Most States in One Day by Road

[DTComposer]

It's only six, but they're all big: MT-ID-UT-AZ-NV-CA, and in one fell swoop (only stopped for gas, meals eaten in the car) and I drove the whole way. 19 hours, 1360 miles.

[ET21]

3 in one day,

weak I know

[oscar]

Probably also my longest drive in one day:  VA-MD-PA-OH-IN-IL-WI, for at least seven states (probably also WV, on either I-68 or I-70, but that trip was so long ago I forget the exact routing).

[mrose]

Mine is 8.

In the spring of 1991 we drove from Myrtle Beach, SC to Janesville, WI non stop. SC-NC-TN-KY-OH-IN-IL-WI. Ohio was kind of a cheat though; basically it was just a little corner cut of I-275 around Cincinnati. Left at 6 am and got home about 11:00 pm, with one hour picked up going from Eastern to Central. On the way down there we stopped for two days in Virginia, so I actually visited nine on the trip.

I've had two other occasions where I did six. One of those was driving to Wisconsin from Orlando, which was actually a longer trip than the above one, but we took I-24 from Nashville up to I-57 so I went from KY right into IL and missed out on IN and OH. That one we left about noon and got home about 6 am the next morning. I got assigned the graveyard driving shift and drove pretty much the entire length of Illinois bottom to top in the middle of the night.

[spooky]

Mine is 10. TN-VA-WV-MD-PA-NJ-NY-CT-RI-MA

[The Nature Boy]

Last week I did:

SC - NC - VA - DC - MD - DE - NJ - NY - CT - MA - NH - ME

12 in one day, without stopping other than for gas and food. I'm just now catching up on sleep and getting my body back in order.

[leroys73]

But yeah, I think driving from one end of Texas to the other along I-10 or the entire length of I-5 through California is much more impressive than driving from Maryland to Maine and hitting all those tiny states along the way.
[/quote]

Driving I-10 might qualify as torture. That will be in another category.   

[Pete from Boston]

9, including DC.  Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, North Carolina.

If it was my goal to max the list, that day could have included Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania with only a couple of extra hours' effort.  But if Ifs and Buts were candies and nuts, as they say... so 9 it is.   

[kkt]

Not that many.  Five:  Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois.

[odditude]

FL-GA-SC-NC-VA-(DC-)MD-DE-PA-NJ.

[MikeTheActuary]

My longest day driving or riding:  AL-GA-SC-NC-VA-WV-MD-PA-NJ-NY-CT for 11 states.  It was almost 13 states, since I started near the AL-FL border, and ended near the CT-MA line.

That was a day I'd rather not repeat, due to the length, amount of rain, and the food poisoning that made the last 4 hours oh-so-pleasurable.

[mvak36]

8 for me: NJ-PA-WV-OH-IN-IL-MO-KS. About 21 or 22 hrs of alternating driving with 2 others.

[PHLBOS]

7 back in 1989: MA-CT-NY-NJ-DE-MD-VA.

7 again, PA-NJ-NY-CT-MA-NH-ME on the day of the Portsmouth, NH meet.

[Thing 342]

As a rider:
VA-(DC)-MD-DE-PA-NJ-NY-CT-RI-MA (9, 10 with DC)
As a driver:
IL-IN-OH-KY-WV-VA (6)

[signalman]

As a driver, I think my record is 6: NJ-PA-MD-WV-VA-TN and NJ-NY-CT-MA-NH-ME.

As a passenger, it's either 7 or 8 depending on how a "day" is defined.  If a day is only 24 hours, then it's 7.  If a day constitutes one continuous trip with only stops for food and fuel, then it's 8: NJ-PA-OH-IN-IL-IA-NE-(maybe, depending on the definition of day)WY.

[Ace10]

10 states in one day. That was a trip back home from NY. 10 states (plus DC). That one took about 22 hours.

New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi.

Crossed a state line 12 times on that trip, with crossing the MD/DC state line three times - first at DC 295, second at I-295, third on the Woodrow Wilson bridge/Capital Beltway.

Second best - and definitely the longest distance (over 2,000 mi!) - in one day is 9. Technically it was over a 31 hour period, but the longest I ever stopped for gas/food/restroom was under an hour, so I'm counting it as one continuous day. Started the trip in the morning in Fort Lauderdale, saw the sunset in Georgia, saw the sunrise in Illinois, and saw a second sunset in South Dakota.

Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, (back into Georgia along I-24, back into Tennessee along I-24), Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, (back into Iowa along I-680), South Dakota.

Overall crossed a state line 11 times that day (GA/TN three times and IA/NE twice).

[Pete from Boston]

I'm just now catching up on sleep and getting my body back in order.

And this is why I'm in no hurry to get atop this list.

[BamaZeus]

11 on one trip SC-NC-VA-MD-DE-NJ-NY-CT-RI-MA-NH

We used to go from CT to SC as well, to visit family.

[roadman]

7 for me (multiple times).  MA-CT-NY-NJ-DE-MD-VA

[slorydn1]

Hmmm...

No matter how I slice it I guess it would be 6 for me.

All the trips I took as a kid from Schaumburg IL to Levittown or Deer Park NY crossed 6 states (IL-IN-OH-PA-NJ-NY) (and those were 1 day marathons) or from Schaumburg IL to Sunny Isles or Hallandale FL (IL-IN-KY-TN-GA-FL) (these were 2-3 day affairs though, 3 especially in the nationwide double nickel days). I wonder if I get to count the TN-GA-TN-GA portion of I-24 to I-75 separately because then it would be 8 (again, though, not fitting the OP's criteria of one day).

As an adult being the driver its 6 from New Bern NC to Deer Park NY (NC-VA-MD-DE-NJ-NY) unless I get to count that 266 feet of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that's technically in DC as going through a state then maybe its 7.

Looks like I gotta get a trip to Maine in one of these years, LOL.

[democraticnole]

When I was in college, I did some long road trips as the driver. Three trips I can think of had some lengthy drives:

-- FL, AL, TN, KY, IL (Tallahassee, FL to Peoria, IL). Not that many states, but a lot of miles, all driven by me. In six days, we did a triangle of FL, AL, TN, KY, IL, IA, MO, KS, OK, TX, LA, MS, AL, FL.
-- FL, GA, TN, KY, IN (Tallahassee, FL to Indianapolis area)
-- FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, DC, MD, DE, NJ, NY (Jacksonville, FL to New York City). Ten states is my personal longest driving in one day (13 hours I think).

[roadman65]

FL, GA, SC, NC, VA in 1995.
NJ,DE, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL in 1998.

[TEG24601]

Going over it, I can only come up with 6, at most in one day.  However, I have driven straight through before and did more.


One Day (6) - WA, OR, ID, UT, WY, NE or MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, ND.
Straight Through (7) - WA, OR, ID, UT, WY, NE, IA or IN, IL, IA, NE, UT, ID, OR

[noelbotevera]

Only 4 states. New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts (July 2009 or July 2010)
3 states for the previous day: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York (this was a Providence trip for my family)

[Buck87]

8 - OH, WV, KY, VA, TN, NC, SC, GA

I've gone between Portsmouth, OH and Toccoa, GA many times, which is usually a trip covering 6 states in about 8 hours on US 23. I can remember one specific time that I purposely went slightly out of the way to include WV and SC to the trip as well.