# Maine, Florida and Washington: Which would be the best state to hide in? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788 "2023-11-08T01:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/21 "2023-11-09T00:07:25Z")
Maine could be challenging, given that super sleuth Jessica Fletcher lives there; perhaps just stay away from Cabot Cove. Also there seems to be lots of freaky things happening there, based on the historic documents compiled by Stephen King. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/22 "2023-11-09T00:20:14Z")
How much money do you have at hand? If you have enough, best places to hide are five star hotels and luxury resorts. Said a passing aquaintance of a friend. He believed her. And you’ll have a good time and fine food while it lasts. If you are poor, go somewhere where it is warm but not too hot all year round. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/23 "2023-11-09T00:46:21Z")
Eric Robert Rudolph(the guy behind the bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta) hid for years by camping in a national forest in North Carolina. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric\_Rudolph#Fugitive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Rudolph#Fugitive) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/24 "2023-11-09T00:50:33Z")
Laying low is easier in major metropolitan areas but consider cctv is also on every corner - ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/25 "2023-11-09T02:28:46Z")
For the long term I suppose it really depends on whether you’re the subject of a major ongoing national manhunt, or are just one of the ~800K arrest warrants outstanding in the USA today. For the latter your most important goal is to never talk to a LEO, and to avoid giving any actual ID numbers to somebody like a financial institution or employer who might pass it along to the government in a routine required report. If the former, you need to think a lot harder about avoiding almost all human contact. Hanging out with the radical anti-government types in e.g. Idaho might be your best bet in that case. They might distrust you as an outsider at first, but them ratting you out to the Feds is less likely than e.g. some random farmer in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/26 "2023-11-09T02:38:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Hanging out with the radical anti-government types in e.g. Idaho might be your best bet in that case. They might distrust you as an outsider at first, but them ratting you out to the Feds is less likely than e.g. some random farmer in Minnesota. I suspect a whole lot of those “anti-government types” are actually undercover feds. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/27 "2023-11-09T02:49:19Z")
The Northern Cascades (in particular the Pasayten Wilderness corridor) is a well used aircraft drug-smuggling route where aircraft just disappear. Every few years or so a downed aircraft is found by accident, with drugs and/or cash aboard (and bones if the bodies haven’t been eaten). If you can manage the winters, you can hide out forever. Well, not forever if the plans are approved to reintroduce grizzlies back into the area. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/28 "2023-11-10T21:41:10Z")
I have a niece who lives in Seattle. According to her people are so stand-offish there that it seems it would be easier to “hide in plain sight” with so many keeping to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/29 "2023-11-15T19:16:11Z")
Say, if one of those bears got into the drugs, that would make a heck of a movie! ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/30 "2023-11-15T19:18:51Z")
New Jersey’s pine barrens. People would be looking for you in Maine, Florida, and Washington. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/31 "2023-11-15T19:31:15Z")
But then you have to worry about being attacked by The Jersey Devil. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/32 "2023-11-15T19:36:50Z")
Dan Cooper seems to have been doing well keeping hidden in Washington these last 52 years. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/33 "2023-11-15T20:04:05Z")
Awesome tale. Thanks for sharing. I love him talking shite about Thoreau at the end. I guess Thoreau was a lightweight compared to this guy. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/34 "2023-11-15T22:57:41Z")
Assuming you mean camping out or semi-legal homesteading off-grid, not anything that involves working under the table and assuming you won’t get too many questions: Maine has a lot of private land, only about 5% is public. Some of the landowners like Weyerhaeuser are pretty lax about respectful access, but you stand a chance of getting spotted by loggers. Florida has some very dense areas throughout the state but a respectable amount of public land (25%). Some like the Everglades are impenetrable so you wouldn’t have a lot of human contact but it’s a rough go of it. Washington is 36% public and the eastern part has wide areas you could _potentially_ survive if you have nature skills and a willingness to poach and such. Always a chance of meeting game wardens, but that’s true anywhere, the chances increase over time. Still my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/35 "2024-01-06T14:56:34Z")
Florida has a huge transient population and underfunded law enforcement. Come on down. (Hey, I should run the tourism board!) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/36 "2024-01-06T15:04:23Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Of course, if you ain’t white, prolly Florida would be your best bet. If you are white, Florida or Texas is your best bet. You only have to lay low until some poor black kid is arrested, tried, and executed for your crime, and then you’re home free. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788/37 "2024-01-06T17:43:49Z")
I agree with what others have said; it’s easy to hide in a big city than it is in a big forest. A human being will blend in with a million other human beings but not with a million trees. I grew up in a very rural area; you are not invisible. The locals are going to notice there’s a new guy around. Even if you live off in the grid out in the middle of the woods, there will be people who see you. And a guy living this remotely will stand out. And while most people might have a mind their own business attitude, there are a few (including local police) who will be curious enough to check further. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maine-florida-and-washington-which-would-be-the-best-state-to-hide-in/992788.md?page=1)