Multi-State Mobile Operations

3905 Century Club

Border & Multi-State Mobile Locations
Version 9/23/06
Original Author: Larry Snyder de KØHNM

Thanks to all that contributed and especially Larry - KØHNM who compiled this information!

Organization:

This document is organized alphabetically by state 2-letter abbreviation. State lines (2) or multiple state junctions (3 or 4) are also arranged alphabetically. Example: If you wish to find a spot on the North Dakota and South Dakota line, search for ND-SD. Notice the ND alphabetically comes before the SD. If you want to see if the Georgia and Florida border has any reported good spots to stop and mobile from, search for FL-GA. If you want to see if Grand Junction is covered in this document, search for AZ-CO-NM-UT (so far it’s not). If there are multiple entries for a state line they will be sorted alphabetically by the Route or Highway number.

Format: [Border-Junction 2-Letter Abbreviation] [Route-Highway] (Description) [Author’s Call Sign] [Author’s First Name] (Notes) (Email address)

Legend: [Required] (Optional)

Pictures:

In many cases the contributors have taken snap shots (digital photos are best) to further help the searcher locate the exact border sites. These pictures are located in separate files and are labeled by file name exactly the same way this document index is created, alphabetically by state 2-letter abbreviation with the number sequence and contributor’s call sign following. For example, pictures of the IA-MN-SD tri-state junction taken by WM9H would have a file name of IA-MN-SD_1_WM9H.jpg, IA-MN-SD_2_WM9H.jpg, IA-MN-SD_3_WM9H.jpg, etc.

Format: [Border-Junction 2-Letter Abbreviation] [Numerical Sequence if more than one picture] [Route-Highway] (Description) [Author’s Call Sign] [Author’s First Name] (Notes, Date) .Jpg

Legend: [Required] (Optional)

Credit:

In each case the contributor will be listed. In virtually all cases this is the operator. This is done to show appreciation for the time they are investing in documenting their site and approaching roadways, and to provide a contact if you should have questions. Please contact the contributors directly and not the author for additional information. And, please, remember a kind word for their efforts.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to all those who contributed and took the time to research locations in many different data bases, and also for all the great suggestions offered to make this a better reference source.

Disclaimer:

Other hams are reporting these locations to help you find them and to offer relatively safe spots to stop and mobile the nets from. They can not be held responsible for guaranteeing your safety if you park near these locations. There are too many variables such as traffic, weather conditions, and road conditions to offer these as safe spots to park along busy roadways. Safety is the responsibility of the operator in all cases and at all times.

----- Location Descriptions Follow -----

AL-MS Route 56 W5IL Richard 2006 w5il@arrl.net

GENERAL LOCATION - About 20 miles west of Mobile Alabama and about 20 miles north and slightly east of Pascagoula Mississippi.

Specific Location - North 30 degrees, 38.20 minutes, West 88 degrees, 24.50 minutes. Elevation 110 ft. Mississippi State Road 614, Alabama State Road 56.

Directions – From the Mississippi side, exit Interstate 10 north of Moss Point (Exit 69) and take State Road 63 about 6 miles north to the intersection of SR 63 and SR 613. Follow SR 613 north about 11 miles to the intersection with SR 614 just south of the village of Hurley MS. (village means a roadhouse, a convenience store, a gas station, and two houses). Take SR 614 east 5.7 miles to the state line.

From the Alabama side, take exit 3 (Airport Road) off I-65 in Mobile. Travel west past the airport and the road becomes State Road 56. Continue traveling west to the state line. It is about 18 miles from the I-65 intersection to the state line.

The line is well marked and has a wide spot that allows you to set up without blocking the sparse amount of traffic (only half dozen or so cars drove by during the whole of the 40m early net). It is fairly deserted and seems to be often used as a dump. The propagation was good, with low noise.

I operated on the evening of 02 June 2002 and made 55 contacts on the 40m early net. It was a typical June evening, warm and humid (or hot and wet!!).

AR-MO Route 65 KØHNM Larry 8-2004 KØHNM@arrl.net

In the second picture, heading south into Arkansas, just above the Route 65 sign there’s a right turn onto a secondary road a few hundred feet beyond the border sign.

