Visit Any State "Orphans" Lately??

[Brandon]

Drove I-15 through Arizona last summer.

However, it is possible via very rough tracks to get there from the rest of Arizona while staying in Arizona.

[J N Winkler]

Trivia question:  if you have a boat, can you get to the Northwest Angle from mainland Minnesota in a foreign-flagged boat without violating the Jones Act?

[texaskdog]

Drove I-15 through Arizona last summer.

However, it is possible via very rough tracks to get there from the rest of Arizona while staying in Arizona.

Even Navajo Trail Road requires you to dip into Utah

[usends]

This is called a "pene-exclave" (I find this term amusing), that is, a part of a territory physically connected to the rest of it but can only be accesed from another territory. For example, there is some village in Spain that only can be reached from Andorra. Or the Northwest Angle in MN (Unless you go by boat, you have to enter Canada to reach it)

That's correct: we're starting to talk about two different things in this thread.  I'm aware of only two states that have true exclaves: Kentucky and New York.  In other words, if you were to draw the boundaries of those states, you'd have to use two separate polygons for Kentucky (in order to include Kentucky Bend, which is surrounded by Missouri and Tennessee), and three polygons for New York (in order to include Liberty Island and Ellis Island, which are both completely surrounded by New Jersey).

All other state boundaries are described by a single polygon, so by definition they do not have any true exclaves.  However, there are probably hundreds of examples of pene-exclaves: these are places that are geographically contiguous with the rest of the state, so if you had the appropriate means of transportation (watercraft or aircraft), you could get there without going through another state.  However, if you wanted to get there by land, you'd have to pass through another state (or country).

I don't think many people are aware that the southeast corner of Colorado is a pene-exclave.  In Colorado there are no bridges over the Cimarron River, so the only land access to the area south of there is via Oklahoma or Kansas.
http://usends.com/Explore/Corners/CO-KS-OK/index.html
(Although I should note that the Cimarron is often dry, so usually it would be pretty easy to ford it.  But there are no public roads that cross it.)

[Mapmikey]

In late January I visited Four Corners Monument...

US 160 and NM 597 cannot be accessed from any other part of NM as far as I can see.

There is a Virginia Beach neighborhood along old Princess Anne SR 664 that is only accessible from NC 615 on Knotts Island.

Virginia has two fairly large chunks of territory south of Kerr Lake that can only be accessed from NC (one is via NC 39).  There is also a slice of Virginia near US 311 below the Dan River only accessible through NC.

Mapmikey

[1995hoo]

In late January I visited Four Corners Monument...

US 160 and NM 597 cannot be accessed from any other part of NM as far as I can see.

There is a Virginia Beach neighborhood along old Princess Anne SR 664 that is only accessible from NC 615 on Knotts Island.

Virginia has two fairly large chunks of territory south of Kerr Lake that can only be accessed from NC (one is via NC 39).  There is also a slice of Virginia near US 311 below the Dan River only accessible through NC.

Mapmikey

I may be mistaken, but Knotts Island itself is accessible by road only through Virginia, correct? (There's a ferry connection as well.) I wonder if that makes the Virginia Beach neighborhood you reference even more unique–are there any other places like that where the "orphan" can be reached only via another "orphan"?

[Mapmikey]

Yes, Knotts Island can only be reached from Virginia by land.  For some reason I was thinking of this question as "reached by car" which would include the ferry.

Washington DC has the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.  Columbia Island would also count unless by land includes jumping from a bridge (I-66).

There are some structures in Maryland that can only be reached from Virginia, all at the ends of piers into the Potomac.  The most notable one is Colonial Beach Virginia where you can play Maryland gambling games by walking out to the end of the pier...

Mapmikey

[usends]

https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.541461,-95.678902&spn=0.089359,0.209255&t=m&z=13 Here's part of the southwest corner of Nebraska that's west of the Missouri river, so it's only accessible from the state of Missouri. However, the Nishnabotna River makes it so the only way to get to that slice of Missouri is through Iowa.

