48 Contiguous facts

While investigating facts about 48 Contiguous, I found out little known, but curios details like:

An optimized road trip stopping at a major landmark in each of the 48 contiguous U.S. states would take roughly 9.33 days of driving to complete

If Alaska were superimposed over the 48 contiguous states, it would stretch from the west coast to the east coast.

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 13 of the best facts about 48 Contiguous I managed to collect.

1. Adirondack Park in NY is the largest park in the contiguous 48 states. About the size of Vermont, it covers more area than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains combined.

2. If you dig straight down and through the exact centre of the earth from anywhere in the 48 contiguous United States, you'd come out in the Indian Ocean.

3. Alaska is not included in the reference "the lower 48", which means it is not part of the contiguous U.S.

4. In 2017, for the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will sweep the United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Nearly everyone in the 48 contiguous states can reach this total solar eclipse within one day's drive.

5. Yellowstone National Park "is home to the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48. Yellowstone's wildlife is abundant and diverse with an estimated 300 species of birds, 16 types of fish and 67 species of mammals -- the largest number of mammal species in the contiguous United States."

6. The Sahara desert is bigger than the entirety of the contiguous USA. The Sahara has an area of 9,400,000 km2 (3,600,000 sq mi) , while the 48 contiguous states have an area of 7,663,941.7 km2 (2,959,064.44 square miles).

7. Scientists have mapped out the perfect road trip that takes you through all 48 contiguous states.

8. Dante's View, a viewpoint terrace overlooking Death Valley, where, on clear days, both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous 48 states of the United States: Mount Whitney 4,421 m (14,505 ft) high and Badwater −86 m (−282 ft) can be seen

9. There has been only one professional American football team to establish its home base outside the contiguous 48 states - The Hawaiians of the WFL in 1974-1975

10. In 1945, a Japanese balloon bomb killed six people in eastern Oregon. They are the only World War II U.S. combat casualties in the 48 contiguous United States.

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If all the lower 48 states were ironed out flat, Idaho would be the largest of the contiguous United States