Hey there, trivia lovers! Do you ever feel like your knowledge of US geography could use a boost? I know I did. That’s why I put together this massive collection of US geography trivia questions.
With 177+ brain-teasers covering everything from state capitals to famous landmarks, this quiz will sharpen your skills and make you the star of your next trivia night.
In this post, I’ll walk you through an amazing collection of questions ranging from easy warm-ups to real head-scratchers.
Whether you’re prepping for a quiz bowl or just want to impress your friends, these questions will give your geography knowledge a serious workout.
Let’s dive in and explore the diverse landscape of American geography together!
Interesting Facts for US Geography Trivia Night
1. What is the capital of Alaska?
A: Juneau
2. Which state capital is named after a Roman emperor?
A: Augusta, Maine (named after Augustus Caesar)
3. What’s the only US state capital without a McDonald’s restaurant?
A: Montpelier, Vermont
4. Which state capital is located at the highest elevation?
A: Santa Fe, New Mexico (7,199 feet above sea level)
5. What’s the capital of Hawaii?
A: Honolulu
6. Which state capital is known as the “Mile High City”?
A: Denver, Colorado
7. What’s the least populous state capital in the United States?
A: Montpelier, Vermont
8. Which state capital was originally named “La Ciudad de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís”?
A: Santa Fe, New Mexico
9. What’s the capital of North Dakota?
A: Bismarck
10. Which state capital is the only one that borders two other states?
A: Carson City, Nevada (borders California and Oregon)
11. What’s the most populous state capital in the United States?
A: Phoenix, Arizona
12. Which state capital is located on an island?
A: Juneau, Alaska
13. What’s the capital of South Carolina?
A: Columbia
14. Which state capital is nicknamed the “Waterfall Capital of the World”?
A: Hamilton, Ohio
15. What’s the only state capital named after a US President?
A: Jackson, Mississippi (named after Andrew Jackson)
