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United States of America

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Earth > Americas > North America > United States of America

For specific information on each state please check the links at the bottom of this page.

Flag of United States of America United States of America
Information
Language: English (de facto), Spanish widely spoken in southwest and Florida
Capital: Washington DC
Population: 303,893,000
Currency: American Dollar ($)
Hitchability: <rating country='us' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots or BeWelcome
guakasite, wikitalk hitching in New England, taken by amylin, September 2007

The United States of America as a country is divided up into 50 states; for the convenience of the common hitchhiker these states are discussed in detail along with their capitals at the following pages (see below). The US is bordered by Canada to the North and Mexico to the South.

Hitching, like everything else in America, varies greatly depending on what type of area and what part of the country you are passing through. In general you can get rides fairly easily if you hitchhike the right way; in fact, often you can find more than just rides, such as offers for free meals, invitations to homes and parties, etc.

Relatively quite a few people in the United States are profoundly religious. People who pick you up might inquire about your religion. If you're not religious, try to deal with it in a positive way and accept the difference. More often you will be picked up by really cool people, and often dropped off exactly at the point of your destination, as hitchhiker Guaka's experience shows, for example. Detours for hitchhikers are much more common here than in Europe due to cheaper gas.

Contents

Methods for catching rides

Long Distance

If you're going for speed over a long distance (3+ hours), then the best bet is to stay on the interstates (designated on maps by "i-#": road signs appearing like this) instead of local highways. Try to stick to on-ramps that have truck stops, rest stops or any other reason for drivers to stop there (restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc.)

Often times the best way to hitchhike is just to stay on high traffic ramps with large shoulders for people to pull over on. Getting dropped off on a low-traffic exit is the gravest danger when hitching on interstates, especially where the police are unfriendly. It can easily lead to long, long delays. Identify the last truck stop, major intersection (with a non-freeway), or rest area before your driver's destination, and get off there rather than risking getting stuck.

Asking for rides at rest areas, particularly on toll roads such as I-90 between Boston and Chicago is one of the quickest ways to get a very long distance ride, but soliciting and loitering is prohibited there and sometimes you will be kicked out before finding a ride. A good way to avoid being kicked out is to greet everyone entering the building with a friendly smile, then ask them for a ride as they leave the building. This gives them time to become comfortable with your presence and prevents them from having the opportunity to complain about your solicitation to the employees.

You can also look for rides at the truck stops or gas stations themselves, but be discreet about it as with rest areas, some customers will complain and staff will make you leave the property. As a rule Love's and TA truck stops will be the quickest to kick you out. Pilot/Flying J truck stops and smaller locally owned truck stops are generally a lot more lenient.

Short Distance

If you are only going a hundred miles, you can often make better time on US highways, state highways or local roads. Even if you are going long distances, if you aren't concerned about making good time, getting off the interstates can be a very rewarding experience. Local highways will grant you a better picture of what local life is like in that area, and typically offer a greater variety of drivers and scenery. To hitchhike on these highways, it is best to stand at the edge of town right before the speed limit picks up. Standing at stop lights outside of towns along these highways is also a great way to catch a ride, even if the speed limit is quite high.

Urban and Suburban Short Distance

If you are hitchhiking within a large metropolitan area and trying to get to another part of the city, it is best to stay on the interstate on-ramps unless you want to do a lot of walking. Most larger cities have interstates passing through them and often have one or more spur or circumferential interstates surrounding them. These spur and circumferential interstates are designated by a three-digit highway number with signs that look just like normal blue interstate signs. When hitchhiking on these roads, it is best to accept every ride, even if they are only going a mile, as each exit you get to is closer to your destination and you are unlikely to get stranded on any of these ramps due to the amount of traffic.

An alternate method to hitchhiking within urban areas is to walk up to cars stuck at red lights and ask them in person if you can have a ride in the direction they are going. This works best if they already have their window down, but usually people will roll their window down to talk to you if you stand in front of their car trying to get their attention.

You may also wish to try asking for rides at smaller local gas stations, but you are unlikely to make as much progress doing this.

Police/Laws

 
Overview of hitchhiking laws by state.
Green: Hitchhiking legal while on the shoulder of the road
Yellow: Hitchhiking legal while off the traveled portion of the road, stay in the grass to be safe.
Red: Hitchhiking is completely illegal.
Gray: Specific laws, check the respective state article(s).

Overview

The legal status of hitchhiking in the United States is a bit of a difficult topic; laws and their enforcement differ greatly from state to state as does the information available online and in general knowledge. Many people (including police officers) mistakenly believe hitchhiking is illegal anywhere in the US; sometimes you'll get away with holding a cardboard sign but not with holding out your thumb, and sometimes nobody will hassle you even if you stand right on the interstate. The specific articles on states will give you more information on this topic.

Nationwide

The only nationwide law (Code of Federal Regulations) that prohibits hitchhiking is 36 CFR 4.31 which states that hitchhiking is illegal on any property under jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior: National Park Service. This includes but is not limited to National Parks, National Scenic Byways, and National Recreation Areas. This law is often amended to allow hitchhiking at the discretion of each park. Check with the park's respective state article for information

=== State and Local ===. Look to the map pictured above which indicates each state's laws. Most often, the laws state that the hitchhiker may not "solicit a ride" "on a roadway". The word roadway is usually defined in state statute books as "exclusive of a shoulder" or "the traveled portion of the highway", making these statutes easy to circumvent.

In most states it's illegal to hitch from the interstates (motorways) themselves (though enforcement of this rule varies), but you can typically stand at on-ramps (highway entries). That being said, understand that the ramps are still technically considered interstate property and are illegal for pedestrians to be on, although it is almost without exception permitted if you stand in front of the "no pedestrians" sign.

