This question is intended to be interpreted broadly based on a common-sense interpretation of my questions. Don’t think too hard about the rules or try to nitpick the question or other posters’ answers. Opinion is central - there are no right or wrong answers.
Inspired by this thread, I’m interested in what areas of existing countries are the most difficult to access physically as a tourist. Difficulty could be measured in terms of time, physical exertion required (e.g. hike for 10 days through a mountainous region where there are no roads, airports, or much of anything), cost, or any other reasonable measurement. I’m not really interested in places where the only notable burden is getting permission from the government to enter a restricted area - every country has restricted areas such as military bases. While individual, notable mountains can be valid answers, I’m not primarily interested in just a list of mountains that can be climbed - be more creative! Find islands that have no bridge, regular boat service, or regular air service! This question is not limited to the US.
What are the most difficult to access areas that form an integral part of the country?
What are the most difficult to access areas that are not an integral part of the country, but is or is a part of an external territory? (e.g. Alaska and all parts of it, however physically remote, are integral parts of the US because Alaska is a state. Puerto Rico, Guam, Howland Island, St. Thomas, and other such places are not integral parts of the US due to their political status)
What are the most difficult to access areas that form their own sub-national jurisdictions (any level - state, province, federal territory, county, city, town, township, etc.)? E.g. we’re not just talking about a valley deep in the mountains that takes days to hike to via barely-traveled footpaths, but a situation where that valley constitutes the entirety of West Jacobson County.
What are the most difficult to access areas of your favorite sub-national jurisdiction or jurisdiction that you know about? For example, are there any areas of Montana that require a ten-day overland journey by yak team or else I hope you brought a helicopter?
My home country, the Cayman Islands, is quite accessible, so not too much effort is required to reach any point.
1) What are the most difficult to access areas that form an integral part of the country?
Mangrove interior of Grand Cayman. Most remote point is perhaps 3 to 4 miles from a road. Hiking may be through old growth scrub forest and/or mangrove swamp.
2) What are the most difficult to access areas that are not an integral part of the country, but is or is a part of an external territory? …
None. We don’t have any non-integral territory.
**
3) What are the most difficult to access areas that form their own sub-national jurisdictions…**
The district of Little Cayman is its own district but has an airport to connect it to the other islands. 4) What are the most difficult to access areas of your favorite sub-national jurisdiction or jurisdiction that you know about?
Point of Sand is on the far end of Little Cayman from the airport. Hardly difficult to reach.
Home country is Angola. While it is definitely a third world country, access to many areas is possible but requires a fair amount of time and planning. A fluency in Portuguese is required in most areas away from the capital. I truncated your questions so:
1) What are the most difficult to access areas that form an integral part of the country?
The capital Luanda is served by several airlines with daily non-stop flights to the US, Europe, South Africa, Brasil, and the Middle East. Air fares are quite high. Once on the ground, traffic is quite heavy and the roads are quite poor but you can get around. Farther away from Luanda, there are roads that frequently erode in the rains so small scheduled flights on the national carrier ( TAAG ) and/or private plane charters are the prefer method of travel to other cities and National Parks.
2) What are the most difficult to access areas that are not an integral part of the country, but is or is a part of an external territory?
Cabinda Province is the location of much of our operations and is geographically separated from Angola by the Congo river. Travel there is by scheduled flights from Luanda.
3) What are the most difficult to access areas that form their own sub-national jurisdictions.
Same answer as question 2.
**4) What are the most difficult to access areas of your favorite sub-national jurisdiction or jurisdiction that you know about? **
Parque Nacional Da Kissama is a quite large and very scenic area about three hours south of Luanda. They have jeep tours of the animals there and a couple of air-conditioned accommodations for rent.
All of Canada except for a very narrow strip that borders the US. Now, that’s not absolutely true - there are a few roads that go north from this strip. Some are only open in winter, and some are only open in summer. There is a vast area that is not accessible by any roads at all, though.
If you wish to visit the place of Napoleon’s final exile, Saint Helena, you’re in for a haul. There’s about 15 opportunities a year for tourists to take the RMS St Helena, a UK Royal Mail Ship, from Cape Town out to this remote island with about 5,000 inhabitants. The whole trip takes about three weeks, and the cost seems to be around $3,000 plus whatever airfare it takes for you to get to South Africa.
The island currently has no commercial airport, though one is supposed to open in the next few years. There’s also the potential for you to take a military flight, if you happen to want to enlist in the British Army and roll the dice for trying to get stationed there somehow.
In the U.S., the most inaccessible place would almost have to be in Alaska; the only question is where in Alaska. You’ve got islands in the Bering Sea, massive areas of roadless interior, and of course plenty of snow, ice, and cold to deal with.
I wonder where the most inaccessible place in the lower 48 would be?
Iquitos in Peru is the world’s largest city not accessible by road. You can only reach it by river or airplane. It’s quite a fun town considering it’s so hard to get to.
Want to visit Attu Island, the westernmost point in the United States? Visit this web site for an idea of what it entails.
Tours are offered only sporadically, whenever a birding tour operator feels it is profitable to do so. There were no organized tours at all between 2000 and 2010.
Cost, $7,650, plus fuel surcharge, plus airfare from your home to Adak, a remote airport in the Aleutian Islands which is not cheap to reach from most locations in the United States.
“PHYSICAL CONSIDERATIONS/WEATHER: Attu is infamous for its weather, and birding on the island is physically demanding. Participants must be prepared to hike and bike up to 20 miles per day over rough terrain in rain, high winds, and cold temperatures . . . participants should be prepared to encounter rough seas . . . Medical care will be extremely limited to non-existent during this tour. A medical emergency will require an evacuation flight, which costs tens of thousands of dollars.”
I imagine it would be someplace in the Rocky Mountains, or possibly the Sierra Nevadas, that is extremely difficult to access because of terrain rather than remoteness.
Canada, 69.793° N, 108.241° W. The world’s largest island in a lake on an island in a lake, where that larger lake is itself on an island has probably never been visited at all; its very existence may have been discovered by computer searching of Google images.
I would say for Canada, it’s Cape Columbia, the northernmost point of land of Canada, on Ellesmere Island, part of Nunavut Territory.
To get there, you have to fly from Ottawa to Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut, on Baffin Island (63°44′55″N 068°31′11″W). It’s about a four hour flight over pretty forbidding terrain. Then, from Iqualuit, you have to get to Alert, Nunavut, on Ellesmere Island, the northernmost settlement in Canada (pop. 5 during the winter). From there, you somehow have to get along the coast to Cape Columbia, 83° 6′ 41″ N, 69° 57′ 30″ W, the northernmost point of land in the world, other than Greenland.
I appreciate that it’s not known if anyone has ever visited the island mentioned by Septimus, but it’s on Victoria Island, quite a bit farther south (as these things go in the High Arctic). Victoria Island is more populated and more accessible than Ellesmere.
There are reasons besides inaccessibility, but you can look for unvisited degree confluences at http://confluence.org/
I’m guessing the most recent one on OK is not much more inaccessible than the unvisited one in Florida. Only 32 of the 226 in Alaska have been visited.