Humble peaks hold significance for hikers

A sign directs travelers to Florida's highest point, Britton Hill, which has a with a summit elevation of 345 feet above mean sea level. (Courtesy)

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. The site of a skirmish during the Civil War, Woodall Mountian rises a towering 806 feet above sea level in Mississippi's northeast corner, just south of the town of Iuka. You can hike or drive up a steep, unpaved road to the top, where a boulder and plaque mark the summit.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. The Midwest has a few mountains but plenty of gentle hills. Iowa's Hawkeye Point, just south of the Minnesota border, sits within a county park on the site of a former farm. It's accessible from Highway 60 just north of Sibley.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. The highest point in New Jersey, creatively named High Point, sits in the state's northwest corner alongside the Appalachain Trail. You can hike a wooded trail to the peak or cheat and drive up a paved road. Atop the summit is a 220-foot granite monument you can climb for panoramic views of neighboring Pennsylvania and New York state.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. The modestly named Charles Mound, just south of the Wisconsin border, is the highest natural point in Illinois. (You can actually get higher in the state by visiting Chicago's 1,451-foot Willis Tower.) It sits on farmland whose owners allow public access only on the first full weekends of June, July, August and September.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. Driskill Mountain may be a misnomer for this forested bump in north-central Louisiana, a state known mostly for its swampy bayous. A short trail from the parking lot of Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church leads to the summit, marked by a piloe of rocks.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. What a better naime for Indiana's highest point than Hoosier Hill? This wooded slope, northwest of Bethel on the Ohio border, sits on private property but is accessible via a trail from Elliot Road, near Highway 227. There's a picnic area at the summit but not much of a view.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. Amid the lakes and farmland of north-central Wisconsin is Timms Hill, a wooded ridge with a lookout tower on top. From Highway 86 follow signs to the turnoff and then walk (it's not a hike, really) a quarter-mile from the parking lot to the summit.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. Said to be named for a local Indian chief, Taum Sauk Mountain is the focal point of a Missouri state park. There's a paved trail to the ridge-like summit, which has a lookout tower offering broad views of the surrounding hills.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. Just northeast of Bellefontaine, Ohio, off Highway 540, sits Campbell Hill, on the former site of an Air Force station. Open to visitors Monday through Friday, the manicured summit is accessible by car and offers views of the surrounding countryside.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. Blink and you'll miss Jerimoth Hill, in northwest Rhode Island near the Connecticut state line. It's accessible via an easy marked path from Highway 101. Brown University has used the rocky outcropping as an astronomical observatory.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. Ebright Azimuth (an azimuth is a mapping term) is a relatively flat spot in suburban northern Delaware, just south of the Pennsylvania border. There's no hill to climb; the spot in near a radio tower and is marked by a sign next to the road.

Each state in the U.S. has a highest point that mountaineers will climb to "bag," or collect for their personal trophy list. The lowest of all 50 is Britton Hill, a tiny slope in the otherwise flat Florida Panhandle.

From Denali to Mount Rainier to Mount Washington, the U.S. is full of majestic, towering peaks that have long challenged people to climb them.

This story is not about those.

This story is about humbler summits — some of them aren’t even hills — that beckon hikers in largely flat, low-lying parts of the country. They have modest names like Charles Mound and Hoosier Hill, and you can climb some of them in your slippers without breaking a sweat.

Why would you? Well, these summits are all notable for one thing: They’re the highest points in their states.

And a certain variety of mountaineer — peak baggers, they’re called — will seek them out just for that reason.

“If you’re a true peak bagger … if that’s your mindset, then getting a state high point is a worthy goal,” said Greg Slayden, who runs Peakbagger.com, a mountaineering site. “Whether it’s Denali (the Alaska peak known officially as Mount McKinley) or the Florida high point, they all count equally the same.”

Well, maybe not exactly. Denali is 20,320 feet high and requires weeks of planning to summit. Britton Hill, in Florida’s Panhandle, is a short stroll from your car. But if you want to climb all 50 state high points, as Slayden has done, you need to bag the baby peaks along with the big ones.

Consider Driskill Mountain — a misnomer for sure — a wooded bump in northern Louisiana that’s a short scramble from a church parking lot.

Or Iowa’s Hawkeye Point, which sits on the flatlands of a former farm that is barely higher than the surrounding prairie. Mount Hood it ain’t.

“There are a lot of states where the actual high point is less than a 10-minute walk from your car,” Slayden said.

Perhaps the least rugged of them all is 442-foot high Ebright Azimuth, basically just a monument sign beside a road in suburban Wilmington, Delaware. A woman lives in a house across the street and sometimes greets visiting “hikers.”

Slayden, whose website keeps records of this stuff, estimates that fewer than 300 people have summited all 50 U.S. high points.

But while all the highest and most challenging peaks are in Western states, Slayden has a soft spot for many of the little ones in the Midwest and coastal states of the South.

“If you’re into travel and exploring nooks and crannies of the country, it’s always fun to go to places you’ve never been before,” he said. “Sure, there may not be a lot to the actual hike. But the overall experience is definitely worthwhile.”