It’s much safer to park there than at the border. There’s no easy place to park, that I saw, while heading northbound.

Also note that there’s a dead-end stub road approaching from the lower right. If you can swing around the blocking poles it seems a lot safer but some patrol officer may ask you to move.

Note that this point is also lower and may adversely affect your radiation pattern. Equipment was an Icom 706MKIIG and High Sierra HS1800 screwdriver antenna with MFJ travel tuner.

AZ-NV Route I15 AD7DB 2005 David

The town of Mesquite NV sits on the line. A frontage road (Hillside Drive) is on the south side of I-15 and there is a wide pullout that is suitable to operate from, right on the line. This is right across from houses, so an idling big-rig might not be welcome. AD7DB operated here.

AZ-NV-UT AD7DB 2005 David

Tri-state corner. This point is not accessible by road.

AZ-UT Route 91 AD7DB 2005 David

Take the Littlefield AZ exit from I-15 and go about 8 miles north on what's called "County 91." (This is the old US-91 highway.) There is a wide pullout at the line, but I don't think it's suitable for big-rigs. Highway is not deserted but has light use. AD7DB operated here. See photo.

AZ-UT Route I15 AD7DB 2005 David

I-15 about 8 miles south of St George. AD7DB investigated and found no suitable spot on the line

that's on I-15. The truck scales are half a mile inside Utah on both sides of the highway. See photo.

AZ-UT W5IL 2005 Richard w5il@arrl.net

The AZ-UT line was on an old dirt road about 10 miles south and east of St. George UT. The coordinates were (from TOPO USA version 2.0) 37o 0.000’ North, 113o 34.327’ West, grid zone DM37fa. The elevation was 2724 feet. The only visual indication was a single strand barbed wire fence and a sign “Welcome to Arizona”, half bent over and with the usual amount of bullet holes. The area was general high desert conditions, scrub and hard-pan; mountains to the West and North, general buttes, cliffs and bluffs to the East and South, but the take off angle was generally good. Noise conditions were good and the area was free from power lines.

The AZ-UT line was pretty well deserted until about 0200 when a hotshot forest service fire crew came roaring up from the Arizona side in a cloud of dust. They were in a hurry to get to their motel in St. George for happy hour and did not even stop.

All the equipment worked well and I feel fortunate to be able to get to all four locations in time to check into the net; and more fortunate that people could work me. I had forgotten that, as you go west, the UTC time occurs earlier in the day. Another interesting facet is that the sun continues to shine and the whole early net was done in either sunshine or early evening sunset. By my estimate the sunset times were: AZ/UT 0230z, ID/MT 0245z, OR/WA 0330z, CA/NV 0315z. There was no need for the flashlight and the lamp that I used in previous mobile operations. The sun position meant that I could hear very few stations in the east – although the California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and other mountain west stations were very 59. At some locations I could not even hear the net until 0100Z, and it was not until 0200 to 0230 that my signals could get east of the Mississippi; by then the eastern stations were swamped with foreign BCI.

CA-NV Route 299 W5IL 2005 Richard w5il@arrl.net

The CA-NV line was easy to find. You take the state road California 299 east from Alturas, over the Cedar Pass (elevation 6305) down through Cedarville, past the sign that says “warning – no services next 100 miles” and out onto the middle Alkali Lake. Continue on past the dry lake bed toward the forty nine mountains and, when the paved road stops – you are at the state line. Coordinates were 41o 33.467’ North, 119o 59.924’ West, grid zone DN01an. Elevation is 4864 feet. At the end of the road there is a sign “Nevada State Line” and the other side was a dirt road. I did not go any further. The general area was dry desert with growths of small scrub. The take off angle was good to the West, North and South, but the East signal had to go over a 7300 foot mountain. Surprisingly, there was a power line next to the road, but the noise conditions were not too bad.

The CA-NV line was deserted and, except for the wind and the Nevada State line sign (with the bullet holes in it), I was left alone for the whole net.

