Olmsted County Highpoint Trip Report

three small field hills (1,380+ ft)

Date: November 6, 2004
Author: Mark Ness

Olmsted County's High Point area is in the southwest part of the county on a farm place and in a field. I visited there just as the sun was setting.

I had just come from Mower County on I-90. I took the County Road 6 exit and went west on C.R. 6 for 4.6 miles then right (north) for 4 minutes to the high point area.

I parked in an approach on the left side of the road just across from the farm place. I left some room in case another vehicle needed to use the approach. The part of the field I visited had just been harvested, but the parts to the south and north were still standing corn.

The Eastern Summit: There is a line of trees just off the road whose ridge gets gradually higher toward the north. That is the eastern summit.

The Middle Summit: The middle summit is a few paces off the road across from the eastern point. It is not remarkable and I needed to walk around it a bit.

The Western Summit: The last summit is even less remarkable for its highest point and needed even more pacing.

It took 6 minutes to traverse the three areas. When I was walking back to my truck, I noticed a corn truck approaching from the south, signaling to turn into the field I was in via the approach I parked in. He was able to get by but I apologized for blocking the way. He was on his way to the combine further north in the field where he was going to continue the harvest. He was O.K. with my being there, especially when he found out that I was just looking for the highest point in his county. The openness of the country to the north makes it an enjoyable place for him to watch the weather patterns form.