Howder Travel Adventures: Strange Geography USA

Everything that Fits Nowhere Else

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This is the "dusty attic" of my Strange Geography USA collection. These are items that don't seem to fit anywhere else: the places I've noticed but haven't visited yet; odd facts that have somehow caught my attention; people who have similar affections for the unusual; or anything else that happens to come to mind.

Wish List

Of the many places I haven't visited -- but some day want to -- these are the ones at the top of my list.

Northwest Angle, Minnesota

At the very top of Minnesota at Lake of the Woods sits a little chunk of the United States approachable only by boat or by going through Canada. This is known as Minnesota's Northwest Angle. It is a situation similar to what I described for Point Roberts, Washington.

Lost Peninsula, Michigan

This is also a situation similar to the Northwest Angle and Point Roberts anomalies, but it involves two U. S. state borders rather than an international border so there's no need to clear customs and immigration. Here, the little chunk belongs to Michigan and it is appended to Ohio. It is located at the extreme southeaster corner of Michigan. There are a number of inhabitants and even a marina. You'll need a really detailed map to see this little point.

Most and Fewest County Boundaries

Most County Boundaries

My candidate for the county with the most boundaries is San Juan Co. in Utah. Fourteen other counties share a border with it, including several at just a single point. This also marks Utah's contribution to the 4-corners phenomenon. San Juan Co., UT's fourteen neighbors are:

Kane County, UT (West)
Garfield County, UT (West)
Wayne County, UT (West)
Emery County, UT (Northwest at a single point)
Grand County, UT (North)
Mesa County, CO (Northeast at a single point)
Montrose County, CO (East)
San Miguel County, CO (East)
Dolores County, CO (East)
Montezuma County, CO (East) - one of the 4-Corner Counties
San Juan County, NM (Southeast at a single point) - one of the 4-Corner Counties
Apache County, AZ (South) - One of the 4-Corner Counties
Navajo County, AZ (South)
Coconino County, AZ (Southwest)

Please let me know if there is another US county with an equal or greater number of neighbors.

Fewest County Boundaries

Many counties have only a single land boundary. Generally these occur where the county sits at the tip of a peninsula with a body of water forming the remainder of the boundary. For example: Northampton Co., VA; Door Co., WI; Cook Co., MN; Keweenaw Co., MI; Clallam Co., WA; or Barnstable Co., MA. This is rather common and unremarkable.

My candidate for a landlocked county with the fewest boundaries is Red Lake Co., Minnesota with two borders. Pennington Co. forms the north border and Polk Co. wraps around the other three sides. Darn!... I was once within a few miles of this location but I didn't realize the significance of it at the time so I didn't stop.

Does anyone know of any other landlocked U. S. county with two or fewer neighbors?

Various Odds and Ends

Five counties come together at a single point in the middle of South Florida's Lake Okeechobee: Martin; Palm Beach; Hendry; Glades; and Okeechobee Counties.
There are two parishes (county equivalents) in Louisiana that are not contiguous. West Feliciana has a small separate chunk to the northwest called Turnbull Island which is probably due to a change in the river. St. Martin Parish is more unusual and is split into two large pieces. See my St. Martin Parish page for more information and a couple of photographs. A tip of the hat to Mr. McLaughlin of Baton Rouge (I won't put his full name on the Internet) for helping me sort this out.

Other People Fascinated by Strange Geography

The Degree Confluence Project. This group has a goal "to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location." Some of these confluences require difficult sea voyages or mountain treks while others sit in suburban backyards. The site describes many great adventures and efforts.
America's Roof and the Highpointers Club are organizations that specialize in visiting the highest points in each of the 50 United States (or individual counties within each State, the highest points in other countries, all points above a certain altitude, and other variations).
The County Highpointers Association focuses on a highly specialized subset, specifically the county level.
Google sightseeing. These people enjoy combing through Google Maps finding unusual features, fascinating anomalies, and various other items of interest.
Geocaching. People stash caches. Other people search for them based upon coordinates and clues. A little too organized for my taste but I can appreciate why it has become so popular.

More Strange Geography
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