Douglas County High Point Trip Report
Date: June 25, 2001
Author: Richard L. Carey
Douglas County is in the northwestern part of the state across from Duluth. The county has two possible
high points that are not far from each other. They can both be done in a couple of hours.
High Point #1 - Summit Tower BM (1,369 ft)
From highway 53 south of Superior take county road M west to Moose Junction. It is 16.5 miles to Moose
Junction where you turn right (north) onto route 35. Continue north for 5.9 miles to a dirt road on the right
marked "Tower Fire LA". Drive east on this good road for 1.9 miles and park. On the right is an old road
going southeast up a moderate slope in the forest. You can walk this for about two tenths of a mile to its
end at the high point. The lookout tower has been removed, but there are some foundation blocks on a hill
on the left. There is a benchmark on a concrete post marked "Summit Tower D 1370". It was placed in
1934 and the datasheet PID is RN1588.
UTM for this highpoint is 567532E, 5134839N, Zone 15T. The topo map is Empire Swamp, Wis., 1983.
High Point #2 - unnamed (1,360+ ft)
From the junction of route 35 with the road into high point #1, proceed 1.2 miles further north on route 35
to Kunz Road on the right. This is 7.1 miles north of county road M at Moose Junction. Turn right (east)
and drive in 0.2 mile and park on the right. Ahead is a private property and a No Trespassing sign. Where
you park look for a poor road heading south. Hike this south and then east to a large grassy clearing. Head
east across the clearing and pick up the road which degenerates into a narrow and muddy ATV track in the
forest. Follow this track about 0.4 miles east and then take the left fork up a hill to the high point.
This route has some boggy areas so wear boots and be prepared for mud and mosquitoes. Three GPS waypoints
below might help in finding this route and the high point.
The topo map for this area is Patzau, Wis., 1981.
Note: This route might be on private land, but I did not see and signs and did not encounter anyone on this route.
15T 564784E, 5137257N Park car here, 0.2 mi. east of highway 35.
15T 565201E, 5137106N ATV trail junction, turn north here.
15T 565339E, 5137289N High point in the forest just to left of ATV track.