Inspired by another thread, how about giving out the highest place in those states than have no accessibility to their highest points.
In Colorado I know its Pikes Peak as it does have a motor road leading to the top.
In Maine, its Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island. Accessible by road inside Acadia NP.
Those are only two that I know of for now, but this could be even more interesting than the other thread that inspired this one.
US 7 north of Kent in NW Connecticut get very high (above 2000 feet). This is the region the highest point is in, anyway.
Quote from: roadman65 on August 10, 2015, 06:01:16 PM
Inspired by another thread, how about giving out the highest place in those states than have no accessibility to their highest points.
In Colorado I know its Pikes Peak as it does have a motor road leading to the top.
So does Mt. Evans, and the parking lot just below its summit is higher than Pikes Peak.
As noted in the other thread, Atigun Pass (about 4800' elevation) is Alaska's highest road point.
Makes me wonder if it's Whiteface Mountain in NY. Don't know. Someone less lazy than I can confirm. :spin:
Summit Peak, MI has a "7" feet walk from a road usable by cars.
Roan High Knob, TN has a 0.4 mile walk from NC 1348 but requires entering in NC. In fact the first several high points listed in Tennessee all require entering or being on the border of NC.
Quote from: Rothman on August 10, 2015, 06:30:29 PM
Makes me wonder if it's Whiteface Mountain in NY. Don't know. Someone less lazy than I can confirm. :spin:
Confirmed. At about 4,600 feet, the parking area ~265 feet below the summit is higher than the peaks of all but 15 mountains in the state. No other mountain of comparable size has a road leading to the summit.
The highest road in Nevada is the one in Great Basin National Park leading up from NV 487 at the town of Baker to the Wheeler Peak campground and trailhead. I see one source saying the road tops out at 10,240 feet which sounds about right. The trailhead is right about at the 10,000 foot point, and if you can hike up another 3,000 feet in a little over 4 miles at that altitude you can stand on the summit of Nevada's second-highest peak as at 13,063 feet the top of Wheeler Peak is about 80 feet lower than the top of Boundary Peak, all the way across the state. I did that hike about 15 years ago; obviously 1 mph is a pretty strong pace on the way up.
The highest elevation road in VA is the access road to Whitetop Mountain at 5525 feet.
Quote from: gonealookin on August 10, 2015, 07:11:15 PM
The highest road in Nevada is the one in Great Basin National Park leading up from NV 487 at the town of Baker to the Wheeler Peak campground and trailhead. I see one source saying the road tops out at 10,240 feet which sounds about right. The trailhead is right about at the 10,000 foot point, and if you can hike up another 3,000 feet in a little over 4 miles at that altitude you can stand on the summit of Nevada's second-highest peak as at 13,063 feet the top of Wheeler Peak is about 80 feet lower than the top of Boundary Peak, all the way across the state. I did that hike about 15 years ago; obviously 1 mph is a pretty strong pace on the way up.
Did a trip in 2012 where I flew out to Las Vegas, meandered up through Zion and Cedar Breaks and over to Great Basin where I hiked Wheeler Peak, drove over the Mammoth Lakes, CA (Devils Postpile), down to Mount Whitney and day-hiked it, and then through Death Valley and Mojave back to Las Vegas. One day I was at the highest point in the Lower 48; the next day I was at the lowest point in North America. :D
Texas Spur 78, which goes to the McDonald Observatory on Mt. Locke in the Davis Mountains. It reaches 6,791 feet.
In that same area, another fine high-altitude hike is the one to White Mountain Peak, northeast of Bishop CA. You drive up past the Bristlecone Pine forest on an unpaved road to a gate at about 11,700 feet. I believe that's the highest publicly-accessible road in California. On occasion the gate is opened for open houses at the University of California's Mount Barcroft Research Station, and you can drive up to the station at 12,470 feet. (http://www.wmrc.edu/facilities/bar/default.html) Beyond that, the hike goes up a very rough jeep road, driven rarely and only by persons doing business with the University but at the fringe of the definition of a "road" nevertheless, to a small building at the summit of White Mountain Peak (14,252 feet).
You can get on a sketchy Forest Service road 1/4 mile below the second-highest peak in SD. (7200-ish) I think that's it.
