Thread by @lsanger

I'm a big geography fan. Have been since I was a kid.

Last weekend I decided to collect pix that someone passingly familiar with U.S. geography would find surprising. Ready?

Let's begin with this. California?

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Nope. Alaska. Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. It's a thing.

This must be Florida, right?

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Nah, that's Maryland. Ocean City.

Here, this must be somewhere in the West, maybe Arizona?

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Nah, that's Mississippi. The literal Grand Canyon of Mississippi.

Now I can't guarantee that they'll all be surprising. This one might be guessable. Where do you think is?

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It's in Wyoming. Not as green as I'd have expected.

Where is this mountain town? Colorado or Idaho, someplace like that, right?

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Nah, that's Pineville, Kentucky.

This arch is probably in Oregon or Maine, right?

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That was made by Lake Superior. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.

What's this—farm field, hills in the distance, red soil, and what is that crop? Maybe somewhere in California?

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Nope, Hawaii. Lots of farms in Hawaii.

Here's a pretty mountain scene. Something like Colorado?

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No, that's North Dakota. Just because most of it is flat doesn't mean it's all flat.

OK, this could be anywhere...on the ocean. Like California or Florida.

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Nope. That's a big lake in the middle of the Great Plains: Nebraska.

Ooh, downhill skiing. Colorado? California? Vermont?

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No, that's reputed to be the "best skiing in the Midwest"...in Illinois, which has always been flat as a pancake whenever I've driven through.

Here's a familiar sort of Western scene. Must be Utah?

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Nope, that's Washington State. A lot of people don't know that half of Washington is either desert or quite arid.

OK, this looks like California or Oregon, say, right?

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No, that's upstate New York!

This swampland is surely Louisiana or maybe Florida, right?

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Would you believe Delaware? There's a swampy area in the south. The Great Cypress Swamp.

OK, this white sand beach must be Florida, right?

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That's actually Alabama. The Gulf Coast has nice beaches.

Here's another beach. Flat land, big waves...must be something like the Virginia coast, right?

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No, that's Lake Erie: Ohio.

Now, this could be a lot of places, but nice trees, rolling hills...something like Indiana, right?

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That's Louisiana. A hillier, drier part. Might be near the highest point in the state.

Island town...could be Washington State, Florida, the Outer Banks...?

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That's Iowa, in the middle of the Mississippi.

Now here's a weird place. Rocks and pines. Looks glacial or something. Montana?

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No, this is Hickory Run State Park, Pennsylvania.

Now here's a beautiful ocean view. Hilly, no trees...where could it be?

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Yeah, that's not the ocean. That's a giant reservoir, Fort Peck Lake, Montana.

Green field, mountain in the distance...Colorado? California? Oregon?

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Nope, that's New Mexico. It can be green, too.

OK, here's another green field, corn, rolling, must be Nebraska, Ohio, or maybe Indiana, right?

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You might think so, but that's Rhode Island. They grow corn all over the place, you know.

Here's something different. Rugged, snow-capped peaks: must be California or Colorado, right?

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No, it's a state in between that is widely thought to be desert only: Utah! Beautiful state, that one.

This gorgeous old chapel and rolling green hills looks to be somewhere in New England.

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But it's not! It's Missouri! Another widely-overlooked state.

Where's this gorgeous cliff scene? Again, looks like New England, maybe.

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No, that's Georgia! A bit of the Appalachians run through the northwest corner of Georgia.

Now here's a beautiful scene taht looks like it must be California. Maybe Wyoming, or Oregon?

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Would you believe Nevada? Mountain lakes are beautiful and they can be found even when lower elevations are blazing hot desert.

This stately resort in the forest is surely in New York or New England...?

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No, it's one of the most expensive resorts in West Virginia: Greenbrier.

Mountains with massive pine forests—must be the Pacific Northwest, right? Washington, Oregon, northern California?

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Nope. Maine. Maine has the extreme tip of the Appalachians and large coniferous forests.

OK, another lively beach resort. THIS finally must be Florida, right?

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Naw, that's New Hampshire. There's a bit of coast to New Hampshire, and those northerners will wade in the cold water if they can't get away south.

Hilly landscape, looks like Wisconsin?

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Nope. This finally is Florida, one of the highest-elevation areas in the state (which isn't saying much).

Amber waves of grain, looks like Kansas, right?

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Would you believe...Oregon? There are plenty of wheat fields there in the eastern part and in the Willamette Valley.

Overgrown, lush forest...Washington State?

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Nope. Indiana. The Midwest has a lot of interesting places tucked away between the farms.

OK, we know this isn't Florida, of course it wouldn't be, but...what is it?

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Vermont.

OK, here we have a giant field, a broad land...looks like Iowa or something like that, right?

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Farther west: Idaho. Of course, if you knew what a potato field looked like, that might have given it away.

Now here's a gorgeous fall scene, looks like places I've seen right here in Ohio. Is that it?

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No, that's Arizona. Yes, scorching hot, desert Arizona. A surprisingly large part of the state is at a high elevation and it gets plenty of rain there.

OK, OK, now *this*...is somewhere in the desert.

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Kansas has no deserts, silly. That's Monument Rocks.

OK *this*...looks like Alaska. Or Montana or Washington. But haven't we already had those? What is it?

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That's Minnesota. More pine trees that you might have guessed.

This river meandering through hills looks like West Virginia Pennsylvania, right?

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That's a bit of wild New Jersey. You didn't know wild New Jersey existed? Now you do.

This scene could be...what, we've run out of states! Montana? California?

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That's South Dakota. The western Dakotas are very scenic.

Big ski area. But what ski resort states do we have left? Massachusetts maybe?

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No, that's Virginia.

More swampland, Louisiana? But we've already seen that. The Carolinas?

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Nope, that's Texas. Texas is remarkably diverse in landscape. Lots of swampland in southern Texas.

Flatland ravaged by a monster tornado! Surely...Oklahoma? We haven't had that one yet.

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Nope, that's Colorado! A large part of eastern Colorado is disappointingly flat and boring.

More cornfields. What do we have left with cornfields? Wisconsin?

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No, that's Yankee corn from Massachusetts.

OK, this seems obvious. This is hilly/mountainous deciduous forest is clearly New England. Right?

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Wrong. (We're done with New England.) This is Oklahoma. Yes, flat boring Oklahoma, which has mountains and forests in the east.

OK fine but these hills...they look like Kentucky or West Virginia...but we've already had those...

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That's Arkansas, the Ouachita Mountains. North of the Ozarks. Clinton country.

OK THIS...THIS must be California...we haven't had that state yet!

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No, this is North Carolina, home of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

No, this! THIS is California!

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No, that's Tennessee. The other half of the Smokies are here.

Oh, whatever...Iowa? We had that. Wisconsin we haven't had!

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Sorry, THIS finally is California. Central Valley. Lots of flat farmland there.

At this point I'm sure you give up. It's either Connecticut or Wisconsin. Which is it?

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If you guessed Connecticut, you get the prize!

THIS one is Wisconsin. (Not California.)

How many did you get right?