What states don't have bears? You may have read our feature on what to do if you meet a bear and – having gotten to the parts about 'playing dead' or 'fighting back if you have no choice' – vowed never to set foot anywhere that bears live again. But where to go? After all, you’ve got your charismatic bears in Boulder, hungry bears trekking across four states for a snack, carnivorous Texas bears chewing on campers’ heads and cheeky bears pinching grub out of camping coolers in Lake Tahoe.
Of course, the odds of encountering a bear, even in states like California, are very slim. Nevertheless, you may be interested to know in which states you can roam freely, without any thought given to bears. So, is there anywhere you can go in this country where you don’t have to carry bear spray? And is there any actual hiking in those states, or are those states all just Illinois?