NC-128 in Mt Mitchell State Park reaches just over 6200 feet at the entrance to the parking area for the summit trail. I want to to say this is the highest point on any road east of the Mississippi River.
Quote from: slorydn1 on August 11, 2015, 07:40:42 AM
NC-128 in Mt Mitchell State Park reaches just over 6200 feet at the entrance to the parking area for the summit trail. I want to to say this is the highest point on any road east of the Mississippi River.
Besides Mt. Washington?
iPhone
Quote from: empirestate on August 11, 2015, 11:13:40 AM
Quote from: slorydn1 on August 11, 2015, 07:40:42 AM
NC-128 in Mt Mitchell State Park reaches just over 6200 feet at the entrance to the parking area for the summit trail. I want to to say this is the highest point on any road east of the Mississippi River.
Besides Mt. Washington?
iPhone
Including Mt Washington to wit: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Mount_Mitchell_sign.jpg&imgrefurl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mitchell_State_Park&h=1936&w=2592&tbnid=Jivo5jVOYAmaiM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=214&usg=__ikTQ68Q6yBcFe5mzjf7XFL-FQ0c=&docid=FswQuaIFVmXzFM&itg=1
For Washington, it's Sunrise, on the NE corner of Mt. Rainier, elevation 6400 feet. It's accessible approximately Memorial Day through late September, depending on snow levels.
Year-round, Paradise, on the south side of Mt. Rainier is open approximately 4 days a week throughout the winter, more during school vacations, at elevation 5400 feet.
Quote from: empirestate on August 11, 2015, 11:13:40 AM
Quote from: slorydn1 on August 11, 2015, 07:40:42 AM
NC-128 in Mt Mitchell State Park reaches just over 6200 feet at the entrance to the parking area for the summit trail. I want to to say this is the highest point on any road east of the Mississippi River.
Besides Mt. Washington?
iPhone
According to Wikipedia, the Mount Washington Auto Road goes up to 6145 ft, way short of the NC 128's upper end of over 6400 ft.
Wikipedia doesn't include the parking areas at Mount Washington, which reach above 6200ft. That said, the parking area at the end of NC 128 is just under 6600ft.
That said, given the OP's criteria, neither state high point would qualify for this thread as you can drive almost to the top of both (which also meets the OP criteria for the thread which prompted this one).
In Maryland on the state-maintained highway system, it is the western section of U.S. 50 in Garrett County, crossing Backbone Mountain (Eastern Continental Divide) at almost 3100 feet AMSL, and it is clearly marked by a sign (https://www.google.com/maps/place/4651+George+Washington+Hwy,+Oakland,+MD+21550/@39.2968419,-79.4196342,15z/data=!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x884ab23986a28a4b:0x6ee3d54a2a279eb7!2sRedhouse,+MD+21550!3m1!1s0x884ab2fac1d28a33:0x29654e5cee31c86e!5m1!1e4).
Table Rock Road (which intersects U.S. 50 near the high point) probably goes a little higher than that, but the state high point at Hoye Crest (no access by road) is not much higher at 3360 feet AMSL.
Actually I was a little bit off, squinting at the barely visible display from my gps when I pulled up the video I shot from up there. Pulling up my GPS data from my last trip up there I was at 6576 ft at this point here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B045'58.2%22N+82%C2%B015'54.3%22W/@35.7661667,-82.2650833,244m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en (https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B045'58.2%22N+82%C2%B015'54.3%22W/@35.7661667,-82.2650833,244m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en)
which is where the road loops into the parking lot at the top of Mt Mitchell. If I wanted to be particlulary anal and exclude the parking area then the point just before the road widens out before the first parking space here https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B046'02.5%22N+82%C2%B015'53.0%22W/@35.7673667,-82.2647333,243m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en (https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B046'02.5%22N+82%C2%B015'53.0%22W/@35.7673667,-82.2647333,243m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en)
was at 6550 feet.
However I yield to froggie's definition of what the OP meant.
Side question, off topic:
How do you guys take the Google Maps locations I copied and pasted and convert them into a link that is just part of a sentence-I've seen numerous posts where the word "here", for example, is a link and clicking it takes us to the location the poster wanted us to see?
I believe the highest in California is Rock Creek Road in Inyo County. It's a county and US Forest Service maintained road to the northwest of Bishop. It climbs to around 10,000 feet before flattening out near a place called Mosquito Flat.