CO-KS Route I70 AD7DB 2005 David

I-70 at Kanorado exit. Go north of I-70 to the frontage road which is old US-24. There is a small roadside park at the line itself on this frontage road. Didn't look like there was room for big-rigs there but someone in a car or RV should be fine. There is a rest area a mile or so east of the line on I-70 but that's too far to be claiming you're on the state line.

IA-MN-SD Route 17 WM9H 2005 Gene qsl@wi.rr.com

Here I am at the IA/MN/SD line. I got a dipole set up from the bridge to the traffic sign by the road. Next to the white fence is the tri-state marker.

Here's how you get to this point.

Take Interstate 90 in Minnesota to exit “1”.

North of the Interstate this road is Highway 23, South of the Interstate this road is County Road 17.

You take 17 south to the end of the road (about 8 miles).

Turn right (West) less than a mile and you will see the marker on the North (Right) side of the street.

Just look for the rusty bridge.

ID-MT Route I15 W5IL 2005 Richard w5il@arrl.net

The ID-MT line was on an old asphalt road about a quarter mile from and parallel to Interstate 15. The coordinates were 44o 33.525’ North, 112o 18.294’ West, grid zone DN34un. The elevation was 6830 feet. There were no visual indications (there were signs on the interstate), but there was a very large junk yard and the owner (who came out to see what I was doing) said that the North side of the yard was on the line. The area was on the continental divide (I spat on both side to see what would happen) and the general condition was high plains with scrub vegetation and rolling hills. The area was called Monida Pass, but the mountains were not especially bad and the take off angle was ok. Noise conditions were again good and the area was free from power lines.

The asphalt road on the ID-MT line also looked deserted, except for the owner of the junk yard, but it must have gone somewhere because about a half dozen cars drove by during the net. Three stopped and asked if I needed help.

IN-MI-OH Route 10 AB8TD 2005 Robert Wenzlaff rwenzlaff@soylent-green.com

I came within 2 calls of getting my 40M Nomad award without moving. Finding the tri-state point was the toughest part. There's a historical marker that I passed 3 times before I realized it wasn't just a big pointy rock. And according to the marker, the marker wasn't even on the point. I had to pace off 130 feet south of the marker where I found a Williams County (Ohio) road marker. I figured that had to be the spot (shame on me to forget my GPS).

The actual location was Township Hwy 10, about 3/4 mile south of W. Territorial Road (rte. 120) in Hillsdale Co. MI. Hwy 10 is a gravel road directly across from the "Indiana State Line" sign on rte 120. (Or just before the "Enter Hillsdale County" sign if you’re heading East. (Someone was collecting these (WC0PD?) I think - It would be hard to park a big rig there, but in over 3 hours I was only passed by 2 cars, so it probably wouldn't matter if you just stopped in the middle of the road).

And a as a big bonus, I heard Orin (VY0DU in Nunavut) for the first time on my drive home - and he heard me!

MA-NH Route 63 AE1P Neil 2006 kb1kox@arrl.net

Just some info on being Portable NH/MA; I was on Route. 63, on the Northfield / Winchester line, at the Northfield drive-in, If you go to Google maps, you'll see the drive-in screen and the driveway where I was parked. Sending along some pics, came out kind of dark, but you should make out the "ol" dodge with the buddi-pole and ts-570.

ME Capital Route 112A AA1NZ Tom 3-2006 tlbates@lr.net

Nice parking spot to run Maine Cap

Take I-95 to exit 112A in Augusta, Maine. This is Civic Center Drive, Routes 8, 11, and 23, and the last Augusta exit when heading North on I-95.

Head south towards downtown Augusta and the U. Maine, Augusta campus. About ½ mile from the interstate, see the entrance for the Augusta Marketplace on your left. Go to the second entrance for the marketplace, take the left to enter, and proceed up the long hill to the top.

From here, you can see and take your choice of many high and wide open places to park.