That's McKissick Island, mentioned downthread.  It makes an interesting sub-category: in order to drive to this part of Nebraska from "mainland" Nebraska, you'd first have to pass through not just one, but two other states.  I wonder if there are any other examples like that?

[agentsteel53]

what happens to AZ-95 around Needles, CA?  as far as I know, the routing of AZ-95 is:

* Rice Dr. NB to I-40 WB
* cross into California
* get off at J Street exit in Needles
* jog west on W. Broadway to K Street
* jog north on S K Street
* jog west on Front Street
* cross railroad on N K Street, which turns into Levee Way and crosses back into Arizona

this is signed pretty well as "to Arizona 95".  would this count as an orphan in the sense that, in order to clinch AZ-95 in one straight shot, one has to drive into California for a few miles?

[Mapmikey]

https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.541461,-95.678902&spn=0.089359,0.209255&t=m&z=13 Here's part of the southwest corner of Nebraska that's west of the Missouri river, so it's only accessible from the state of Missouri. However, the Nishnabotna River makes it so the only way to get to that slice of Missouri is through Iowa.

That's McKissick Island, mentioned downthread.  It makes an interesting sub-category: in order to drive to this part of Nebraska from "mainland" Nebraska, you'd first have to pass through not just one, but two other states.  I wonder if there are any other examples like that?

Four Corners Monument Parking Lot...to get to the Utah side requires passing through either Colorado or Arizona from New Mexico.  If they ever made the loop one-way, you'd have to pass through 3 states to get to Arizona...

Mapmikey

[jp the roadgeek]

Estcourt Station, ME is another orphan that can only be reached from Canada, unless you drive hundreds of miles through the Allagash to get there (even has a PQ area code and Canadian electricity).  Fishers Island, NY is 2 miles off of Groton, CT, has a CT type ZIP code, and can only be reached by ferry from New London, CT.  Another note, the highest point in CT, the south slope of Mt. Frissell, can only be accessed from MA on land.

[roadman65]

I can't think of any example comparable to the Kentucky bend where an area is not contiguous to the rest of the state. Every other one I am aware of is contiguous - even if by water only. The Kentucky bend has about 3.5 miles of Missouri between the two sections of Kentucky.

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=36.513499,-89.45446&spn=0.179909,0.390358&t=h&z=12

Delaware has a piece of land on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River due to the 12 mile circle.

[kphoger]

This is called a "pene-exclave" (I find this term amusing), that is, a part of a territory physically connected to the rest of it but can only be accesed from another territory. For example, there is some village in Spain that only can be reached from Andorra. Or the Northwest Angle in MN (Unless you go by boat, you have to enter Canada to reach it)

There are probably hundreds of examples of pene-exclaves

Indeed.  For example, the entire state of Alaska is a pene-exclave of the United States.  It is, in fact, the world's largest pene-exclave.

[kphoger]

I found this interesting:

Shifts in the meandering course of the lower Rio Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) have created numerous pene-exclaves. Under the Boundary Treaty of 1970 and earlier treaties, the two nations have maintained the actual course of the river as the international boundary, but both must approve proposed changes. From 1989 to 2009, there were 128 locations where the river changed course, causing land that had been on one side of the river to then occupy the opposite bank. Until the boundary is officially changed, there are 60 small pene-exclaves of the state of Texas now lying on the southern side of the river, as well as 68 such pene-exclaves of Mexico on the northern side of the river. The last such exchange (of pre-1989 river cuts) occurred in 2009, after languishing as a proposal for 20 years.

[agentsteel53]

Indeed.  For example, the entire state of Alaska is a pene-exclave of the United States.  It is, in fact, the world's largest pene-exclave.

it's also a regular non-penile exclave.  as far as I know, Alaska's water territory does not share a boundary with that of, say, Washington.

