The 5 ugliest states in the country

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. San Francisco Examiner writer and occasional Gadling contributor Bob Ecker doesn't behold much, at least for a few unlucky states. Ecker previously named the prettiest US states including coastal California, exotic Hawaii, diverse New York, historic Virginia, and verdant Washington. He's now determined the unfortunate ugliest states, measured by landscape, not people:

• Connecticut: the Constitution State is called a "suburban hell"
• Delaware: small and boring
• Kansas: land-locked and a "throwback," in a bad way
• Nevada: outside of Las Vegas, it's a "desolate and forbidding wasteland" (what about Lake Tahoe, Bob?)
• Oklahoma: another flat, hot, and boring state (don't tell Lonely Planet's Robert Reid, an OK native)

Obviously the article is tongue in cheek -- there are beautiful corners in every great state in this country -- but Ecker's skewering provides a good starting point for thinking about vacation destinations. Do these places deserve to be called ugly? What do you think the ugliest states are?

Photo courtesy Flickr user Gage Skidmore

Filed under: North America, United States