Highways that BARELY enter or miss a county

[Dirt Roads]

WV-12 ends in Peterstown (Monroe County) about 500 feet from the Virginia border (ergo, Giles County).  Unless you follow the main road (US-219), which takes a little bit longer (about 600 feet).  Of course, WV-12 used to follow the route of US-219 into Virginia and back over into Mercer County, West Virginia.  (Which is only about 4-1/4 miles away on the other side of Glen Lyn as the crow flies, and not much further by road).

[Dirt Roads]

Here's a different twist:  VA-107 is entirely in Smythe County, running parallel to the Washington County line for its entire length of about 8.4 miles.  At its closest, it is about 4,250 feet away from the border, and at its furthest, it is only about 1.5 miles away.  The border isn't perfectly straight, but "close enough for government work".

[lordsutch]

Here's an example of such a thing on an Interstate in Georgia: https://maps.app.goo.gl/CyYQsRox9X1F56W99

I-75 enters Crawford County for a short distance, but the county lines either way are fully signposted.

Just to the east, US 41 and GA 11 historically served as part of the border between Peach and Houston counties (since Peach County was split off from Houston, Crawford, and Macon counties so Fort Valley could be a county seat, at the tail end of the period of county creation mania in Georgia inspired by the County Unit System). However, a few years ago GDOT realigned the GA 49 intersection to make it the through route and now US 41 and GA 11 now are fully inside Peach County for a few hundred feet. https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/32.6742/-83.7058

Not exactly the same thing but there's a weird zig-zag in the Crawford–Peach boundary that leads to GA 96 and GA 540 entering, leaving, and then reentering Peach County again over the course of a mile, presumably because some farmer wanted to keep all their land in Crawford County back when the boundary was drawn. https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/32.5611/-83.9570

I-95 has a short stretch in Effingham County (Ga.) between Chatham County and the South Carolina state line, with no interchange. https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/32.2404/-81.1588

GA 111 almost makes it to US 27 in Gadsden County, Florida, but misses by a few hundred feet (and also misses entering Decatur County, Ga. by about the same amount). https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/30.6892/-84.3779 Within Florida itself, it isn't signed as anything, not even as a county highway or with a posted street name. It gets a To trailblazer from US 27 at least. https://maps.app.goo.gl/iMpv2VQiEMK7oB499 On a closely related note, it also seems that US 27 and GA 1 miss entering Grady County, Ga. by a hair.

[Dirt Roads]

US-460 in Campbell County, Virginia gets within 110 feet of Amherst County as the original James River border along the south side of Feagans Island ventures inward away from this narrow channel.  I usually wouldn't include a river border in this list, but this seems like a worthy exception.  Getting even closer, the former Chesapeake and Ohio mainline of CSX (100-foot right-of-way) squeezes through in between US-460 and Amherst County.

[Dirt Roads]

^^^
Similarly, US-1 in Marston, Richmond County, North Carolina, skirts the western edge of Scotland County by about 200 feet.  No river this time, but another part of CSX (the former Seaboard Coast Line mainline) sneaks in between.  Bonus: The parallel road on the east side of tracks (Kid Road) actually skips into Scotland County for about 115 feet.

[Dirt Roads]

NC-151 is listed as entirely in Buncombe County, but the southernmost tip sneaks into Henderson County just as it reaches the Blue Ridge Parkway.  About 25 feet, give or take.

[mgk920]

How close does I-80/90 (Indiana Toll Road) get to Michigan (but does not enter it)?

Mike

[NWI_Irish96]

How close does I-80/90 (Indiana Toll Road) get to Michigan (but does not enter it)?

Mike

The road itself about 0.4 miles. The ramp at the interchange with IN 9 comes a bit closer.

[Viridiscalculus]

Another one for the "near-miss" category: PA 487 does not enter Wyoming County despite being less than 150 feet away at its closest point. This frustrating fact has cost me a clinch of Wyoming County despite a pair of trips to Ricketts Glen via PA 487. And there is nothing nearby that would allow for an easy out-and-back clinch. The nearest state route crossings lead to Tunkhannock, over 20 miles as the crow flies, and 40 miles/50 minutes by road. As such, Wyoming County has become a semi-permanent donut on my county map; a true example of "you have to be going there to go there".

As part of a proposed county-clinching trip, my plan for getting my friend Wyoming County was to out-and-back 150 feet on the dirt road that runs east from PA 487 at the place the route approaches the county line. That plan assumed good weather; the dirt road is on a slope, so I would not want to take my car on that slope if the road is muddy or snow-covered.

