62)
North Dakota (16 of 53)
Ohio (15 of 88)
Oregon (17 of 36)
Pennsylvania (11 of 67)
South Carolina (6 of 46)
South Dakota (5 of 66)
Washington (9 of 39)
West Virginia (21 of 55)
Wyoming (1 of 23) - how on earth did I miss ONE?
I hope you enjoy the maps, and hopefully I can update them with more visits soon.
FYI - After a long period of non-activity in terms of adding new counties, In the last 10 months I have been on four trips to visit places I had not been in some time as well as visiting some new counties.
The first was a trip to West Texas with my friend Steve Stadler (15-19 May 2023) to polish off the last 33 counties in the state. The trip took 5 days, covered over 2,600 miles, and we also visited Big Bend National Park (an amazing place). This completed the lower band of states (south of the 37th parallel) from Mississippi to Southern California. The only other southern states remaining after Texas are Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
I also recently took three trips with Tanya to complete Illinois and Missouri (25 total in both plus 1 county in Iowa) between 30 June and 3 July 2023 and a trip to Colorado which completed that state between 27 Sep and 3 Oct 2023 (8 total new counties).
The first trip involved wandering thru parts of the Ozark Mts in southern Missouri and thru extensive areas of America’s richest farmlands in sections of central and northern Illinois. We passed through Springfield IL just days after many in the city lost power due to tornados and strong storms, and visited Peoria and Champaign as well. While I had been to all those cities in the past, it was interesting to return after 20, 30, or even 40 years to see how they had changed. We covered over 2100 miles and passed through St Louis, Burlington IA, Chester IL (proud home of Popeye the Sailor), and Branson Mo. In addition we visited towns with such interesting names as Hilda and Humansville MO and Pekin IL.
As noted the second trip completed the 64 counties of Colorado. In addition we visited four National Parks (Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, and Great Sand Dunes), as well as riding the Durango to Silverton narrow gueage railroad. We also attended a Colorado Rockies game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and saw many brightly colored trees throughout the state.
Finally, between 15-17 March 2024 we made a quick trip to Chicago to see the dying of the Chicago River for St Patrick’s Day (a Tanya bucket list item). While on this trip we made a quick run thru southeastern Iowa and visited 11 previously unvisited counties. As I said, this was a quick trip, and while it was fun to see the river activities in Chicago, it would have also been nice to have taken a little more time. Alas, sometimes you simply have to fit things in as you can.
Last Updated: 17 March 2024