I stayed to the right and parked way over near the railing in the Sam's Club parking lot. It was wide open for great distances with few light poles-people-other cars or trees, had a great place to park near the edge of the big hill, and a panoramic view for miles around and below my location. Also, there was a steep drop off just beyond the railing for those needed QPP trips after drinking two one liter bottles of water and a 16 oz coffee during the nets.

ME-NH Route 2 KØHNM Larry 10-2004 KØHNM@arrl.net

Traveling west on Route 2 from Bethel, ME, -- 20 years ago GE sent me here for a special week-long training session so I had to re-visit the place.

Picture 2_H is where you hit the NH border. Went too far.

Just before the border there’s a logging road
off to the left (picture 3) which is an OK
place to park but there are lots of trees and a few hills around.

I still managed to be heard pretty well. There are no power lines or electrically noisy towns near by.

Picture 4 is heading back into ME after crossing the border. Logging road is off to the right.

Equipment was an Icom 706MKIIG and High Sierra HS1800 screwdriver antenna with MFJ travel tuner.

ME-NH Route 202 KØHNM Larry 10-2004 KØHNM@arrl.net

Wet border.

No place dry.

Not allowed.

MN-ND-SD Route 75 to Route 16, KØHNM Larry 2005 KØHNM@arrl.net [Not Recommended]

Travel Route 75 North or south in the western part of MN.

Turn onto Route 16 (near the ND/SD border) traveling west.

A mile west you cross Route 9 which runs North/South and is a graveled road.

Another ¼ mile more brings you through the ghost town of White Rock.

It has one house boarded up and a big rock painted white on the western edge of the 200’ town.

Just past that rock is a gravel two-tracked road to the right (North).

It looks like it turns into a corn field because it does and is made for farm tractors.

Approximately one mile North is a two-track road to the right (east) in considerably worse shape than the tractor road.

Keep car tires on the center hump and one side or the bottom of the car will drag.

Do not cross mud holes. If you get stuck it’s a 2.0 mile walk to the nearest farm to get someone to pull you out if they might be willing.

I got within 2 blocks of the river and marker. The river has shifted over time leaving the marker on “dry” ground.

The mosquito density was >25 per cubic foot and they were capable of penetrating the air circulation system of a 1999 Camry at will.

Be sure to take repellant if mosquitoes are present at all.

The donated pictures at the marker are of a couple adventuresome lads and are not KØHNM.

Equipment was an Icom 706MKIIG and High Sierra HS1800 screwdriver antenna with MFJ travel tuner.

If you continue on past White Rock due west, in ½ mile you come to the junction of Route 127.

Turn right (North) and ¼ mile later you reach the ND/SD border which is much more hospitable with reasonable parking off road. Extra pictures included.

Per WM9H:

You take I-90 to Minnesota exit 1 (one) First exit into MN from SD.
Exit one is hwy 23. (North of I-90 it is 23), (south of I-90 it turns into county road 17).
You need to go south on 17 until it ends. (About 8 miles.) turn right (west) and go about a mile, and your are there. It will be on the North side of the road. Look for a small monument surrounded by a white fence by a creek. You will be right in the middle of corn fields.

NH-VT AA1NZ 2005 Tom tlbates@lr.net

From the Junction of US rte 3 and State Route 26 in Colebrook, NH

Go North on US Route 3. Pass the 45th parallel marker at about 8.4 miles.

Continue North on Route 3 and at about 12.7 miles total, cross a bridge over the CT River on the Pittsburg town line. Pull the flaps here because....

Just after crossing the bridge and at about 12.8 miles, take a hard left onto Old Canaan Road.

Go south on Old Cannan Road about 0.7 miles to the pull-over on the right and the stone border marker is right at the end of the pull-off.

This is a very lonely spot late at night. The only vehicles I saw were Border Patrol's.

GPS Location: N 45 deg, 0min, 50 sec

W 71 deg, 27min, 58 sec

In the shot facing North, that’s the CY River at the lower center (looks like a continuation of the road).

NM-TX AD7DB 2005 David

I-40 at the line. There is a town called Glen Rio.

A frontage road on the North side of I-40 gives access to the actual state line for cars. Not recommended for trailers or big-rigs, as it's a dead end road and hard to turn around from. N7JY and AD7DB operated here.

