Highpoints of the United States: A Hiking and Sightseeing Guide

I am new to Highpointing, and this is a great introduction for me. Has a lot of maps, detailed directions, links to individual state websites helpful for maps and info etc. Pretty thorough, with good advice but mostly to-the-point trail routes, seasonal tips, and more. I might have liked to see some info on other attractions around the highpoint areas, but I guess that's not really the main goal of the book, so all around, no complaints. Climb every mountain!!!!

i havent seen the book, im just saying that, as anybody looking at a highpoint book should know, borah peak is in idaho, and that montanas highpoint is granite peak, and denali is definitly the most diffucult considering it can take a month and your elevation gain can reach 20000 feet.

Don Holmes has provided us with an excellent guide to the highest points in each of the fifty states. He gives route directions, trail descriptions, alternate routes, and a set of references for each state. Some of the references are to web sites. For instance, there are two good web sites devoted to the highpoints: highpointers.org, and americasroof.com (neither uses the www prefix). Holmes' book can be used to even greater advantage when combined with the information available on the web. I am happy to report that the people who control the access to Jerimoth Hill in Rhode Island (the Wide-place-in-the-road State) have been convinced by the Highpointers Club to put up their shotguns on four days of the year to allow access to the highpoint. I suppose that we should be grateful - grateful that so many of the natural landmarks in the United States are held open for the public by government ownership. The book's subject has presented me with some unanswered questions. Why do many states celebrate their highpoints with monuments while some others ignore them? It cannot be a regional issue. Pennsylvania has surrounded theirs with a park while nearby Maryland leaves it to a small but dedicated group of individuals from West Virginia to mark a trail and maintain the highpoint. Why are so many of the highpoints near the boundaries of their states? I suppose that in the midwest where the land is flat and the slope is uphill toward the continental divide, the highpoints can be expected to cluster on the western edges of their states. However, many of the eastern points lie on state boundaries. Perhaps the mountain ridges helped to define those boundaries.Finally, what attracts people to highpoints? Why is the summit of Mt. Elbert so crowded while nearby Mt. Massive is relatively ignored. I did find local residents on Mt. Katahdin and also Wheeler Peak who make annual trips to the summit of their highest peak. Certainly, the pursuit of highpoints does provide an excuse for traveling to new places. I would never have gone to Kenton if it were not for Black Mesa. It was worth the trip. I suppose that you cannot visit all fifty of the highpoints without also visiting all fifty states.

I started finding my way to state highpoints before I knew of this book. Many of the trailheads for hiking to state summits are in obscure locations. Even those with drive-up routes can be difficult to find. This book is an excellent guide. However, approaches do change from time to time. There are now two web sites that provide updated information. Get the book, but also consult the web before you go.What is the most difficult state highpoint to reach? Is it Alaska's Mt. McKinley/Denali at 20.320 ft or Colorado's Mt. Elbert at 14,433 ft? Perhaps Montana's remote Borah Peak? No, it is Rhode Island's Jeremoth Hill, 812 ft. While the governments and people of most states have marked their highpoints in some special way, Rhode Islanders have taken great pains to keep visitors out. The highpoint is surrounded by privately owned property decorated with No Trespassing - No Visitors signs. You would think that a state that is little more than a wide place in the road would do more to be friendly to tourists. Contrast this with Kansas where the private owners of Mt. Sunflower have built an outdoor sculpture garden and picnic area for their highpoint.

Well written and researched, this book provides the seasoned and novice climber with the knowledge to get to and climb the highpoints. Mr. Holmes has done a thorough job of researching the information in his book and demonstrates his knowledge of his craft. Need an example. Look no futher than the cover. He is the lead climber near the summit of McKinley.