[hbelkins]

Vulcan, WV. Accessible by road only via a bridge crossing the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River from KY 194.

http://goo.gl/maps/yB8Jj

The community gained notoriety in 1977 by requesting help from the Soviet Union to build a bridge. The Tug Fork belongs to WV so it was that state's responsibility and they weren't too keen on building a new bridge, and Kentucky wouldn't because it served no purpose for the Bluegrass State.

[kphoger]

Indeed.  For example, the entire state of Alaska is a pene-exclave of the United States.  It is, in fact, the world's largest pene-exclave.

it's also a regular non-penile exclave.  as far as I know, Alaska's water territory does not share a boundary with that of, say, Washington.

No, it is not a true exclave, since one could conceivably put out to sea from the Oregon coast, and then dock at the Alaska coast without having crossed into any other nation's territory.  In other words, it is not actually necessary to enter Canada in order to reach Alaska.

[agentsteel53]

Vulcan, WV. Accessible by road only via a bridge crossing the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River from KY 194.

http://goo.gl/maps/yB8Jj

The community gained notoriety in 1977 by requesting help from the Soviet Union to build a bridge. The Tug Fork belongs to WV so it was that state's responsibility and they weren't too keen on building a new bridge, and Kentucky wouldn't because it served no purpose for the Bluegrass State.

wow.  not only has the Google Street View car not been there - but its streets aren't even mapped!  yes, the Soviet Union is an adequate comparison!

[agentsteel53]

No, it is not a true exclave, since one could conceivably put out to sea from the Oregon coast, and then dock at the Alaska coast without having crossed into any other nation's territory.  In other words, it is not actually necessary to enter Canada in order to reach Alaska.

I assume this is not the case for the Kaliningrad Oblast?  i.e. you'd probably be in either Finnish or Estonian waters in the Gulf of Finland if you set sail from St. Petersburg?  or is there an international channel there too?

[kphoger]

No, it is not a true exclave, since one could conceivably put out to sea from the Oregon coast, and then dock at the Alaska coast without having crossed into any other nation's territory.  In other words, it is not actually necessary to enter Canada in order to reach Alaska.

I assume this is not the case for the Kaliningrad Oblast?  i.e. you'd probably be in either Finnish or Estonian waters in the Gulf of Finland if you set sail from St. Petersburg?  or is there an international channel there too?

Калинингра́дская о́бласть is a true exclave.  At least, in American English it is.  In Alanlandian English, it's considered a goat's penis.  But, then again, all oblasts are called that.

[cpzilliacus]

Washington DC has the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.  Columbia Island would also count unless by land includes jumping from a bridge (I-66).

That's Roosevelt Island. 

Columbia Island can be reached from the  "Virginia" end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge (which is still in D.C.).

[cpzilliacus]

In other words, if you wish to get to a certain part of a state by land, you can only reach it if you go through another state.

The extreme southwest corner of Jefferson  County, W.Va. is only reachable by land via  Va. 601 (Raven Rocks Road) off of Va. 7 (Harry  Byrd Highway) in Loudoun County. Google Maps here. I suppose it is possible to walk across private lands from other parts of Jefferson County, but  if you want to drive, you must take Va. 601 through Loudoun County.

Also privately-owned Selden Island, Montgomery County, Md. in the Potomac River is only reachable by land from a small private bridge (not open to the public) from Loudoun  County, Va.  Google Maps here.

[MrDisco99]

Ellis Island is accessible by car from New Jersey, so I guess that counts.  Never driven that bridge, though.  Judging by the signage on the mainland side, it doesn't look like it's public access.

[agentsteel53]

Ellis Island is accessible by car from New Jersey, so I guess that counts.  Never driven that bridge, though.  Judging by the signage on the mainland side, it doesn't look like it's public access.

are there welcome signs for NY and NJ on that bridge?

[jp the roadgeek]

Turns out Maine was a pene-exclave of Massachusetts until 1820, and Westmoreland County, CT was a pene-exclave in the Wyoming Valley of PA untill 1784.