NV-UT AD7DB 2005 David (no email address provided)

US-6/50 at the state line, Northeast of Baker NV and Great Basin National Park. Plenty of room for big-rigs and cars to park precisely on the line and safely off the highway. There is a motel, restaurant and gas station here.

NY-PA VE3CRU 2005 Bill ve3cru@rac.ca

The location for NY-PA is accessed as follows:

From I-90 eastbound, take the first exit east of the PA-NY line, approx. 1 mile (Ripley NY) and go North to T-junction which is Route 5 (less than 1 mile). Make a left turn and go west less than a mile to a golf course on the left, just before the sign for PA. Turn into parking lot if vehicle not too big and go to west end of parking lot, closest to road as trees and grapevines are south of this point. Advise golf club why you are there, to keep everything friendly.

Westbound I-90, turn off at either exit for Ripley NY and go North less than a mile to T junction at Route 5. Turn left till you see PA sign and go into golf course parking lot on left. Not enough space on roadway to park as many 18 wheelers use Route 5 to avoid tolls on NY leg of I-90 from Buffalo. Low bridges on Route 5.

Got a map now for VT-NH-ME. Back to bed.

NY-VT Route 7 KØHNM Larry 10-2004 KØHNM@arrl.net

We didn’t stop here to get on the net but it seemed like a great place to stop just this side that power pole.

Your tail is exposed to traffic coming up from the rear, however.

Beyond the pole you’re sitting right under the wires.

OH-PA Route 20 KØHNM Larry 10-2004

KØHNM@arrl.net

Picture 1 is Route 20 eastbound into PA. We parked along the left side.

The telephone/power lines were not desirable but didn’t seem to bother too much.

Picture 2 is approaching Conneaut, Ohio, (westbound) as we searched for a place to park near the border.

Equipment was an Icom 706MKIIG and High Sierra HS1800 screwdriver antenna with MFJ travel tuner.

OR-WA W5IL 2005 Richard w5il@arrl.net

The OR-WA line was the most populous, being the “State Line Road” between the towns of College Place, WA, and Milton-Freewater OR. The road was a two-lane secondary road so I tried to find an intersection that did not have too much traffic. The coordinates were 46o 0.032’ North, 118o 24.673’ West, grid zone DN06ta. The elevation was 762 feet. Identification was by the signs “Welcome to Washington” and “Welcome to Oregon” on each side of the road at the intersection with the North/South state road (Route. 11 in OR, Route. 125 in WA). The general area was farm and ranching, wheat, horses and cattle. The take off angle was flat, but there was a power line on the North side of the road and noise conditions were only fair.

The OR-WA line was the most populated and there were farms and houses on both sides of the road. Traffic was light but persistent. Again, three or four stopped to inquire if I needed help.

VA-WV WA3EOP Page 2005 wa3eop@arrl.net

If you were going down I-81 there is a good place to operate. (WV/VA LINE) Getting off at the exit at the line, scoot over to route 11 (about 0.2 miles), head North and Pull into the Parking Lot of the WADE AUTO EXCHANGE. Not only can you park there generally but there is a well lit area right there. Was only ever stopped by Police once to ask what was happening. A short spiel and let them hear the radio was all needed to show my sincerity. I've operated from there 4 or 5 times now.

VT CAP – AE1P – formerly W1PTX, Neil 5-29-2006

kb1kox@arrl.net

Anyway, Exit 8 off I-89n,onto Route 2, took a spin down State St., got a couple of pics of the state house, then tried to find a somewhat open area along Route 2 to set up.

The portable setup was a W3FF "Buddipole" set up as a vertical on a 4' camera tripod with a 31' radial.

It was so windy that Fri. night I had to set the antenna up close to my work van and tie it of to keep it from being blown over (hence the 6' ladder in pic, to help tie off!)

I had a blast and will go back up in the spring when it is a bit warmer and hope to work 75m also.

