This would be an amazing book. Classic Class 1 Hikes of USA

Big thank you to Maxwell for sending this over re:Idaho. Looks like Iron Creek Point is the winner here: 1. Iron Creek Point (10740’) is the highest peak in Idaho with a motorized use trail. Like many Forest Service trails in this part of the Lemhis, it exists in theory but may not be maintained well in practice (Tom Lopez describes it as “deteriorating” - but even so, the trail shows up as FST 4193 on the current Forest Service interactive map. This is easily the highest peak in Idaho with an official trail running straight to the top. Class 1. 2. Inyo Benchmark (10614’), also in the Lemhis, is class 2 via the quickest route but there is a longer approach which is easily class 1. There is no official trail for this peak, as official trails leading to summits are rare in Idaho (not a single mountain about 11000’ has one); nevertheless, I think you’ll find that there is little tree cover on this SSW route (check the Rick Baugher trip report on LOJ for beta) and even that gives way to an obvious open ridge. This may be spicier than you’re looking for, given the long walk in, but it’s certainly class 1 and technically wouldn’t involve too much route finding. 3. In that vein, Smiley Peak (11508’) is a relatively obscure peak in the southern Pioneers, near a popular campground (named “Iron Bog”). It is virtually always summited from the south, which is class 2, but there is another possibility - you could come up the broad ridgeline from the north, starting in the Lake Creek basin. I haven’t done this myself, but you would be above treeline almost immediately, and it’s a fairly obvious route that would take you directly to the top of Smiley with no class 2 complications. I could tell you more once I’ve summited, as I’m heading up to hike it tomorrow with a fellow peakbagger, and I’ll have a good view of the one remotely steep section (of the north ridge) near the summit.

Alabama is Mt Cheaha... You can hike some of the Pinhoti trial on your way up. It's in Cheaha State Park

So glad you are going to do this series! We will be watching to see what is doable for us!

CalTopo map with a custom DEM shading layer can help you find highest points with trails easier. For the lower ones you could have a "Low Elevation" DEM layer with a range of 0-1,000 and every 100-feet in elevation is a different color. Then turn on "Public Lands" and the "MapBuilder Overlay" to weed out a lot of potentials.

Good list! Though as somebody who spends a lot of time in the mountains in Idaho and doing research for trips, I can tell you Blackmon peak is definitely not a real trail. Both Gaia and Alltrails have put in false tracks that have misled hikers. It's not a hard peak, but the scramble to the summit is class 2. You can find it listed in the Idaho a Climbing Guidebook as a class 2 peak (page 224). Let me know if you want a picture or further evidence. I'd suggest Annie's Peak in the Lemhis (44.57199, -113.61455, 10,288 ft) or Lookout Mountain (44.19259, -114.75867, 9,954 ft) as I've mentioned previously.

What a great idea, Cris, and thanks for putting so much thought and time into researching it. I have a suggestion for CALIFORNIA. You know, it's really 3 states in one: Northern, Southern, and Central (meaning JMT and Sierra area). While it's tough to get anything over 1,000 feet that isn't in someone's backyard in Ohio, that's a literal walk in the park in California. And since CA is so huge, with such varied geography, I think it's worthwhile to do 3 parts to it. I realize that New York or Texas may also claim that, but the peaks in Texas are few & far between, and you could stuff NY into So Cal. Alternatively you could simply do a Best Coastal Peak and Best Inland Peak since the geographies and hiking challenges/views may be far different. Anyway, just a thought from a Ventura County hiker. Thanks again.

You can go to Campbell Hill in Ohio. It's right next to Ohio Hi-Point Technical School, where my kids graduated from. Best time to visit is on the weekend, due to parking. Side note: when they hold graduation at the school they have the kids walk down from Campbell Hill to the ceremony. As far as hiking... it's only about 100 yards from the parking lot to the top.

Mt Adams in Washington. Non technical and can be done in one day (most folks choose two.). This time of year having micro spikes is super helpful.

I'm not sure if Baxter peak of Katahdin is accessible without at least some scrambling. If so, it's probably a route that passes first through Hamlin peak. The more direct trails usually go through slides and boulder fields.

I think Oregon's should be South Sister. 3rd highest peak in Oregon on PeakBagger, 600 ft higher than Steen's Mountain. It's definitely hikeable in late summer without stepping on snow at all. No scrambling, great trail the whole way except maybe 1/2 mile near the top it does get soft and gravel-y near the top and not a single well-defined trail at that point, but a braid of a bunch of equally travelled routes within ~ 20 ft of each other, but no routefinding needed and no dangerous scree.

Great idea - I can envision several videos coming from this. I have completed a dozen or so state highpoints but I know that some will never happen for me, so I appreciate the list of alternatives.

I’ve wondered about this. Thanks for putting this together.

I seen a lot of 14ers in the eastern sierras that aren’t hikeable . I think MT Whitney is one of the few unless you do mount Langley

I absolutely love this idea. Would love to add these trails to a bucket list! Sending this to my brother in Utah who does a lot of hiking and may be able to help you out there.

Thanks so much for doing this!!! I've hit 15 of the state high points but wasn't sure what I was going to do for the states that required ice axes!

Thanks so much for this, this is so cool! What a great challenge/goal.

great video !!!!!!

