By simply looking at a map without the lines of longitude on it, it looks like the westernmost point in the contiguous states is in California. However, when you actually look at the longitudes, it turns out that Cape Alava is further west at 124° 43' 57" west longitude. (Cape Mendocino is at 124° 24' 36". So, it is close.) ************ "yohoho05: Shouldn't the westernmost point be somewhere in Alaska? It's part of the continent, unlike Hawaii." When people refer to the Continental US, they are usually only referring to the 48 contiguous states. However, if you did include Alaska, then the western most point would be in that state. As a matter of fact, Alaska has the westernmost point of any state, Hawaii included.

Alaska. We are the Northern-most, Eastern-most, and Western-most State in the Union... Contiguous = connected States. Continental= on the continent of North America

Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California, USA, is the westernmost point on the coast of California. (Mendocino County lies to the south.) It has been a landmark since the 16th century when the Manila Galleons would reach the coast here following the prevailing westerlies all the way across the Pacific, then make their way down the coast all the way to Acapulco, Mexico. Its first lighthouse was lit December 1, 1868, standing on eight prefabricated panels sent up from San Francisco. The Cape Mendocino region of California's north coast is one of the most seismically active regions in the "Lower Forty-eight" United States. Three earthquakes with epicenters nearby at Petrolia and offshore west of Cape Mendocino, 25–26 April, 1992, were outstanding, one reaching 7.2 on the Richter scale; they demonstrated that the Cascadia subduction zone is both capable of producing large earthquakes and generating tsunamis. Many geologists and seismologists believe that the main shock in the 1992 sequence may be a forerunner of a much more powerful earthquake in the Pacific Northwest. Just offshore of Cape Mendocino, there is an unstable triple junction where three tectonic plates come together. The San Andreas Fault, a transform boundary, runs south from the junction, separating the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. To the north lies the Cascadia subduction zone, where the Gorda Plate is being subducted under the margin of the North American plate. Running west from the triple junction is the Mendocino Fracture Zone, the transform boundary between the Gorda Plate and the Pacific Plate.

It seems that Cape Alava in Washington may be the westernmost point in the contiguous U.S. by longitude reading, however....?? (a) Cape Mendocino in California displays a bronze historical monument stating that it is the westernmost point(near Petrolia, Ca)...?? (b) Cape Blanco in Oregon states that because of erosion and ?? that it is the westernmost point...?? (c) Cape Flattery, Wa. has also been stated as the westernmost point ..??. It would be nice to know which of these points(or more?) is actually the true westernmost point in the contiguous U.S. taking into consideration all current land and erosion facts and not solely using the often conflicting longitudes which sometimes seem to be different depending upon their source.

I don't know how accurate/reliable the data in Google earth is, but based on that data here are the numbers for the various places mentioned previously. Cape Mendocino - 124 degrees, 24 minutes 35 seconds Cape Alava - 124 degrees, 43 minutes 58 seconds Cape Blanco - 124 degrees, 33 minutes 56 seconds Based on this, Cape Alava is the westernmost.