The highpoints of the fifty states range from Alaska’s 20,320 foot high Mount McKinley to 345 feet at Lakewood Park in Florida. Some highpoints, such as Mount Mitchell in North Carolina and New Hampshire’s Mount Washington can be reached by automobile on a sightseeing drive. Others such as Colorado’s Mount Elbert or Mount Marcy in New York are accessible as wilderness day hikes. Still others, such as Mount Rainier in Washington or Gannett Peak in Wyoming, are strenuous and risky mountaineering challenges that should be attempted only by experienced climbers. Whatever your level of skill and interest, Highpoints of the United States offers a diverse range of experiences.

Arranged alphabetically by state, each listing has a map, photographs, and information on trailhead, main and alternative routes, elevation gain, and conditions. Historical and natural history notes are also included, as are suggestions for specific guidebooks to a region or climb. Appendices include a list of highpoints by region, by elevation, and a personal log for the unashamed "peak-bagger."

Whether you’re an armchair hiker or a seasoned climber, interested only in your state’s highest point or all fifty, this book will be an invaluable companion and reference.

 

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.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:


This book has taken me places..... literally.  Dec 08, 2006 By Ryan Anderson
I've climbed 22 highpoints and had this book with me every step of the way. The information provided is invaluable, though I would agree that the maps aren't the best. I love this book , but I must say I have recently purchased "Highpoint Adventures : The Complete Guide to the 50 State Highpoints", and find myself using that book more often for my recent Highpointing endeavors. I would not want to go on any highpointing adventure without both of the actually. I own 4 Highpointing books and find useful information in all of them. If you want to seriously take up Highpointing, I recommend owning at least two Highpointing books since they all have excellent information and some are better written for certain highpoints than others are. Especially since most Highpoints are quite a ways off the beaten trail (so to speak). If I had to pick just two, it would be defintely "Highpoint Adventures : The Complete Guide to the 50 State Highpoints" by Diane and Charlie Winger, and either this one ("Highpoints Of The United States" by Don Holmes)or "Fifty State Summits" by Paul Zumwalt. I personally own all three. For you thrifty people out there, I noticed you can by this one and "Highpoint Adventures : The Complete Guide to the 50 State Highpoints" by Diane and Charlie Winger together at a discounted price right here on Amazon.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Excellent Book. How to get there and how to do it.  Jun 14, 2000
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.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


AVERAGE REFERENCE  Sep 25, 2000 By Steven Sanborn
I don't know why Don Holmes did so well in trail descriptions and then installed such poorly illustrated maps. Many look hand-drawn. He has cleverly added though interesting info including special conditions, historical and natural history notes to each area. I give this book a "c".

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:


Good Overview, but Insufficient as a Guide  Jul 23, 2009 By Steven K
The most valuable part of this book is the historical information. It makes for good browsing in the comfort of one's home for someone interested in state highpoints. However, it is not so useful as a guidebook for someone during a multi-state or cross-country trip. The maps are not aesthetically pleasing and the instructions/directions are inadequate for the high peaks (greater than 10,000 feet). The difficulty rating for each highpoint is useless, e.g., California (22 mile hike, 10-16 hours, 6000+ foot elevation gain) and Rhode Island (4 minute flat stroll) are both rated as class 1 on a scale of 1-4. Access issues have changed for some high points (California lottery, Rhode Island open dates, and the address to write to for permission from Kentucky), so the book is out-of-date in these aspects. For Nevada, the Trail Canyon route is described instead of the easier Queens Mine route.

Bottom line: this book is just an introduction or companion -- you should still research most high points before visiting them.



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