Florida isn't flat

[NE2]

Thrill Hill Road, Eustis. Measuring on topos, it's an 11% grade.

[edwaleni]

True.  Florida along the panhandle and along the Ocala Ridge, you will find hills and valleys.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've always wondered about Blanton Road (CR 41) in Pasco County.  That has a couple really large hills coming off the Brooksville Ridge into Dade City. Powell Road (CR 572) in Hernando County has a couple large hills as well.

[ElishaGOtis]

The I-10 Apalachicola Rest Area is CRAZY given it winds through the sharp hills. They're almost like a miniature mountain range tbh... https://maps.app.goo.gl/WcAEzZ5vfRxsUr7R8?g_st=ic

Immediately north of there was what I believe to be Florida's only climbing lane. It has since been removed however... https://maps.app.goo.gl/zPSQEttemfcNTaQe7

UF campus has a bunch of locations with exposed cliffs/rocks. https://maps.app.goo.gl/njgViAjdbMFgPsPB8

Here's another example from US-27/41 https://maps.app.goo.gl/akgQaCQ4vFooMbHb8

Not to mention the Florida Caverns & Falling Waters State Parks. And the sinkhole lakes with underwater cave systems.

[Beltway]

Not flat even necessarily in coastal areas -- bluffs up to 20 feet above the Indian River (a tidal lagoon) shore just south of Melbourne.

[gonealookin]

Not flat even necessarily in coastal areas -- bluffs up to 20 feet above the Indian River (a tidal lagoon) shore just south of Melbourne.

There are some areas along 30A between Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach where there's an elevation rise immediately at the beach.  The houses along there would get whacked by the full force of hurricane winds but I think they're plenty high enough to escape storm surge:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/1hpSHLVy3UyaWyA88

[Beltway]

Not flat even necessarily in coastal areas -- bluffs up to 20 feet above the Indian River (a tidal lagoon) shore just south of Melbourne.

There are some areas along 30A between Miramar Beach and Panama City Beach where there's an elevation rise immediately at the beach.  The houses along there would get whacked by the full force of hurricane winds but I think they're plenty high enough to escape storm surge:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1hpSHLVy3UyaWyA88

Even at relatively level Cocoa Beach, those buildings are on land about 15 feet above mean high water --

https://tinyurl.com/5n6upfxd

[ZLoth]

Florida is considered the flattest U.S. state because it is 91% flat, with an average elevation of only 100 feet and a maximum elevation of just 345 feet at Britton Hill.

[edwaleni]

Not flat even necessarily in coastal areas -- bluffs up to 20 feet above the Indian River (a tidal lagoon) shore just south of Melbourne.

Jacksonville Florida's highest point is 73 feet (St John's Bluff). Downtown Jacksonville is 42 feet. Most of the rest of the city is between 28-39 feet.

[TheCatalyst31]

Immediately north of there was what I believe to be Florida's only climbing lane. It has since been removed however... https://maps.app.goo.gl/zPSQEttemfcNTaQe7

That's up there with the infamous Illinois runaway truck ramp for road features that you wouldn't expect to see in their state.

[Beltway]

Not flat even necessarily in coastal areas -- bluffs up to 20 feet above the Indian River (a tidal lagoon) shore just south of Melbourne.

Jacksonville Florida's highest point is 73 feet (St John's Bluff). Downtown Jacksonville is 42 feet. Most of the rest of the city is between 28-39 feet.

And the St. Johns River at sea level of course.

[freebrickproductions]

Immediately north of there was what I believe to be Florida's only climbing lane. It has since been removed however... https://maps.app.goo.gl/zPSQEttemfcNTaQe7

That's up there with the infamous Illinois runaway truck ramp for road features that you wouldn't expect to see in their state.

My question with that is:
How are they supposed to use it? The angle of it appears to be 90° to the road, and to me it seems more like trying to aim for it would just send any unfortunate truckers into the UP line there.

[kphoger]

Pancakes are literally as flat as Florida.

[TheCatalyst31]

Pancakes are literally as flat as Florida.

Florida is actually much flatter, according to science. There was a 2003 study that compared the topography of Kansas to an IHOP pancake and found that Kansas was flatter. Florida is flatter than Kansas already, but the head of the Kansas Geological Survey pointed out that because of how the study measured the pancake, every surface on Earth including the Himalayas was also flatter than a pancake.

[edwaleni]

Immediately north of there was what I believe to be Florida's only climbing lane. It has since been removed however... https://maps.app.goo.gl/zPSQEttemfcNTaQe7

That's up there with the infamous Illinois runaway truck ramp for road features that you wouldn't expect to see in their state.

My question with that is:
How are they supposed to use it? The angle of it appears to be 90° to the road, and to me it seems more like trying to aim for it would just send any unfortunate truckers into the UP line there.

IL-3 south has about a 1 mile 3% grade down into the St Mary's River valley.

There are 2 signs at the top of the hill warning trucks of the grade and that there is a runaway space at the bottom.

I am not aware of any history of runaways hitting a moving or stopped train here, but obviously something must have happened here that precluded the need for signage.

The railroad here dates back to the 1880's as the St Louis Coal Company RR. It brought coal down to Chester from the strip mines around Tamaroa to be loaded onto barges on the Mississippi River. It fell under the Missouri Pacific as part of getting access to more Southern Illinois coal mines.

This now Union Pacific line is used as a storage and bypass line and runs up to Mt Vernon. This line has a 2 way wye about 1/2 mile to the west and trains cannot transit that wye at speed, so they run extremely slow here and can block the crossing for extended periods.

[kphoger]

Pancakes are literally as flat as Florida.

Florida is actually much flatter, according to science. There was a 2003 study that compared the topography of Kansas to an IHOP pancake and found that Kansas was flatter.

[DTComposer]

Relevant Reddit post:

Flattest US States Ranked