Customer Reviews

Highpoints of the United States: A Guide to the Fifty State Summits

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don Holmes has provided us with an excellent guide to the highest points in each of the fifty states. He gives route directions, trail descriptions, alternate routes, and a set of references for each state.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

Even though this book is somewhat dated (2000c), it has already helped us find a "highpoint." Since the Louisiana location is on private land, it was more difficult to find than most, many of which are in parks, etc. The book even had the telephone number of one of the land owners. We called her and got permission to hike. After hiking there and in Arkansas, we found that the trails are somewhat improved since the publication of the book. They were well maintained and well marked. Obviously, "highpointing" has continued to gain in popularity, so it seems that a new book or newer edition of this one would be in order. That said, this book is still helpful, and it seems to be one of the few out there. At the price, it's still worth the purchase.

I started finding my way to state highpoints before I knew of this book. Many of the trailheads for hiking to state summits are in obscure locations. Even those with drive-up routes can be difficult to find. This book is an excellent guide. However, approaches do change from time to time. There are now two web sites that provide updated information. Get the book, but also consult the web before you go.

What is the most difficult state highpoint to reach? Is it Alaska's Mt. McKinley/Denali at 20.320 ft or Colorado's Mt. Elbert at 14,433 ft? Perhaps Montana's remote Borah Peak? No, it is Rhode Island's Jeremoth Hill, 812 ft. While the governments and people of most states have marked their highpoints in some special way, Rhode Islanders have taken great pains to keep visitors out. The highpoint is surrounded by privately owned property decorated with No Trespassing - No Visitors signs. You would think that a state that is little more than a wide place in the road would do more to be friendly to tourists. Contrast this with Kansas where the private owners of Mt. Sunflower have built an outdoor sculpture garden and picnic area for their highpoint.

I bought this book mainly as a guide to help me reach the highpoints that are not as well known, less traveled to, and have less info about online. For these places the book is great, but for most places there is far better and more recent information available online for free. In many cases I would not depend on the maps in this book to reach some of the more difficult high points because they are very basic.

I love this book and it's telling that no other book has come out in decades to replace it.

I am new to Highpointing, and this is a great introduction for me. Has a lot of maps, detailed directions, links to individual state websites helpful for maps and info etc.

Pretty thorough, with good advice but mostly to-the-point trail routes, seasonal tips, and more.

I might have liked to see some info on other attractions around the highpoint areas, but I guess that's not really the main goal of the book, so all around, no complaints.

Climb every mountain!!!!