Renville County's six field hills are all located within a half mile of the Kandiyohi County Line, about as far away from the Minnesota River on the county's southern border as could be. Thanks to the 5' contour interval for the area, it's easier to pick out the 1145' hills from the 1140' ers. I numbered the high point areas 1-6, from east to west.
I visited these 6 hills on November 11, 2004 after finishing McLeod County. After returning home, I checked my trail that my GPS recorded, and feared that I had missed one of the hills in the eastern group, so I came back with my son Matthew on March 13, 2005, to verify the highest ground.
From the point where Kandiyohi County Road 2 crosses south becoming Renville C.R. 16, I turned right (west) on Kandi-Ren Road for 1.8 miles, then turned left (south) on 430th Street. I drove south on 430th for 0.35 miles
I parked in an approach near the shortest-line distance to the summit. To the Southeast was a farmplace.
As I started into the field, it was chopped corn (4 minutes), then I came to a harvested bean field, which contained the high point.
I arrived at the summit one minute after crossing into the bean field. It was fairly well defined. It is in the middle of the above left picture, about 200 yards north of the farmplace on the right picture. There was a dog barking there.
I walked back essentially the same route, taking 9 minutes total.
I returned to the county line road and went east for about 1.8 miles to C.R. 16, where I turned right and went south for less than 0.6 miles (I overshot the approach I wanted to use.
I parked in an approach near the shortest-line distance to the summit.
It was similar in walking distance to the first one, but the field was plowed. This trail actually passes a false summit first, I walked on the whole ridge line until it started to descend.
This summit is a little more spread out than the contour suggests, but it is relatively easy to pick out.
I took the same route back to my car. Total time out of my car was about 12 minutes.
I got back on C.R. 16 and turned north to the county line, then east for 0.6 miles, to the approach at the property line east of the HP group.
I parked in that approach.
The field was chopped hay, I think. I had not programmed each hill into my GPS, but they were all clearly visible in the field. From HP#1, it looked like HP#3 was the highest by far, but, as seen from HP#3, the other hills also looked about as high. Like Michael Schwartz, the first ascender, I think a trip to each hilltop is necessary and easy.
On my second trip, however, we stood at this point, 44° 53' 22"N, 94° 46' 02"W, which is on the edge of the largest, and southwesternmost contour. I concluded that this is the highest point in the area, and that I had hit it the first time. Plus, Matthew enjoyed getting out of the van for a short walk.
I walked back to the propertly line, then back to my car. I made the summit circuit in 18 minutes.
I followed the county line road east to S.H. 4, and turned south. I followed S.H. 4 to U.S. Highway 212, then east to C.R. 8 west of Buffalo Lake towards Sibley County's 12 high points.
| Family Member | Count |
|---|---|
| Mark | 45 |
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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 |
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