Welcome to Project Remote! We are a family of explorer-scientists. Project Remote is our unique mission to define remoteness, precisely calculate the remotest location in all 50 United States, and mount documentary expeditions into each state’s ‘Remote Spot.’ We’re discovering new knowledge about ecological and physical conditions in these special, previously unknown, places. We’re delighted to share with you our findings and expeditions in the pages of this website. It is our greatest wish that Project Remote becomes a platform for preservation of Americas roadless wildlands–forever.
Project Remote started as a single-state family adventure in Florida nearly a decade ago. We quickly realized that duplicating the adventure in all 50 states, while making careful scientific observations, might reveal new discoveries pertinent to conservation. As time passed, Project Remote became an amazing way to raise a child. We have had so many meaningful times in the outdoors together. We have constantly challenged our minds and bodies while making new discoveries about what’s left of America between the roads. A book about Project Remote is in the works. We hope that you enjoy and learn from our findings as much as we have. Below is map of our progress thus far (Hawaii and Alaska, not shown, have not been documented yet).
Expedition Journals
Defining Remote
Before we could kick off Project Remote and investigate the remotest locations in every state, we had to develop a suitable definition of remoteness. Being remote evokes feelings in human beings. How remote a person feels varies with a person’s experience, perspective, and comfort zone. The feeling of remoteness is a qualitative, biased metric. For Project Remote, we needed a quantitative, non-biased, definition that we could apply evenly for all states.
Calculating Remote
By our definition, a state’s Remote Spot is the point that is the farthest straight-line distance from a road or an otherwise isolated human settlement. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we can calculate the exact location within a state that is the farthest distance from a road. Most importantly, this calculation can easily be replicated and repeated in the future to measure changes in remoteness.
Protecting Remote
The road network of the U.S. already exceeds 3.9 million miles in aggregate length. Roads fill the national landscape so fully that, except in Alaska, one can get no farther from a road than 21 miles on the mainland (Wyoming) and 25 miles on an island (Florida). Many of the eastern states contain so many roads that it is no longer possible to get more than 5 miles from a road. This trend is unacceptable.