Our Anoka County, Minnesota Highpointing Page

Two Unnamed Hills, 1100+ feet (natural), 1130+ feet (man-made)

Introduction

The Anoka County High Points are not identified by any witness marker nor benchmark, and are located at 45° 24' 45"N, 93° 29' 10"W, in Burns Township, Section 29. Their elevations are 1100+ feet and 1130+ feet above sea level. I climbed the first one with my daughter, Krystyn, and her dog Shads on October 19, 2003, an unusually warm October day, just after completing the Isanti County High Point. For each of us, it was our 3rd Minnesota COHP.

Approaches to the Anoka County Trailhead

We tried finding an eastern approach along the road that goes right to the bottom of the 1130+ foot embankment, but did not see it, so we used the same approach Bob Packard used. From the place where we parked to hike the Isanti County High Point, we continued south on Tiger Street NW to the chained gate on the Anoka-Isanti County Line. The lock was put there by Alliant Techsystems. Had the lock not been there, we could have driven right to the first HP, then a brief hike into the woods.

Even from this point, we could hear some explosions, possibly small arms fire in the distance.

Parking

We parked here, just off to the right, where there was a similar set-up to halt traffic going west along the county line..

The Trail to the 1st Point (natural)

We climbed over the chain (Shads went under), and made an immediate left turn onto the road along the county line, which appeared as well-maintained gravel on the Mapquest aerial view, but was mostly overgrown with short grass.

After walking about 500 feet, we turned right to a curving road that passed over the 1100-foot contour. It curved around this corn field.

I walked into the wooded area, looking around for contestant high points. I wasn't sure which one was higher, so went to several areas that seemed likely:

The middle one drops off sharply to the east.

The 1st Summit

There is no Geological marker, nor Registration book, that I could see.

After walking around to several possible points, I decided that this one was the highest:

I didn't see the hunters look outs that Bob Packard reported.

The Climb Down the first summit

Krystyn realized that the area further up the trail was higher. I informed her that it was man-made, but that we would be going there anyway. So we returned to the overgrown road, continuing on to the second area.

The Trail to the 2nd Point (man-made)

It led south to a high-fenced area. At this point, the road was not even recognizable:

There was about a foot clearance under the fence, so I was able to crawl under, then upward to the manufactured high point. As the topographic map suggests, it is a high, long, narrow berm, the northeast part of which is a steeply sloped ramp that can accomodate vehicle travel, all the way along the top of the berm.  On the way up, I could see some structures on level ground just east of the berm (sorry no pictures--I left the camera with Krystyn).  The whole setup reminded me of a military firing range--not surprising since this was a blasting area, with the high berm possibly constructed to stop ammunition rounds.

The 2nd Summit

I crept up cautiously to the summit, and walked all the way to the south end where it was slightly higher.  It dropped off fast.

I suspected that there was already high ground here when they built it up, possibly higher than the natural point.  I saw that the high fence surrounded most of the berm.

The Route Out

I came back along the flat top back to the fence, crawled back under the fence and rejoined the rest of the expedition for the way out. We followed the route in rather than try to walk diagonally through the corn field, got back in the car and went on our way.

Our Progress

Other Ascents and Trip Reports

Bibliography

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http://www.topozone.com

Minnesota Atlas & Gazeteer by Delorme, 3rd Edition, 2001.