Highpoints – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Black Elk Peak (South Dakota) 17-Sep-2019

2019-09-172022-01-31Posted in Hiking, North DakotaTagged Black Elk Peak South Dakota, Black Hills Wilderness South Dakota, Day Hiking, Highpoints, Hiking, South Dakota2 Comments

Black Elk Peak (its name was changed from Harney Peak in 2016) is the highest natural point in South Dakota. It sits in the Black Elk Wilderness west of Rapid City, South Dakota. Although not directly part of Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy, we included it in our roadtrip because it offered a good hike, one we’d done before in 2003 (during our highpointer days).

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Eagle Mountain (Minnesota) 05-June-2017

2017-06-052022-01-30Posted in Hiking, MinnesotaTagged Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Day Hiking, Eagle Mountain Minnesota, Highpoints, Hiking, Lake Superior, Minnesota, North Shore Minnesota, Superior Hiking Trail, United States

Eagle Mountain, at 2,301 feet, is the highest point in Minnesota. We first hiked it in July of 2001, as part of our quest to reach all of the high points in the United States [we’ve got six left; unfortunately, these six are among the hardest of the lot]. We remembered the trail to the summit as pretty straightforward and therefore likely suitable for a family-style hike. The lure of a high point was even sufficient to draw one of our typically non-hiking members out on to the trail. So six of us found our way to the Eagle Mountain trailhead (not far from Lutsen, Minnesota) and set out on our summit bid. Since our first hike here lo those many years ago, the popularity of this high point seems to have increased, and the trail is now a well-worn and obvious path through the woods.

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