[Viridiscalculus]

I-95 in Darlington County, SC

I-95 also passes through the southern tip of Marlboro County, South Carolina, for about 1000 feet at the Great Pee Dee River. This fact is not mentioned on I-95. In fact, the Welcome to Florence County sign ahead of the bridge across the Great Pee Dee River swamp on southbound I-95 is within feet of the Dillon–Marlboro county line.

[Viridiscalculus]

Lunenburg County, Virginia, is surprisingly difficult to clinch. The southbound lanes of I-85 come within 350 feet of the Lunenburg–Brunswick–Mecklenburg tripoint just west of the Meherrin River, and US 15 comes within 4000 feet of the western border at Keysville in Charlotte County. I finally clinched Lunenburg County on US 360, which enters the county in 1 3/4 places. The westbound lanes of US 360 run atop the Prince Edward–Lunenburg county line at Virso, and the entire U.S. Highway enters Lunenburg County for 1000 feet at Meherrin.

On the same US 15 trip in which I missed Lunenburg County, I missed Cumberland County. US 15 passes 1,500 feet to the west of the Cumberland–Prince Edward–Buckingham tripoint at the Appomattox River. I clinched Cumberland County years later by taking VA 13 just over the Powhatan County line from Tobaccoville.

[LilianaUwU]

QC 247's southbound lanes enter Orleans County, Vermont.

[wriddle082]

US 378 just barely clips Williamsburg County, SC west of Lake City.  It wasn't signed the last time I was there.

Where I-75 briefly crosses into Crawford County, GA, it is signed in both directions.

I-40 barely clips Carroll County, Tennessee, and it is signed at least westbound.

I-95 comes within a mile of Beaufort County, SC.  It is definitely the largest county in SC by population without direct interstate access.

[jmacswimmer]

I-195 near BWI Airport just misses Howard County where it crosses the Anne Arundel/Baltimore county line at the Patapsco River. The Anne Arundel/Baltimore/Howard county tripoint is just upstream where Deep Run empties into the Patapsco.

I-70 misses Montgomery County MD by (guessing) about 1/8 of a mile near Mount Airy. There are four counties right in that area (Howard, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery) although there is not a common point between all 4. I-70 goes through the other three counties listed.

Building off this one:

-I-70 & US 40, in addition to missing Montgomery County, clip Carroll County for about a mile while otherwise passing between longer lengths in Frederick & Howard counties on either side. This mile is the only interstate or US route to enter Carroll County anywhere - it's only served by state routes otherwise. This would put Carroll County as the most populated MD county only served by state routes if not for this mile of I-70/US 40, so instead that honor goes to St. Mary's County.

-I think there is actually a quadpoint where Carroll, Frederick, Howard & Montgomery counties all meet - IIRC, it's Parr's Spring (the source of the South Branch Patapsco River) just south of I-70 exit 68.

-MD 27 does several clips in the same area because of that quadpoint - it's primarily in Montgomery County to the south & Carroll County to the north, but in between it clips Howard County for about a mile after crossing the Patuxent River close to its source, then crosses the sliver of Montgomery County extending to that quadpoint, and finally clips Frederick County for about a half-mile with the Frederick/Carroll county line briefly following MD 27 thru the I-70/US 40 interchange.

-I-95 also just misses Montgomery County, as I-495 reaches the Montgomery/Prince George's County line about a mile west of where I-95 branches off the beltway. This leaves Montgomery County as only being served by 3di's (I-270, I-370, I-495) despite being the most populous MD county.

[StogieGuy7]

Lunenburg County, Virginia, is surprisingly difficult to clinch. The southbound lanes of I-85 come within 350 feet of the Lunenburg–Brunswick–Mecklenburg tripoint just west of the Meherrin River, and US 15 comes within 4000 feet of the western border at Keysville in Charlotte County. I finally clinched Lunenburg County on US 360, which enters the county in 1 3/4 places. The westbound lanes of US 360 run atop the Prince Edward–Lunenburg county line at Virso, and the entire U.S. Highway enters Lunenburg County for 1000 feet at Meherrin.

On the same US 15 trip in which I missed Lunenburg County, I missed Cumberland County. US 15 passes 1,500 feet to the west of the Cumberland–Prince Edward–Buckingham tripoint at the Appomattox River. I clinched Cumberland County years later by taking VA 13 just over the Powhatan County line from Tobaccoville.

Very true, Lunenburg County, VA has eluded me for this reason - for decades. Grew up in VA but since moved away and Lunenburg County is a hole in my travels through the Old Dominion.

On the opposite end is Fluvanna County, a corner of which hosts less than one mile of I-64.  Looking at an average scale state map, you can't tell if 64 enters the county or not but yes, it does. And VDOT signage at each boundary too, looking redundant - thought it is not.