Never driven it myself.
QuoteHow do you guys take the Google Maps locations I copied and pasted and convert them into a link that is just part of a sentence-I've seen numerous posts where the word "here", for example, is a link and clicking it takes us to the location the poster wanted us to see?
(ignoring all spaces within the brackets)
[ url = http://www.yoursitehere.com ] Whatever you want to type [ /url ]
Pretty sure Mt Arvon is the highest point in Michigan whether it's accessible by road or not.
Waiting for Florida to chime in here...
Quote from: Rushmeister on August 11, 2015, 01:50:27 PM
Waiting for Florida to chime in here...
It's probably the crest of a flyover somewhere. Not even kidding.
iPhone
Quote from: OCGuy81 on August 11, 2015, 11:58:53 AM
I believe the highest in California is Rock Creek Road in Inyo County. It's a county and US Forest Service maintained road to the northwest of Bishop. It climbs to around 10,000 feet before flattening out near a place called Mosquito Flat.Never driven it myself.
I think Rock Creek Road is the highest paved road. The White Mountain Road up to the Bristlecone Pine forest and beyond to the research station is paved for several miles north of CA 168, up to the first grove of ancient trees. Looking at it on Google Earth that's a bit over 10,000 feet so the Rock Creek pavement is slightly higher than that. As mentioned above, you can keep going on dirt and gravel toward Mt. Barcroft and White Mountain Peak for quite some distance further and higher, and any 2WD car can make it up to the gate easily. The White Mountains are about the only place in California where you don't run into a wilderness designation at the highest altitudes, so I strongly doubt there's any other place you could drive higher even on a wagon track of a road.
Minnesota's is tricky. Likely one of the backwoods roads in Cook County given that's where the state's highest points are.
Quote from: froggie on August 11, 2015, 01:19:05 PM
QuoteHow do you guys take the Google Maps locations I copied and pasted and convert them into a link that is just part of a sentence-I've seen numerous posts where the word "here", for example, is a link and clicking it takes us to the location the poster wanted us to see?
(ignoring all spaces within the brackets)
[ url = http://www.yoursitehere.com (http://www.yoursitehere.com) ] Whatever you want to type [ /url ]
Thanks, I'll try to remember to do that more often.
Just a test (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Daytona+International+Speedway/@29.185169,-81.070528,14z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88e6d949a4cb8593:0x1387c6c0b5c8cc97?hl=en)
The highest publicly accessible road (paved, too, but that wasn't the criteria) is not next to the state's highest point, Timm's Hill. Instead it's the road that goes to the top of Rib Mountain.
The road into the county park at Timm's hill only gets you within 100 vertical feet of the 1951' summit.
At Rib Mountain, the road will get you maybe a dozen or so vertical feet from the 1924' summit.
There is a gated service road to the top of Timm's Hill that provides access to the observation tower and fire tower, but it is getting pretty rough as erosion does its work. I have actually driven that road while a summer employee of the forestry department in Price County. (We replaced a retaining wall at the base of the observation tower.)
Quote from: empirestate on August 11, 2015, 02:05:07 PM
Quote from: Rushmeister on August 11, 2015, 01:50:27 PM
Waiting for Florida to chime in here...
It's probably the crest of a flyover somewhere. Not even kidding.
iPhone
Almost certainly true. I was visiting some friends outer Daytona once, and one of them joked that the highest point in Volusia County is the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.
Quote from: empirestate on August 11, 2015, 02:05:07 PM
Quote from: Rushmeister on August 11, 2015, 01:50:27 PM
Waiting for Florida to chime in here...
It's probably the crest of a flyover somewhere. Not even kidding.
It's Britton Hill at 345 feet. But yes it probably is at the crest of a flyover ramp but it just isn't counted. :-D
Quote from: roadman65 on August 10, 2015, 06:01:16 PM
In Maine, its Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island. Accessible by road inside Acadia NP.
No other road in Maine goes higher than 1522 feet?
Quote from: iBallasticwolf2 on August 12, 2015, 04:03:52 PM
Quote from: empirestate on August 11, 2015, 02:05:07 PM
Quote from: Rushmeister on August 11, 2015, 01:50:27 PM
Waiting for Florida to chime in here...