16. Which state capital has a name that means “sheltered harbor” in Hawaiian?
A: Honolulu, Hawaii
17. What’s the capital of Idaho?
A: Boise
18. Which state capital is home to the largest state capitol building by square footage?
A: Austin, Texas
19. What’s the most populous city in the United States?
A: New York City
20. Which US city is known as the “Windy City”?
A: Chicago, Illinois
21. What’s the largest city by land area in the contiguous United States?
A: Jacksonville, Florida
22. Which major US city is nicknamed “The Big Easy”?
A: New Orleans, Louisiana
23. What’s the most populous city in Texas?
A: Houston
24. Which US city is home to the Gateway Arch?
A: St. Louis, Missouri
25. What’s the largest city in the Pacific Northwest?
A: Seattle, Washington
26. Which major US city is known as the “City of Brotherly Love”?
A: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
27. What’s the most populous city in Florida?
A: Jacksonville
28. Which US city is nicknamed “Motor City”?
A: Detroit, Michigan
29. What’s the largest city in California by population?
A: Los Angeles
30. Which major US city is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
A: Cleveland, Ohio
31. What’s the most populous city in Arizona?
A: Phoenix
32. Which US city is known as the “Emerald City”?
A: Seattle, Washington
33. What’s the largest city in Nevada by population?
A: Las Vegas
34. Which major US city is home to the Liberty Bell?
A: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
35. What’s the most populous city in Colorado?
A: Denver
36. Which US city is nicknamed the “Mile High City”?
A: Denver, Colorado
37. What’s the longest river in the United States?
A: Missouri River
38. Which lake is the largest freshwater lake by surface area entirely within the US?
A: Lake Michigan
39. What river forms part of the border between Texas and Mexico?
A: Rio Grande
40. Which river is nicknamed “Old Man River”?
A: Mississippi River
41. What’s the largest lake by volume in the United States?
A: Lake Superior
42. Which river flows through the Grand Canyon?
A: Colorado River
43. What’s the deepest lake in the United States?
A: Crater Lake, Oregon
44. Which river is known as “America’s River”?
A: Mississippi River
45. What’s the largest reservoir in the United States by volume?
A: Lake Mead
46. Which river forms most of the border between Kentucky and Indiana?
A: Ohio River
47. What’s the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi?
A: Flathead Lake, Montana
48. Which river is known as the “Big Muddy”?
A: Missouri River
49. What’s the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere?
A: Great Salt Lake, Utah
50. Which river forms part of the border between New York and Pennsylvania?
A: Delaware River
51. What’s the longest river entirely within Texas?
A: Brazos River
52. Which river is nicknamed the “Mother of Waters”?
A: Mississippi River
53. What’s the largest man-made lake in the United States by surface area?
A: Lake Oahe
54. Which river forms most of the border between Oregon and Washington?
A: Columbia River
55. What’s the highest mountain peak in North America?
A: Denali (formerly Mount McKinley), Alaska
56. Which mountain range runs from Alabama to Maine?
A: Appalachian Mountains
57. What’s the highest peak in the contiguous United States?
A: Mount Whitney, California
58. Which mountain range is known as “America’s Backbone”?
A: Rocky Mountains
59. What’s the most visited mountain in North America?
A: Mount Washington, New Hampshire
60. Which mountain in Washington state is an active volcano?
A: Mount Rainier
61. What’s the highest peak in Texas?
A: Guadalupe Peak
62. Which mountain range runs along California’s eastern border?
A: Sierra Nevada
63. What’s the highest point in the Appalachian Mountains?
A: Mount Mitchell, North Carolina
64. Which mountain in Hawaii is the tallest mountain on Earth when measured from its base on the ocean floor?
A: Mauna Kea
65. What’s the highest peak in Colorado?
A: Mount Elbert
66. Which mountain range is home to the Grand Teton?
A: Teton Range, Wyoming
67. What’s the highest peak in the Olympic Mountains?
A: Mount Olympus, Washington
68. Which mountain is known as “The Mountain That Was God” to Native Americans?
A: Mount Rainier, Washington
69. What’s the highest peak in New England?
A: Mount Washington, New Hampshire
70. Which mountain range is home to Pikes Peak?
A: Front Range of the Rocky Mountains
71. What’s the highest peak in New York?
A: Mount Marcy
72. Which mountain in Alaska is the third most prominent and third most isolated peak on Earth after Mount Everest and Aconcagua?
A: Mount McKinley (Denali)
73. What’s the oldest national park in the United States?
A: Yellowstone National Park
74. Which national park is home to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree by volume on Earth?
A: Sequoia National Park
75. What’s the most visited national park in the US?
A: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
76. Which national monument features four presidential faces carved into a granite mountain?
A: Mount Rushmore National Memorial
77. What’s the largest national park in the contiguous United States?
A: Death Valley National Park
78. Which national park in Florida is primarily underwater?
A: Biscayne National Park
79. What’s the only national park in New England?
A: Acadia National Park
80. Which national monument in Arizona is known for its petrified wood?
A: Petrified Forest National Park
81. What’s the newest national park in the United States as of 2021?
A: New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
82. Which national park is home to the world’s largest concentration of geysers?
A: Yellowstone National Park
83. What’s the hottest, driest, and lowest national park in the US?
A: Death Valley National Park
84. Which national park in Utah is known for its distinctive red rock formations?
A: Arches National Park
85. What’s the deepest lake in the United States, located in a national park?
A: Crater Lake in Crater Lake National Park
86. Which national monument in New Mexico is known for its massive cave systems?
A: Carlsbad Caverns National Park
87. What’s the only national park in Alaska accessible by road?
A: Denali National Park and Preserve
88. Which national park in California is known for its giant sequoia trees and granite cliffs?
A: Yosemite National Park
89. What’s the largest national park in the United States?
A: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska
90. Which national monument commemorates the first successful powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight?
A: Wright Brothers National Memorial
91. Which state is known as the “Sunshine State”?
A: Florida
92. What state is nicknamed the “Lone Star State”?
A: Texas
93. Which state is called the “Garden State”?
A: New Jersey
94. What’s the nickname of Alaska?
A: The Last Frontier
95. Which state is known as the “Volunteer State”?
A: Tennessee
96. What state is nicknamed the “Golden State”?
A: California
97. Which state is called the “Peach State”?
A: Georgia
98. What’s the nickname of Hawaii?
A: The Aloha State
99. Which state is known as the “Keystone State”?
A: Pennsylvania
100. What state is nicknamed the “Empire State”?
A: New York
101. Which state is called the “Granite State”?
A: New Hampshire
102. What’s the nickname of Michigan?
A: The Great Lakes State
103. Which state is known as the “Show Me State”?
A: Missouri
104. What state is nicknamed the “Beaver State”?
A: Oregon
105. Which state is called the “Buckeye State”?
A: Ohio
106. What’s the nickname of Wisconsin?
A: The Badger State
107. Which state is known as the “Green Mountain State”?
A: Vermont
108. What state is nicknamed the “Land of Enchantment”?
A: New Mexico
109. In which city is the Statue of Liberty located?
A: New York City (technically in New Jersey waters)
110. What’s the name of the famous bell in Philadelphia that symbolizes American independence?
A: Liberty Bell
111. Which historic fort in Baltimore is known for inspiring the US national anthem?
A: Fort McHenry
112. What’s the name of the famous prison island in San Francisco Bay?
A: Alcatraz Island
113. Which historical landmark in South Dakota features carved faces of US Presidents?
A: Mount Rushmore
114. What’s the name of the famous battlefield in Pennsylvania where a crucial Civil War battle was fought?
A: Gettysburg
115. Which historical landmark in Boston is known as the “Cradle of Liberty”?
A: Faneuil Hall
116. What’s the name of the famous bridge connecting San Francisco to Marin County?
A: Golden Gate Bridge
117. Which historical landmark in Washington D.C. honors Abraham Lincoln?
A: Lincoln Memorial
118. What’s the name of the famous arch in St. Louis, Missouri?
A: Gateway Arch
119. Which historical landmark in Virginia was home to Thomas Jefferson?
A: Monticello
120. What’s the name of the famous clock tower in Philadelphia that houses the Liberty Bell?
A: Independence Hall
121. Which historical landmark in New York City was the tallest building in the world from 1931 to 1970?
A: Empire State Building
122. What’s the name of the famous plantation home of George Washington?
A: Mount Vernon
123. Which historical landmark in Charleston, South Carolina, is known as the site where the Civil War began?
A: Fort Sumter
124. What’s the name of the famous theater in Washington D.C. where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated?
