California to Florida: the shortest border chain

You can get from California to Florida crossing only land borders — the shortest chain passes through 6 states.

Fewest states

1. StartCalifornia
2. 1Arizona
3. 2New Mexico
4. 3Oklahoma
5. 4Missouri
6. 5Tennessee
7. 6Alabama
8. FinishFlorida

Shortest route by distance

Measured between state centers, the shortest chain covers about 3,787 km — and it takes a different path:

1. StartCalifornia
2. 1Arizona
3. 2New Mexico
4. 3Oklahoma
5. 4Arkansas
6. 5Mississippi
7. 6Alabama
8. FinishFlorida

The rules behind the route

These routes come from Bordlr's border graph: strict land borders. Distances are great-circle measurements between state centers, so they rank routes fairly without pretending to be driving distances.