California to Maine: the shortest border chain

You can get from California to Maine crossing only land borders — the shortest chain passes through 10 states.

Fewest states

1. StartCalifornia
2. 1Arizona
3. 2New Mexico
4. 3Oklahoma
5. 4Missouri
6. 5Kentucky
7. 6West Virginia
8. 7Pennsylvania
9. 8New York
10. 9Massachusetts
11. 10New Hampshire
12. FinishMaine

Shortest route by distance

Measured between state centers, the shortest chain covers about 4,672 km — and it takes a different path:

1. StartCalifornia
2. 1Nevada
3. 2Utah
4. 3Colorado
5. 4Kansas
6. 5Missouri
7. 6Illinois
8. 7Indiana
9. 8Ohio
10. 9Pennsylvania
11. 10New York
12. 11Vermont
13. 12New Hampshire
14. FinishMaine

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.