I did pioneer peak couple years ago. There’s a definite trail most of the way up till the last part. Which is definitely a scramble in some spots. The hard part is you can get “lost” as you go up to the peak because of all the crazy rocks. Absolutely beautiful hike though. Did it in 13h out and back

I would offer that many Midwest states just have a highest area! I’d recommend looking into the Loess Hills region in west Iowa. Hitchcock Nature Center is a great and there are some hiking trails with nice views of the Missouri Valley. It is close to Omaha, Nebraska and easy to find.

I think you need two lists to satisfy the fans of your channel: (1) Highest hike to a summit in the state, and (2) highest publicly-accessible location. For many states, those two lists will be the same. For flat states, #2 might actually be more in line with the 'sprit' of this challenge than #1. For #2, I think highest open-to-the-public area should count, don't limit yourself to parks. List #2 could include a spot on a sidewalk, a Walmart parking lot, or, or a private botanical garden that chargers a nominal admission fee to the public: anything safe and publicly-accessible is in play.

When do you plan on Humphries (AZ)? I would love to hike it with you.

Hi Hikingguy, the highest peak in Alabama is Cheaha Mountain at 2,413' in the Cheaha State Park. There isn't a trail that leads to it. The high point is a paved gated road with fenced in cell towers that's not accessible. I found this out while on the Pinhoti Trail two months ago. The highest point in South Carolina is said to be Sassafras Mountain on the Foothills Trail but Sassafras is splits it's border with North Carolina at 3,553'. The peak that is solely located in SC is Pinnacle Mountain at 3414' and it's trail starts in Table Rock State Park.

THIS is amazing!!!!

You'll want to start Mauna Kea before the sun comes up. There is NO shade anywhere. Full exposure to sun and wind the entire way. If you make it over to Kauai, I'd be happy to suggest some epic trails.

Being from Florida our highest point is a grueling 350 ft or so lol

Yeah, I live in Ohio and it's tough here for high points. Lookout Ridge Overlook in the West Creek Reservation of the Cleveland Metropark ends with a cool view of the city and the other trails in this spot can fill a morning. Coming to the area would also give easy access to the Rock Hall and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Metropark and CVNP offer a huge array of easy to access hikes. CVNP has the most difficult leg of the Buckeye Trail that has a cool waterfall and elevation gain to some nice overlooks of the valley. Hocking Hills is also nice but I never go there because I live in Cleveland with so much access to similar scenery.

I was just in the area of the Illinois one (scales mound) last week 😊

You have Windy Peak for Washington, but there is a trail up Mt. St. Helens. Also, there his no trail to the peak of Mt. Adams, but it is a completely (but grueling) non-technical hike.

I will be in New Mexico and my plan is to hike Wheeler Peak. If I make it, that will be 1 down

For Ohio, there is a state forest named Ferwood State Forest, near Steubenville on the Eastern edge of the state, which has a pretty nice overlook a few hundred feet above the valley below. Only problem there is a parking lot right in front of it. This overlook isn't the highest point of the area however, IIRC it is fairly close to the overlook, requiring maybe a mile of total hiking including the return trip. It also doesn't appear to be a named point. The elevation looks to be around 1250ft, which is 300ft below the actual state highpoint, but given all of the restrictions I'm not sure if you'll be able to find a better option than this. (Granted, I am not familiar with any other parks or forests in the state besides Hocking Hills and Cuyahoga Valley, both of which I believe are at lower elevations.) For Connecticut, the highest point in the state actually is on a slope on Mount Frieselle (whose summit is in Massachusetts). Are you going to disqualify this for your Connecticut hike? There is a summit named Bear Mountain directly south of this in which would likely become your target for the highest hike to a named summit in the state.

Why did Alltrails do away with the USGS Topo? Seems they are removing features that are good and replacing them with things that provide info that I can get in other places.

Depending on accumulated snow (even in summer), Mt. Whitney can require an ice axe and crampons to get to the summit.

Sand Hill in Great Seal State Park OH 1296ft. SE Ohio is your best bet for high points and trails.

Nice

Mount Washington (NH) will need to be hiked from the West (Ammonoosuc ravine and Crawford path or Jewell and Gulfside trails) The trails from the East have scrambling.

Tempest mountain is a better peak for Montana as it is only a few hundred feet short of Granite and you can still get there by hiking. It is a long hike so not a one day hike but you can see Granite from Tempest.

What do you do for protection since traveling with bear spray, knives, firearms, etc may not be possible while flying to destinations?

When are you coming to Wyoming?

I grew up in Ohio. Check out Hocking Hills State Park

Are you coming to Iowa?

Is mount rainier a good hike? Planning on seeing if i can do it next year.

don't waste your time/energy/resources for Indiana. It's literally a short walk in the woods, with no view. Just happens to be the highest point in the state, in a pretty flat landscape.

Jerimoth Hill in RI used to be owned by Brown University, and we'd take astronomy classes there for dark sky viewing. The lawyers got worried when they found out, thinking it was some rocky crag. In reality it is nearly completely flat. There used to be a crazy guy with guns on adjacent property who would terrorize people trying to reach the "summit" but he is long gone: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerimoth_Hill Happy to join you for the hike!