The continental United States is roughly 2,800 miles wide and 1,600 miles long. And, walking it, like really crossing every state on foot, is a challenge but has, in fact, been done... several times.
What "Walking Every State" Even Means
There's no single standardized definition, but for most long-distance walkers, "walking a state" means either crossing it coast to coast or border to border, or completing a recognized long-distance trail that passes through it. Others interpret it as simply setting foot in every state by foot, but that is a much lower bar. The serious version means substantial cross-state walking: days, sometimes weeks, in each one.
The Numbers: How Long Per State?
A fit person walking at a sustained pace of 20–25 miles per day (which is the standard for experienced long-distance hikers) would cover a state like Rhode Island (48 miles wide) in two days, and Texas (773 miles wide) in roughly a month. Below are are rough walk-through estimates for the continental 48 states combined:
- Total straight-line east-west distance across the continental US: ~2,800 miles
- Total walking distance accounting for realistic routes: ~4,000–5,000 miles
- At 20 miles/day: roughly 200–250 walking days per route, not counting all states
- Walking every state sequentially with reasonable cross-state distances: an estimated 2–4 years of continuous walking
People Who Have Actually Done It
Karl Bushby is perhaps the world's most famous long-distance walker and he set off from the southern tip of South America in 1998 to walk to his home in England (via a frozen Bering Strait crossing). He's covered over 36,000 miles over decades. The continental US was part of that journey.
Matt Green walked every street in New York City which is over 8,000 miles over several years, a project he documented in the film The Man Who Walks. While not every state, his story is a testament to sustained urban walking.
Arthur Blessitt has carried a 12-foot cross on foot through every country in the world since 1969, over 43,000 miles, including all US states. He's in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Nate Damm walked across the entire United States solo in 2011, starting in Delaware and ending in San Francisco and that was roughly 3,200 miles in about 6 months. He wrote a memoir about the experience, This is Not for You.
The Most Walkable States
If you're not trying to do all 48 but want a genuine long-distance walking experience, some states offer remarkable options:
- Maine: The Appalachian Trail ends (or begins) at Mt. Katahdin and the entire state is approximately 280 miles of trail through wilderness
- Colorado: The Colorado Trail runs 567 miles from Denver to Durango, crossing six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges
- Washington: The Pacific Crest Trail through Washington includes the North Cascades, one of the most dramatic walking landscapes in America
- Utah: The desert landscapes of Utah including Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands create natural walking routes of extraordinary visual intensity
Could You Do It?
The logistics of walking every continental US state are straightforward, but it requires a lot of time and physical conditioning. Most Americans with full-time jobs can't spare 2–4 years. But thru-hikers, gap-year adventurers, and a certain type of obsessive personality have done it and documented it.
What all of them report: America looks utterly different at 3 miles per hour. The country you see through a car windshield at 75 mph is a different country than the one your feet reveal. Although both are real.