WHAT'S ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT ISN'T If I enter a county, it counts; end of story. However, I will bypass the chance to enter the county in the first place if I can't do so "fairly." The most basic rule here is that just driving into a county and back out in order to claim it is a no-no. However, there are some exceptions even to that. I can take any alternate route to get from point A to point B; as long as it's a "direct" -- read, "no looping back or turning around" -- route, it's all good. Thus, I can drive from Washington DC to Miami via Chicago if I want. It's the waypoints that matter, and I'll even go take a day trip driving around in a big circle for the express purpose of visiting places. I pick up a lot of counties doing this. If I actually spend money -- and by that, I don't mean "buying a candy bar", I have to buy a tank of gas or get a hotel room or something substantial -- then even if I just dip into the county, it's okay. In that instance, I'm actually "visiting" a place in the county, rather than just claiming a couple of miles of pavement or whatever. However, even in this case, if I can exit the county by passing through it rather than going back the way I came, I'll generally do so. Just "clipping" the corner of a county is okay, if I'm making an extensive trip on a given road which does so anyway; I won't create a route which specifically clips a county just to count it, however. (Specific example: I-20 clips the corner of Crane County, Texas. By driving I-20 from Dallas to its end in West Texas, I can legitimately claim Crane County, even though I was only there for about 150 seconds.) There are some counties, mostly coastal counties, which you simply cannot drive "through" without going back the way you came. It's not unfair to claim a county in this manner, so when I have to, I'll pick them up. (Example: Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, which you can basically only enter via Louisiana Route 23.) If I visit the county seat, regardless of any of the above, I'll count it. And there you have it. Temporary back "button" until I update the sidebar