Mower County Highpoint Trip Report
four areas (1,440+ ft)
Date: November 6, 2004
Author: Mark Ness
Three of Mower County's high points are in a field and the other is an artificial road build-up.
I visited as the sun was rapidly descending in the western sky.
The Approach to the Road Crown (HP #4): I had just come from a successful completion of Fillmore
County by taking Fillmore County Road 14 to Mower C.R. 8, a paved road. I turned right (north) on 8 for
1 mile then turned left (west) on 180th Street for 3 miles, then right on 710th Avenue for 0.4 mile where the
road rises above 1440 feet. Since it's artificial, it doesn't count as a potential county high point.
Areas 1-3: I continued on 710th Avenue north for another 1.6 miles, turned left onto C.R. 3 for 3 miles,
then right on 680th Avenue for 1.5 miles, where I parked in a field approach. The field road was muddy.
I could have driven on the road (around the muddy part) past area 1 but decided to just park there.
The field road dried out just past the muddy part and goes just past HP #1.
I spent 4 minutes on this part of the trail.
Area 1: The first high point rises sharply and prominently above the surrounding terrain and towers over
both HP #2 and #3. It is marked by a rock dump and may be artificial.
I climbed up to the top of it in case it is natural.
Area 2: I then walked over to area 2, which took 4 minutes. It is a larger area than #1 so I walked around it
for a while. The corn in this field was recently harvested and the high point area was clearly visible but the
high point itself did take some walking as did #3, about 15 minutes' worth.
Area 3: I walked over to HP #3, which is the largest of them all in area. It took a few minutes to walk
around but, like #2, it was easy to see and the walk around it was tedious.
Trip Statistics: 28 minutes hiking time.