What started as a joke—visiting the highest point of otherwise flat states—has turned into a legitimate travel quest.
I now call it my Drivable State Summits tour for Lazy Highpointers.
Basically, these are the highest natural points in each state that are easy to get to, meaning you can nearly drive right on up to the USGS marker. Many people are on a quest to visit the high point of every state—including the toughest ones like Denali or Mt Rainier—and call themselves “highpointers.” This is a nod to their quest, but one that you can chuckle while you complete it.
Where I’ve been so far:
Mount Sunflower – Kansas
Panorama Point – Nebraska
Hawkeye Point – Iowa
Timm’s Hill – Wisconsin
Mt Arvon – Michigan
Mt Cheaha – Alabama
Woodall Mountain – Mississippi
Taum Sauk Mountain – Missouri
Brasstown Bald – Georgia
Britton Hill – Florida
Campbell Hill – Ohio
Ebright Azimuth – Delaware
Mount Davis – Pennsylvania
High Point – New Jersey
Hoosier Hill – Indiana
Jerimoth Hill – Rhode Island
Mt Greylock – Massachusetts
Mt Washington – New Hampshire
Fort Reno – Washington, DC
Charles Mound – Illinois
Clingman’s Dome – Tennessee
(coming soon, no video however)
Summits left to complete
- Spruce Knob, WV
- Black Mountain, KY
- Mount Mitchell, NC
- Sassafras Mountain, SC
- Magazine Mountain, AR
Summits that nearly qualify, but require a ~1 mile walk
- Driskill Mountain, LA
- Backbone Mountain, MD
- Mount Mansfield, VT
This is awesome! Do you have a threshold to define flat?
I haven’t formalized the quest that way yet, but it’s on my list. I’d like to decide which ones “count” and which ones don’t, but just haven’t put in the time researching yet. I’m considering limiting it to high points that you can (basically) drive to. I guess as a westerner, I chuckle a bit at that…
But even if I decide later to adopt the full highpointer quest, I’ll already be halfway there!