[tmoore952]

I-70 misses Montgomery County MD by (guessing) about 1/8 of a mile near Mount Airy. There are four counties right in that area (Howard, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery) although there is not a common point between all 4. I-70 goes through the other three counties listed.

Building off this one:

-I think there is actually a quadpoint where Carroll, Frederick, Howard & Montgomery counties all meet - IIRC, it's Parr's Spring (the source of the South Branch Patapsco River) just south of I-70 exit 68.

I misspoke then, if all four counties do meet there. I do know that Montgomery County approaches that spring from the west in a very narrow sliver which crosses Rt. 27 (also mentioned by jmacswimmer, who I am quoting).

That stretch of Rt. 27 is about a 20 mile bike ride from where I live (therefore a 40+ mile round trip). I have made that bike ride several times for the four county thing. It's also several hundred feet higher in elevation so in addition to the distance, it's also quite a workout for me (at 55+). There is a small road in that area that is called "Four County Road" or something similar (has a rectangular green sign with the name of the road). IIRC it is to the southwest of the I-70/MD 27 interchange, and north of the gas stations on the west side of MD 27 there. EDIT - on the map that jwacswimmer provides in his post, it is the road that goes to H&H Concrete Construction.

[kphoger]

I-70 misses Montgomery County MD by (guessing) about 1/8 of a mile near Mount Airy. There are four counties right in that area (Howard, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery) although there is not a common point between all 4. I-70 goes through the other three counties listed.

Building off this one:

-I think there is actually a quadpoint where Carroll, Frederick, Howard & Montgomery counties all meet - IIRC, it's Parr's Spring (the source of the South Branch Patapsco River) just south of I-70 exit 68.

I misspoke then, if all four counties do meet there. I do know that Montgomery County approaches that spring from the west in a very narrow sliver which crosses Rt. 27 (also mentioned by jmacswimmer, who I am quoting).

I don't think it's a quadripoint there.  I believe it misses by about 235 feet.

↓  Source:  USGS, 1:24000 scale  ↓

[tmoore952]

I-70 misses Montgomery County MD by (guessing) about 1/8 of a mile near Mount Airy. There are four counties right in that area (Howard, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery) although there is not a common point between all 4. I-70 goes through the other three counties listed.

Building off this one:

-I think there is actually a quadpoint where Carroll, Frederick, Howard & Montgomery counties all meet - IIRC, it's Parr's Spring (the source of the South Branch Patapsco River) just south of I-70 exit 68.

I misspoke then, if all four counties do meet there. I do know that Montgomery County approaches that spring from the west in a very narrow sliver which crosses Rt. 27 (also mentioned by jmacswimmer, who I am quoting).

I don't think it's a quadripoint there.  I believe it misses by about 235 feet.

↓  Source:  USGS, 1:24000 scale  ↓

Being local, and a bike rider with a need to know the local roads, I have similar (but more detailed) map at home that I would like to check (but I'm not there right now).

I'll have to report back later. However, the map that kphoger shows does present the narrow wedge of Montgomery County that narrows as it goes east, and looks a lot like I remember from my maps. I just don't remember if the top part of the MontCo triangle reaches that spring.

EDIT -- but several links (one in jmacswimmer's post) claim that it does, including an article from the Baltimore Sun.

To refer back to my elevation comment, where I live is about 400 foot elevation, and the area shown here is about 800 foot elevation. You can see from the surrounding area on kphogers topo map that it is not flat here (although it is not Sideling Hill steep either), but it is rolling enough to be demanding on one's knees.

Another interesting thing shown by that topo map is that the Four County Drive I mentioned (SW of the interchange) earlier appears to only be in Frederick County.

[Dirt Roads]

I don't think it's a quadripoint there.  <snipped>

↓  Source:  USGS, 1:24000 scale  ↓

But isn't this an oddity:  MD-144 (the rerouted section of the original National Road) misses Montgomery County by about 260 feet; misses Howard County by about 305 feet; and crosses into Frederick County for about 365 feet before dropping off of the map.  Only one of these actually qualifies for this thread, however, as this section of MD-144 jumps back into Howard County about 2 miles east of here and another segment of MD-144 in Frederick County starts back up about 5 miles west of here.

[kphoger]

Being local, and a bike rider with a need to know the local roads, I have similar (but more detailed) map at home that I would like to check (but I'm not there right now).

I'll have to report back later. However, the map that kphoger shows does present the narrow wedge of Montgomery County that narrows as it goes east, and looks a lot like I remember from my maps. I just don't remember if the top part of the MontCo triangle reaches that spring.

