Houston is Minnesota's Southeasternmost county. It oversees the departure of the Mississippi River from the state. Its highest point is a hill in the Richard Dorer Hardwood State Forest. I intended to visit there on November 6, 2004, after my second partial completion of Winona County. I did complete it on March 14, 2004 with sunny skies and light snow cover. Also, this completion gives me all the counties in the southern half of Minnesota except the restricted Ramsey county.
There are several private roads that end in the vicinity of the high point. I chose to follow the route taken by Bob Schwab. A funny thing happened on the way to Houston County. First, I ran into a dead end trying to get away from Winona County's southernmost candidate high point. I discovered that there is no obvious way to get back on Minnesota State Highway 76 from there, so went back under the bridge on Winona C.R. 17, then east on C.R. 12, then south on S.H. 76 into the town of Houston in Houston County. I did not carefully follow Bob's report and tried taking S.H. 16 to C.R. 9. I probably lost 10-15 minutes going the wrong way. Then I crossed over the Root River and saw where S.H. 76 went left and C.R. 9 went right. I stayed on C.R. 9 for 4.7 miles, then left on Looney Valley Road (paved) for 0.2 miles, then left on Hanson Valley Road for 1.1 miles, then left on Traff Drive for 1.0 miles. I stopped at some outbuildings about 100 yards short of the end of the road where the owner was working.
There are several farmplaces like this one around the base of the hill. Any of those might be approached for access, but since Schwab had already asked here, I just followed.
On the first visit, I parked between the buildings and talked with the owner. I told him my intention and he said, "You're one of those..."
"County Highpointers, right". He asked me if I knew how to get there, and I told him that I had a plan. He thought about it and told me that there were hunters from Georgia in that area and that for my safety and for the sake of the hunters' need not for the deer to be spooked, that I should come back another day. Hunting season only lasts for one week in that area, so I considered when I might return and thanked him for his time.
When I returned, hunting season was long over and winter was almost over. I drove all the way to the end of the driveway, which curves around to the house. I knocked on the door, and was greeted by a woman (Jackie?) I told her my purpose and was granted permission.
Just up from the house is a stairway that leads to the pasture. I stepped over the electric fence and hiked up the steep pasture slope. From the house to the woodline is a gradual climb, and would make a great place for sledding,
A few yards into the woodline, I saw a trail. I guessed it to be a vehicle trail, but never actually saw the ground due to snow cover. I stayed on that trail to the place where it ended at about the western edge of the 1320 foot contour that surrounds the 1340 foot one.
It goes almost straight south from where I picked it up to where it starts curving to the west at about the 1300-foot level. At one point, it comes within 150 horizontal feet of the HP. There are numerous fallen trees on the trail, which were easy enough to step over or around.
Where the road ends, about 300 feet west of the summit area, a foot path goes straight toward the top, but not all the way there. I did some bushwhacking for the last 50 yards or so.
I got to what looked like the the highest ground, marked by a thick fallen log about 10 feet long. I continued looking around, and saw more high ground about 100 feet east. I could not tell which was higher.
I went back down essentially the same way,
except that I took this road a short distance west of the path I took to go up. Where it exits the woodline, I followed the woodline back to my uphill path. It was at this point that I fell down for the only time that day.
On my second visit, I returned to C.R. 9 toward Houston, looking for the short cut that west east of town toward S.H. 76. I didn't realize that that short cut was C.R. 21, and sped right past it, adding several minutes to my drive. Anyway, I got back onto S.H. 76, which took me near Allamakee County's High Point.
| Family Member | Count |
|---|---|
| Mark | 86 |
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http://www.topozone.com
Minnesota Atlas & Gazeteer by Delorme, 3rd Edition, 2001.
| File Name: | |
| Written by: | Mark Ness |
| Last Revised by: | Mark Ness |
| on: |