States with the LEAST/MOST landscape diversity (compare, places, people)

[JustCallMeTC]

Washington

Desert



Rolling Hills



Rain Forest



Dormant Volcano Mt Rainier 14,410 Feet



Active Volcano



Pacific Ocean

http://www.stanford.edu/~bhackett/neah-bay-2007-07/00031_RJ.JPG (broken link)

San Juan Islands



Alpine Lakes



Puget Sound



High Desert and Plains

http://community.thenewstribune.com/files/images/coulee.preview.jpg (broken link)

Waterfalls



Swamps



Plateau



Rivers

[wpmeads]

Originally Posted by JustCallMeTC

Texas? Go west young man. Pick a west coast state. It ain't close.

Where the rain forest in Texas? Where's an Active Volcano in Texas? Where's the Ocean in Texas. (Gulf Doesn't really count) Where are the old growth Evergreens?

First of all, The Gulf would be considered part of the ocean. That's a dumb statement.

Where are California's have swamps, marshes, great plains, large lakes, and longleaf pine forest?

[polo89]

Originally Posted by JustCallMeTC

Texas? Go west young man. Pick a west coast state. It ain't close.

Where the rain forest in Texas? Where's an Active Volcano in Texas? Where's the Ocean in Texas. (Gulf Doesn't really count) Where are the old growth Evergreens?

Why does that matter? We said Cali is NUMBER 1, and TX number 2.

[OyCrumbler]

There aren't too many states that aren't diverse since states are pretty huge entities.

As a side comment, places up north look far different from season to season so that might be included as additional diversity.

The original post mentioned both the water (one of the largest lakes in the continental US, multiple rivers, varying degrees of swampy-ness, both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, various islands, sandy beaches to steamy mangroves) and human development (from the completely undeveloped, to suburban sprawl, to large tracts of farmland, to one of the densest cities in the US), and for that Florida is one of the most diverse.

Most diverse: California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Alaska (these are all mostly huge states though)

Least diverse: Iowa, West Virginia, Vermont, Rhode Island, North Dakota

[krock1dk]

most diverse:

California
Colorado
Washington
Oregon
Arizona
Utah
Montana
Hawaii
Alaska
Wyoming

lease diverse:

West Virginia (totally mountainous and nothing else)
Pennsylvania (almost totally covered by the Appalachains and big hills)
Kansas
Iowa
Nebraska
the Dakotas
Florida

* states like Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota are often considered 'not diverse' but they actually are. Only two-thirds of Indiana is flat cornfields, while the rest is wooded hills in southern Indiana. The same applies for Ohio and Minnesota.

[JustCallMeTC]

Originally Posted by wpmeads

First of all, The Gulf would be considered part of the ocean. That's a dumb statement.

Where are California's have swamps, marshes, great plains, large lakes, and longleaf pine forest?

The gulf is part of the ocean, but it,s not the open ocean. There's a huge difference. I suggest you visit Laguna Beach or La Jolla and then tell me the gulf compares.

Dude, you really need to take a little trip west. CA has tons of lakes, Redwoods, tons of swamps, marshes, plains, the pacific ocean.

[Burquebinder]

If your talking just topographical diversity, then yes pretty much all states west of the great plains states have incredible landscape diversity. I wouldn't place states like Nebraska, OK, or North Dakota on the least diverse list, as each place has considerable differences between the easternmost and westernmost portions of the state (but most travelers won't see this on the interstate).

The states with the least varying topography on the whole would be Iowa (rolling farmland, intermittent forest), Pennsylvania (Larger, decidious rolling hills of Appalachia), Delaware & Rhode Island (mainly due to small size), and Florida (flat, semi-tropical).

[Lovely95]

Originally Posted by JustCallMeTC

The gulf is part of the ocean, but it,s not the open ocean. There's a huge difference. I suggest you visit Laguna Beach or La Jolla and then tell me the gulf compares.

Dude, you really need to take a little trip west. CA has tons of lakes, Redwoods, tons of swamps, marshes, plains, the pacific ocean.

Well then it is the ocean. It's not a giant lake or a river or something like that. And call me crazy(I have been to gorgeous Atlantic and Pacific beaches okay) but I find some beaches on the Gulf to be really beautiful and wouldn't mind spending my days there.

Like I said before, just because you prefer a certain type of look doesn't mean that other states diverse.

[the resident09]

For a state of its size Maryland is diverse, Eastern Shore and Coastal points with beaches, and farmlands, Chesapeake Bay and large waterfront around Annapolis areas, Suburban parts of the center of the state. Baltimore city urban along with DC suburbs, Western Maryland is mountainous with hills everywhere.

[Frodo2008]

Originally Posted by JustCallMeTC

Washington

Desert



Rolling Hills



Rain Forest



Dormant Volcano Mt Rainier 14,410 Feet



Active Volcano



Pacific Ocean



San Juan Islands



Alpine Lakes



Puget Sound



High Desert and Plains



Waterfalls



Swamps



Plateau



Rivers

It looks like you're from WA. You're showing lots of pride in your state. Cool pictures!!