EDIT -- but several links (one in jmacswimmer's post) claim that it does, including an article from the Baltimore Sun.

For what it's worth...

Bing Maps accords with the USGS map I posted.

Montgomery County's online map shows a true quadripoint.

Howard County's online map does not show a quadripoint, but the boundaries differ from what's drawn on the USGS map.

Frederick County's online maps appear to accord with the USGS map I posted, although the zoom level isn't the greatest.

Carroll County's online maps show a true quadripoint, matching that of Montgomery County's.

[tmoore952]

Being local, and a bike rider with a need to know the local roads, I have similar (but more detailed) map at home that I would like to check (but I'm not there right now).

I'll have to report back later. However, the map that kphoger shows does present the narrow wedge of Montgomery County that narrows as it goes east, and looks a lot like I remember from my maps. I just don't remember if the top part of the MontCo triangle reaches that spring.

EDIT -- but several links (one in jmacswimmer's post) claim that it does, including an article from the Baltimore Sun.

For what it's worth...

Bing Maps accords with the USGS map I posted.

Montgomery County's online map shows a true quadripoint.

Howard County's online map does not show a quadripoint, but the boundaries differ from what's drawn on the USGS map.

Frederick County's online maps appear to accord with the USGS map I posted, although the zoom level isn't the greatest.

Carroll County's online maps show a true quadripoint, matching that of Montgomery County's.

I have ADC street maps of all of the involved counties.

I also have a DeLorme map of the entire state.

Every one of them shows a quad point, on the ADC maps it is generally on the west side of the lake.
Drawing a circle around this point, Carroll County is (generally) to the north, Howard County is (generally) to the S and SE, Montgomery County is a point (at approximately 7:30 (which is SW)), and Frederick County is (generally) from SW to due W. The Carroll County-Frederick County line goes NW from the lake to Rt. 27 and then follows Rt. 27 north towards I-70.

You can't legally go there though (I tried once from Rt 144, east of Rt 27), signs say private property, and I did not trespass.

The other thing I learned from this exercise which I never really realized is that the Patuxent River, which forms almost all of the Howard County-Montgomery County border, begins west of Rt 27 about 3/4 to 1 mile southwest of Parr's Spring (the quadpoint), which is where the Patapsco River begins.

[Rothman]

Being local, and a bike rider with a need to know the local roads, I have similar (but more detailed) map at home that I would like to check (but I'm not there right now).

I'll have to report back later. However, the map that kphoger shows does present the narrow wedge of Montgomery County that narrows as it goes east, and looks a lot like I remember from my maps. I just don't remember if the top part of the MontCo triangle reaches that spring.

EDIT -- but several links (one in jmacswimmer's post) claim that it does, including an article from the Baltimore Sun.

For what it's worth...

Bing Maps accords with the USGS map I posted.

Montgomery County's online map shows a true quadripoint.

Howard County's online map does not show a quadripoint, but the boundaries differ from what's drawn on the USGS map.

Frederick County's online maps appear to accord with the USGS map I posted, although the zoom level isn't the greatest.

Carroll County's online maps show a true quadripoint, matching that of Montgomery County's.

Someone needs to go out there and find the survey markers.

[bwana39]

^^ I thought the west end of Texas was in Mountain time.

El Paso County , Hudspeth County , and parts of Culberson County are on Mountain Time.

THe farthest point east on mountain time in Texas is over 100 miles west of The west boundary of the panhandle and 300 miles south.

[tmoore952]

Being local, and a bike rider with a need to know the local roads, I have similar (but more detailed) map at home that I would like to check (but I'm not there right now).

I'll have to report back later. However, the map that kphoger shows does present the narrow wedge of Montgomery County that narrows as it goes east, and looks a lot like I remember from my maps. I just don't remember if the top part of the MontCo triangle reaches that spring.

EDIT -- but several links (one in jmacswimmer's post) claim that it does, including an article from the Baltimore Sun.

For what it's worth...

Bing Maps accords with the USGS map I posted.

Montgomery County's online map shows a true quadripoint.

Howard County's online map does not show a quadripoint, but the boundaries differ from what's drawn on the USGS map.

Frederick County's online maps appear to accord with the USGS map I posted, although the zoom level isn't the greatest.

Carroll County's online maps show a true quadripoint, matching that of Montgomery County's.

Someone needs to go out there and find the survey markers.

Here's the Baltimore Sun article I mentioned (from 2000).
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-05-15-0005150076-story.html

My trespassing days are over. This article is good enough for me.

[dbz77]

-CA 99 barely misses Kings County, California. Closest approach is around Exit 109 (about 111 miles north of the bottom of the Grapevine Grade), which serves Avenue 384.