The Stearns County High Point is located on Tom Rau's property at 45° 32' 32"N, 94° 28' 35"W. It is in a wooded area, right in the middle of a woods road that winds around the area.
From Avon, Minnesota, exit I-94 south onto Stearns County Road 9. Follow C.R. 9 for 6.3 miles. Turned left onto Lindbergh Lane (gravel). Followed that road for 0.9 miles to Tom Rau's driveway. The house number is 29184. I knocked on the house, and called out, but no reply. There were several granite monuments outside the garage. One in particular was engraved and may have been ready for pickup.
I returned to the bend in the road and parked next to it.
There is a woods road that passes directly over the high point. I don't know where it joined the road, however.
I got out of my truck and began walking in the woods straight toward the high point. After 6 minutes, I encountered a low stone wall next to a fence on the side of a ridge. The stones were loose, but climbable, and the fence was easy to step over. Then followed 3 minutes more of bushwhacking until I got onto a wide path. After two minutes, the area opened up to a clearing, where I encountered a muddy woods road, with occasional puddles, which I later learned was the road the went to the top. I crossed that road, and a minute later crossed a barbed wire fence. Then followed four minutes of bushwhacking, until I re-encountered the woods road and stayed on it all the way to the top.
There is no Geological marker nor registration book. There is also no view to speak of--just woods. I found the yellow-topped post that Michael Schwartz spoke of and the stone next to it. After some brief looking, I agree that it was the highest spot.
From the summit, I stayed on the woods road all the way to the point where I originally crossed it, and a little farther to see where it went. I was expecting it to curve right, which would have been toward the gravel road, but, as I passed the closest point to my truck, I noticed that it turned to the left into the woods, so I returned essentially the way I came. This time (unlike my Chisago and Mille Lacs experiences), I closely followed my GPS track all the way back. I saw at least one yellow-top post on the trail.
From there, I turned around, got back on C.R. 9, and continued to Richmond, where I picked up Minnesota State Highway 23, on my way to Kandiyohi County.
| Family Member | Count |
|---|---|
| Mark | 32 |
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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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