May 8, 2026

Landlocked States Trivia: 27 Questions About America's Interior

Twenty-seven US states have no ocean coastline. No beaches, no seaports, no hurricanes making landfall. But landlocked doesn't mean boring — these interior states contain the Rockies, the Great Plains, the Great Lakes shoreline (which doesn't count as ocean coast), the Grand Canyon, and some of the most dramatic geography on the continent. One trivia question for each landlocked state. Answers are hidden at the bottom.

Western InteriorGreat Lakes / MidwestSouth / CentralNew England27 LANDLOCKED STATES · 0 MILES OF OCEAN COAST

The 27 Landlocked States

Before the trivia, here's the complete list. A state is landlocked if it has no coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, or Arctic Ocean. States that border the Great Lakes (like Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania) count as landlocked for this list because the Great Lakes are freshwater inland bodies, not ocean coast — though this classification is debated.

The 27: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Questions 1-9: Western Interior

  1. Arizona: The Grand Canyon is carved by which river, and roughly how deep is the canyon at its deepest point?
  2. Colorado: How many peaks in Colorado exceed 14,000 feet — the so-called "fourteeners"?
  3. Idaho: Hells Canyon, on the Idaho-Oregon border, is deeper than the Grand Canyon. Along which river does it run?
  4. Montana: Which national park in Montana is known as the "Crown of the Continent"?
  5. Nevada: Nevada is the driest state in the US. What is its average annual rainfall — closer to 7 inches, 14 inches, or 21 inches?
  6. New Mexico: Carlsbad Caverns contains one of the largest underground chambers in North America. What natural spectacle occurs there every summer evening?
  7. Utah: Utah has five national parks, often called the "Mighty Five." Can you name all of them?
  8. Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park sits primarily in Wyoming but extends into which two other states?
  9. South Dakota: Mount Rushmore features four presidents. Which four, and which sculptor designed it?

Questions 10-18: Great Plains & Midwest

  1. Kansas: The geographic center of the contiguous 48 states is located near which small Kansas town?
  2. Nebraska: The Sandhills region of Nebraska is the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere. Approximately how many square miles does it cover — 10,000, 20,000, or 30,000?
  3. North Dakota: Which North Dakota city is considered the most geographically remote city in the contiguous US (farthest from any coast)?
  4. Iowa: Iowa loses more topsoil to erosion each year than almost any other state. What percentage of the world's Grade A topsoil is found in Iowa — closer to 10%, 25%, or 40%?
  5. Minnesota: Minnesota is called the "Land of 10,000 Lakes." Does it actually have more or fewer than 10,000?
  6. Missouri: The confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers occurs near which major city?
  7. Wisconsin: Which Wisconsin city is built on an isthmus between two lakes?
  8. Illinois: Illinois is a top-five state in both corn production and population. What is its capital city (not Chicago)?
  9. Indiana: What geographic feature gives Indiana Dunes National Park its name, and which Great Lake does it border?

Questions 19-27: South, East & Great Lakes

  1. Oklahoma: Before becoming a state in 1907, Oklahoma was designated as what type of territory, reserved for relocated Native American nations?
  2. Arkansas: Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is unique among national parks for what reason related to its water?
  3. Kentucky: Mammoth Cave in Kentucky holds which world record?
  4. Tennessee: Tennessee shares borders with more states than almost any other. How many states does it border?
  5. West Virginia: West Virginia is the only state created by seceding from another state during the Civil War. Which state did it break away from?
  6. Ohio: Which Ohio city sits at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers, directly across from Kentucky?
  7. Michigan: Michigan is the only state split into two separate land masses (the Upper and Lower Peninsulas). What body of water separates them?
  8. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania has no ocean coastline but does border one Great Lake. Which one?
  9. Vermont: Vermont is the only landlocked state in New England. What mountain range runs through it?

Answers

  1. The Colorado River; approximately 6,000 feet (over a mile) at its deepest.
  2. 58 fourteeners — more than any other state.
  3. The Snake River. Hells Canyon reaches depths of over 7,900 feet.
  4. Glacier National Park.
  5. About 7 inches — the lowest in the nation.
  6. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats emerge from the cave entrance at dusk.
  7. Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion.
  8. Montana and Idaho.
  9. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Sculptor: Gutzon Borglum.
  10. Lebanon, Kansas (near Smith Center).
  11. About 20,000 square miles — roughly the size of West Virginia.
  12. Rugby, North Dakota (though this is debated — some calculations point to other nearby towns).
  13. About 25% — Iowa's soil is extraordinarily fertile but under enormous agricultural pressure.
  14. More — Minnesota has 11,842 lakes over 10 acres in size.
  15. St. Louis, Missouri.
  16. Madison, built on the isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona.
  17. Springfield.
  18. Sand dunes along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
  19. Indian Territory — the destination for the Trail of Tears and other forced relocations.
  20. The thermal springs are the only federally protected hot springs where bathing is a primary activity — the park predates the NPS itself, reserved in 1832.
  21. Longest known cave system in the world, with over 420 miles of surveyed passages.
  22. Eight states: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri.
  23. Virginia, in 1863.
  24. Cincinnati (the Licking River flows from Kentucky into the Ohio River there).
  25. The Straits of Mackinac, connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
  26. Lake Erie.
  27. The Green Mountains (the name "Vermont" derives from French for "green mountain").

Keep Exploring

How many did you get right? If landlocked geography is your thing, put your skills to work on GeoProwl's daily challenge — real data clues, one state per round. Race through the map on Just States, explore data profiles on Fast Facts, or try the Europe challenge where landlocked countries are even trickier.

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