In some areas (such as certain towns or municipal areas) hitching is illegal everywhere, however, it is still allowed de facto. In most cases, hitchhiking is legal or tolerated. There are also many limited-access highways (i.e. with on-ramps and off-ramps) that are not part of the interstate system which prohibit pedestrians as well. California is notorious for prohibiting pedestrians on many of its controlled access highways.

Even in states where hitchhiking is illegal, the law is rarely enforced. Wyoming Highway Patrol reports that in 2010, they approached 524 hitchhikers but only cited eight of them (note that hitchhiking is no longer illegal in Wyoming as of 2013!)

If the police pass you walking or sitting by the side of the road without soliciting in any way, they may still stop to check IDs, but you are not required to identify yourself unless there is suspicion that you could have committed a crime. You may wish to hide your thumb or sign when a police car is approaching to avoid being hassled. Often, particularly close to major cities, the police will ask you for photo ID, but as long as you have one with you (such as a passport) there shouldn't be a problem. Most of the time they will be polite when you come up clean, and not too rarely they'll give you a lift out of their area to get rid of you.

Especially in smaller towns and in the countryside, the officer stopping you is likely to never have seen a passport before. If that's your form of ID, bear with the delay caused, help the poor guy out by point out which is your name and your birth date and enjoy the confusion and the hilarious misconceptions that arise.

Tourists who intend to cross into the USA by hitchhiking should note that the US immigration department will log that you have been hitchhiking, should they discover that you are. This log will be visible to any guard who subsequently checks your immigration status. If you decide to leave and enter the USA again, it may make your entry back into the USA more difficult if it is not a hitchhiker friendly state.

Car License Plate

Every state issues its own specific car plates. For example, a car from Alabama will have be specifically Car license tagged as such. In some States, the license plate will also show the county of residence. This can be helpful if you spot a car that might be going in the same direction as you. It might also be helpful to write down the license plate number in case of foul play.

Food

Eat:

If you are friendly, people who pick you up will offer to buy you food quite a lot. Additionally, a lot of people will throw you some bucks to eat. From change up to $100. An anonymous hitchhiker has been given $100 dollars twice, and they have been given $60 dollars several times as has Zenit... If you are looking for monetary gifts, the key is the right type of answer when they ask, concernedly, what you do to eat - "Naw, we're pretty much all right, we got *some* money." (emphasizing the "some" slightly)- if they've asked this question and you answer this way you'll basically always get a friendly handout - for which you should thank them profusely, of course. :)

File:ChaelUSwalking.jpg
Chaelsite crossing a bridge in Oregon, August 2009

For vegetarians and especially for vegans traveling between cities, times can be hard. Zenit for one has sustained himself mostly on chips and granola bars for weeks at a time in the Mid West.

Once you open your mind to it, there are actually many opportunities for dumpster diving in urban areas. Port cities are especially good. Note, however that dumpster diving is in a similar sort of gray area as hitchhiking, with local legality depending on the particular state's laws, and the prevalent attitudes of local law enforcement officers.

Grocery stores are prime targets for food (Trader Joe's or Starbucks are especially likely to have an unlocked dumpster, and has lots of organics). Grocery stores cannot sell packaged foods past their expiration date, and so throw them away still wrapped in dumpsters behind the store.

Another great place to dive is food distribution centers. As they supply restaurants, their food comes in bulk and they throw out their food sometimes days before the expiration date. Google Maps can help you turn up locations. Check Trashwiki for detailed information on dumpster diving in the United States.

Drink: It is often possible to retrieve used cups from the trash at fast food restaurants with "free refill" policies and refill them. Otherwise, American water is just as free and healthy as any other country of the world.

Hitchhiking Books

Rather than a genre of its own, hitchhiking books probably fit better in a genre of alternative travel books, with Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods and Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

To that list of fun and funny and moving and important books, we should add Colin Flaherty’s Redwood to Deadwood, a 53-year old dude hitchhikes across America. Again.

Redwood to Deadwood describes Flaherty’s hitchhiking trip across America.

"Before I tucked my thumb in for the final time, I'd run with wild horses. Visit a pot farm. Hunt big game. Poach big game. Get by a police helicopter. Get info family feuds. Ride in cop cars. Reconnect with old friends. Make new ones. Get tired and exhilarated. Lost and found. Kicked out and invited in."

"I know how to cook muskrat, squiirrel and rockchuck. And oh yea, I almost got killed.”

Book reviewer Janet Jay said the book is [“the best hitchhiking I have ever read or even heard about.  My friend heard about it when she was sitting next to a guy on an airplane who was reading it. He was laughing out loud. So she asked about it. He said that was how he heard about it too. So books hitchhike as well as people.”]

Personal Experiences

 
Relative Ease of Hitchhiking Each State of America (based on a survey of hitchhikers with 114,000 miles cumulative experience.).
Green: Easy
Yellow: Average
Red: Difficult

Haven't hitched extensively there, but where I have, the experiences have been unique. I've hitched Oregon to Mexico along the famous highway 101. I also hitched from Oregon to Chicago on i90 in the dead of winter. Lots of clothes for that one, and a warm place to retreat to at every stop. The most remarkable thing about hitching in the States is that you get picked up by REALLY interesting people. Not all the time. But our beloved weirdos are more common in the US than anywhere else I've hitched. Regardless of what you think about the States, it's easily one of the most interesting places to hitchhike, especially if you LIKE adventure. - Chael

I have hitchhiked almost 50,000 miles in the United States, been through every state, and while I have nothing to compare it to other than Canada, I would say in general that it is easy and fun here. Each state varies greatly in geography and ease of hitchhiking. My personal favorite states are Colorado, California, and West Virginia. Thewindandrain (talk) 04:42, 28 October 2012 (CET)

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