73, Neil AE1P / ex W1PTX / ex KB1KOX

Tri-State Markers

Source: http://americasroof.com/tri-state.shtml

Intersection Tri-point Name Latitude Longitude Topo Map

OR, CA, NV Boundary Post CA NV OR 41.9949 -119.9995 Barrell Springs (NV)

OR, ID, NV Boundary ID OR NV 42.0003 -117.0262 Star Valley Knoll (OR)

ID, NV, UT Three Corners 41.9939 -114.0415 Nile Spring (NV)

NV, UT, AZ Boundary Initial Mon AZ NV UT 37.0002 -114.0501 Terry Benches (UT)

MT, ID, WY P8330 ft 44.4756 -111.0524 Buffalo Lake NE (ID)

ID, UT, WY Boundary Cor ID UT WY BLM 42.0016 -111.0467 Boundary Ridge (ID)

WY, UT, CO GLO 28 CO UT WY 41.0007 -109.0500 Red Creek Ranch (WY)

UT, CO, AZ, NM CO UT AZ NM 36.9990 -109.0452 Teec Nos Pos (AZ)

MT, ND, SD Boundary Mon 360M 45.9453 -104.0455 Snider Hill (MT)

MT, WY, SD NE Corner Wyoming 44.9976 -104.0577 Gravel Draw (WY)

WY, SD, NE Chaffee Monument 43.0006 -104.0531 Oat Creek (WY)

WY, NE, CO Boundary Mon CO NE WY 41.0017 -104.0532 Pine Bluff SE (WY)

CO, NE, KS Boundary Mon CO KS NE 40.0032 -102.0518 Laird (CO)

CO, NM, OK Boundary MI Cor CO NM OK 37.0001 -103.0023 Goodson School (NM)

NM, OK, TX Texhomex 36.5005 -103.0024 Rardin Hill (NM)

CO, KS, OK Boundary Mon CO KS OK 36.9931 -102.0421 Sturgis (OK)

ND, SD, MN P970 ft 45.9353 -96.5634 Boisberg (MN)

SD, MN, IA P1410 ft 43.5004 -96.4533 Valley Springs (MN)

KS, OK, MO Boundary Mon KS MO OK 36.9986 -94.6179 Racine (MO)

OK, MO, AR Boundary Mon AR MO OK 36.4995 -94.6179 Colcord NE (AR)

TX, AR, LA Boundary Mon AR LA TX 33.0192 -94.0430 Ravanna (TX)

IN, MI, OH Ohio Mich Bdry Cor WP 41.6961 -84.8059 Clear Lake (IN)

TN, AL, GA SL 1 34.9847 -85.6052 New Home (GA)

AL, FL, GA P70 ft 31.0064 -85.0024 Saffold (AL)

TN, NC, GA P1760 ft 34.9884 -84.3218 Mineral Bluff (GA)

NC, GA, SC Ellicott Rock 35.0014 -83.1086 Cashiers (GA)

KY, VA, TN Virginia Corner 2 Reset 36.6008 -83.6753 Middlesboro South (TN)

TN, VA, NC North Carolina Corner Reset 36.5882 -81.6775 Grayson (TN)

KY, VA, WV P827 ft 37.5379 -81.9681 Wharncliffe (WV)

PA, WV, MD Mon 34 39.7212 -79.4767 Friendsville (MD)

MD, WV, VA P260 ft 39.3211 -77.7192 Harpers Ferry (VA)

VA, DC, MD VA DC MD 39.5619 -77.2000 Washington West (MD)

VA, DC, MD BM 9 38.7930 -77.0393 Alexandria (VA)

PA, MD, DE MDP Corner 39.7225 -75.7886 Newark West (MD)

NY, PA, NJ Tri States 1942 41.3573 -74.6947 Port Jervis South (NJ)

MA, NY, CT Boundary Bound CT MA NY 42.0498 -73.5214 Ashley Falls (MA)*

VT, NY, MA Boundary Bound MA NY VT 42.7458 -73.2646 Berlin (NY)*

VT, NH, MA P60 m 42.7266 -72.4583 Northfield (MA)*

CT, MA, RI Tri State 42.0080 -71.7992 Webster (MA)*