It's probably the crest of a flyover somewhere. Not even kidding.
It's Britton Hill at 345 feet.
No, that's the answer if you
can drive to the highest point (and you can). But if you
can't (if you couldn't), then it would be the flyover–or maybe the deck of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge?
Quote from: empirestate on August 12, 2015, 06:40:23 PM
No, that's the answer if you can drive to the highest point (and you can). But if you can't (if you couldn't), then it would be the flyover–or maybe the deck of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge?
In that case it probably would be the deck of the Sunshine Skyway.
Quote from: empirestate on August 12, 2015, 06:40:23 PM
Quote from: iBallasticwolf2 on August 12, 2015, 04:03:52 PM
Quote from: empirestate on August 11, 2015, 02:05:07 PM
Quote from: Rushmeister on August 11, 2015, 01:50:27 PM
Waiting for Florida to chime in here...
It's probably the crest of a flyover somewhere. Not even kidding.
It's Britton Hill at 345 feet.
No, that's the answer if you can drive to the highest point (and you can). But if you can't (if you couldn't), then it would be the flyover–or maybe the deck of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge?
There's a railroad overpass on I-10 near Greensboro where the ground elevation is around 300 feet. Bridge deck is probably 320ish. Damn close to Britton Hill. Sunshine Skyway is close as well.
I like how the highest point of Florida is actually at the top of a building! The Four Seasons Hotel and Tower in Miami, it rises 789 feet above the ground, and due to its location the top stands at a similar elevation above the sea level. That's more than double the height of Britton Hill :sombrero:.
Wikipedia says there is 174 feet of vertical clearance underneath the Sunshine Skyway. And it is bridging sea level. Even accounting for the thickness of the bridge deck, that still puts it well under any road above a 300' contour. So there is no possible way the Sunshine Skyway is the highest road one can drive in Florida.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on August 14, 2015, 02:36:02 PM
Wikipedia says there is 174 feet of vertical clearance underneath the Sunshine Skyway. And it is bridging sea level. Even accounting for the thickness of the bridge deck, that still puts it well under any road above a 300' contour. So there is no possible way the Sunshine Skyway is the highest road one can drive in Florida.
Yeah, I thought of that afterward, but just didn't bother to follow up.
But that's just an example–what city has the highest elevation in Florida, and might have a structure that's higher than Britton Hill?
iPhone
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on August 13, 2015, 06:12:39 AM
I like how the highest point of Florida is actually at the top of a building! The Four Seasons Hotel and Tower in Miami, it rises 789 feet above the ground, and due to its location the top stands at a similar elevation above the sea level. That's more than double the height of Britton Hill :sombrero:.
I am sure there are broadcast towers higher than that somewhere in Florida. Maybe not accessible to the public, but still.
Yeah, I'm thinking it might be kinda hard to drive my car to the top of a broadcast tower. I have no sources for that, you'll just have to take my word for it. :happy:
Perhaps there's a freight elevator in the Four Seasons Miami that would take a Smart Car to the top.
Quote from: kkt on August 14, 2015, 09:28:34 PM
Perhaps there's a freight elevator in the Four Seasons Miami that would take a Smart Car to the top.
How high does Four Seasons Miami go?
Quote from: slorydn1 on August 14, 2015, 07:21:57 PM
Yeah, I'm thinking it might be kinda hard to drive my car to the top of a broadcast tower. I have no sources for that, you'll just have to take my word for it. :happy:
That's a separate side topic. There's one side topic for the highest road location in Florida that isn't Britton Hill, and another for the highest point in Florida as compared to the highest
natural point in Florida.
There is crossover, though, as the answer to the first may indeed be a non-natural point, and may thus be higher than the highest natural point.
iPhone
Quote from: iBallasticwolf2 on August 14, 2015, 09:32:07 PM
Quote from: kkt on August 14, 2015, 09:28:34 PM
Perhaps there's a freight elevator in the Four Seasons Miami that would take a Smart Car to the top.
How high does Four Seasons Miami go?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Florida (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Florida)
QuoteThe tallest building in the state is the 70-story Four Seasons Hotel Miami, which rises 789 feet (240 m) in the City of Miami's Brickell neighborhood and was completed in 2003.