A: Ford’s Theatre
125. Which historical landmark in San Antonio, Texas, is remembered as the site of a famous battle?
A: The Alamo
126. What’s the name of the famous suspension bridge connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan?
A: Brooklyn Bridge
127. Which state borders the most other states (8)?
A: Tennessee and Missouri (tie)
128. What’s the only state that borders just one other state?
A: Maine (borders New Hampshire)
129. Which two states are not contiguous with any other US state?
A: Alaska and Hawaii
130. What state has borders with both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico?
A: Florida
131. Which four states meet at a single point known as the “Four Corners”?
A: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico
132. What’s the only state to border both Canada and Mexico?
A: Alaska (maritime border with Mexico in the Pacific Ocean)
133. Which state shares its name with a Canadian province?
A: New Mexico (shares name with Mexico, which is not a Canadian province but a country)
134. What two states are separated only by the Delaware River?
A: New Jersey and Pennsylvania
135. Which state has the most counties (254)?
A: Texas
136. What’s the smallest state by land area?
A: Rhode Island
137. Which two states are divided by the Continental Divide?
A: Montana and Idaho
138. What state has the longest coastline?
A: Alaska
139. Which state borders Lake Michigan but doesn’t border any other Great Lake?
A: Indiana
140. What’s the only state to border both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico?
A: None (Alaska borders the Pacific, and several states border the Gulf, but no single state borders both)
141. Which state shares borders with the most Canadian provinces (4)?
A: Montana (borders British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba)
142. What’s the westernmost state in the contiguous United States?
A: Washington
143. Which state is bordered by Nebraska to the north and Oklahoma to the south?
A: Kansas
144. What’s the easternmost state in the United States?
A: Alaska (some of the Aleutian Islands cross the 180th meridian)
145. Which US city is known as the birthplace of jazz?
A: New Orleans, Louisiana
146. What state is famous for its bourbon production?
A: Kentucky
147. Which region of the US is known as “New England”?
A: The northeastern states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut
148. What city hosts the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival?
A: Austin, Texas
149. Which state is known for its lobster industry?
A: Maine
150. What’s the largest city in the Midwest?
A: Chicago, Illinois
151. Which US territory is known for its carnival celebrations?
A: Puerto Rico
152. What state is famous for its maple syrup production?
A: Vermont
153. Which city is considered the capital of country music?
A: Nashville, Tennessee
154. What state is known for its Amish communities?
A: Pennsylvania
155. Which city hosts the annual Mardi Gras celebration?
A: New Orleans, Louisiana
156. What state is famous for its cheese production?
A: Wisconsin
157. Which region is known as the “Rust Belt”?
A: The Midwest and parts of the Northeast, including states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan
158. What state is known for its peach production?
A: Georgia
159. Which city is home to the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame?
A: Los Angeles, California
160. What state is famous for its barbecue style?
A: Texas
161. Which region is known as “The Deep South”?
A: The southeasternmost states, including South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana
162. What state is known for its Cajun and Creole cultures?
A: Louisiana
163. What’s the state bird of California?
A: California Quail
164. Which state has the bison as its state mammal?
A: Wyoming
165. What’s the state flower of Texas?
A: Bluebonnet
166. Which state has adopted the peach as its state fruit?
A: Georgia
167. What’s the state tree of Vermont?
A: Sugar Maple
168. Which state has the cardinal as its state bird?
A: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia
169. What’s the state gem of Montana?
A: Sapphire
170. Which state has adopted milk as its state beverage?
A: Wisconsin
171. What’s the state insect of New Mexico?
A: Tarantula Hawk Wasp
172. Which state has the rainbow trout as its state fish?
A: Colorado
173. What’s the state fossil of South Dakota?
A: Triceratops
174. Which state has adopted the honeybee as its state insect?
A: Utah
175. What’s the state reptile of Florida?
A: American Alligator
176. Which state has the black bear as its state animal?
A: Louisiana
177. What’s the state dance of South Carolina?
A: The Shag
178. Which state has adopted the peony as its state flower?
A: Indiana
179. What’s the state fruit of New York?
A: Apple
180. Which state has the white-tailed deer as its state animal?
A: Several, including Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina
Conclusion
I hope this trivia challenge has been as fun for you as it was for me to put together.
From sea to shining sea, we’ve covered it all – from bustling cities to majestic mountains and everything in between.
So, how did you do? Whether you aced it or learned something new, remember that geography is more than just facts – it’s the story of our nation.
Why not use this newfound knowledge to plan your next adventure or impress your friends at trivia night?
And hey, if you enjoyed this quiz, why not share it with others who might appreciate a good geography brain teaser?
Keep exploring, learning, and, most importantly, having fun with geography!
