The tallest points in Florida: more than Disneyworld
August 12, 2013 7:06 PM Subscribe
If you ever happen to be in Florida and some challenges you to climb the tallest peak, believing they have you beat because they think Disney World's Expedition Everest is the tallest "mountain" in the state, don't worry! There are more than 50 points that are taller than the summit of Expedition Everest, with it's peak less than 200 feet above sea level. A Summit Post member chronicled their adventures to the four tallest "mountains" in Florida, and included a note about Spook Hill (YouTube; Wikipedia).
If you look at a topographic representation of Florida, you'll notice that the panhandle is higher than much of the rest of the state, so the four first highest points aren't as impressive. That takes you to Sugarloaf Mountain, a peak of some 312 feet above sea level. It has a nice view, but it lacks the mechanical yeti on Expedition Everest.
If you look at a topographic representation of Florida, you'll notice that the panhandle is higher than much of the rest of the state, so the four first highest points aren't as impressive. That takes you to Sugarloaf Mountain, a peak of some 312 feet above sea level. It has a nice view, but it lacks the mechanical yeti on Expedition Everest.
Summiting the four highest peaks in florida? its on my bucket list now.
posted by phoffmann at 7:24 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by phoffmann at 7:24 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
I married my first wife at Bok Tower Gardens, and it really is a lovely place. She's a great woman who takes care of the elderly, and outclasses me in every way. There's not another damn thing nice I can say about Lake Wales Florida though, so I'll stop right there.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:38 PM on August 12, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:38 PM on August 12, 2013 [6 favorites]
I never watched "The A Team" as a kid, so I checked out the first volume from the library several years ago. One of the earlier episodes had them heading to a prison in Florida through very California-esque hills. For a Floridian, it kind of takes you out of it a bit.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:06 PM on August 12, 2013
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:06 PM on August 12, 2013
Wasn't it Mark Twain who said "The lowest points in my life transpired atop the tallest points in Florida"?
Answer: No. No, it wasn't.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:10 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Answer: No. No, it wasn't.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:10 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Summiting the four highest peaks in florida? its on my bucket list now.
Actually, three of the four peaks are in one County, and the fourth (and the tallest, which has a nice monument declaring it as such) is in the neighboring county. I think you could hit all four in a day or two.
Once you reach that peak, you could work up to Louisiana (535 ft) and Mississippi (806 ft). Kansas, for being flatter than a pancake, has more distance from its lowest to highest point ("Mount" Sunflower is 3,300 feet above the lowest point in Kansas).
posted by filthy light thief at 8:20 PM on August 12, 2013
Actually, three of the four peaks are in one County, and the fourth (and the tallest, which has a nice monument declaring it as such) is in the neighboring county. I think you could hit all four in a day or two.
Once you reach that peak, you could work up to Louisiana (535 ft) and Mississippi (806 ft). Kansas, for being flatter than a pancake, has more distance from its lowest to highest point ("Mount" Sunflower is 3,300 feet above the lowest point in Kansas).
posted by filthy light thief at 8:20 PM on August 12, 2013
All of the central structures in Walt disney world parks are a hair under 200 feet so they don't have to have airline signalers on them. Except spaceship earth at Epcot.
posted by Brainy at 8:24 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Brainy at 8:24 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
"Wasn't it Mark Twain who said "The lowest points in my life transpired atop the tallest points in Florida"? ...."
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:10 PM on August 12
My dad said something like that, before he died. His lawyer's office happened to be on one of the upper floors of the Wells Fargo Center, previously known as the Modis Building. Great view, bad coffee.
posted by paulsc at 8:36 PM on August 12, 2013
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:10 PM on August 12
My dad said something like that, before he died. His lawyer's office happened to be on one of the upper floors of the Wells Fargo Center, previously known as the Modis Building. Great view, bad coffee.
posted by paulsc at 8:36 PM on August 12, 2013
People tend to snicker at me when I call the spine of Florida the "toehills of the Blue Ridge mountains", but it's not that much of an exaggeration.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:34 PM on August 12, 2013
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:34 PM on August 12, 2013
I'd heard it was a garbage dump, but all I can find is Mount Trashmore which comes in at 225 ft.
posted by Lukenlogs at 11:13 PM on August 12, 2013
posted by Lukenlogs at 11:13 PM on August 12, 2013
So if you're on the 70th floor of the Four Seasons Miami, you're the highest human being in Florida (well, with the exceptions of the denizens of the bars on Cocoa Beach, who seem to have misunderstood how 'Buzz' Aldrin got his name)?
posted by Devonian at 11:14 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Devonian at 11:14 PM on August 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
[Sugar Loaf Mountain] "is also the 13th most isolated point in the Contiguous United States."
Oh, come on, we're talking east coast; this cannot be true, and I'm 3rd generation Florida cracker. I'll bet there are 14 more isolated places in the BWCA, 28 more in Wyoming, 56 more in Montana, god knows what's in the entire 4 corners area, plus 112 more in Idaho.
But that spine of FL, like Greg_Ace sez,... it's gonna be a string of islands one day. More the northern Keys than the southern Apps.
posted by agog at 11:19 PM on August 12, 2013
Oh, come on, we're talking east coast; this cannot be true, and I'm 3rd generation Florida cracker. I'll bet there are 14 more isolated places in the BWCA, 28 more in Wyoming, 56 more in Montana, god knows what's in the entire 4 corners area, plus 112 more in Idaho.
But that spine of FL, like Greg_Ace sez,... it's gonna be a string of islands one day. More the northern Keys than the southern Apps.
posted by agog at 11:19 PM on August 12, 2013
I married my first wife at Bok Tower Gardens, and it really is a lovely place...There's not another damn thing nice I can say about Lake Wales Florida though, so I'll stop right there.
My wife and I were married at Bok Tower too. The squirrels there will climb right up your leg if they so much as glimpse a nut-like object in your hands. I once saw a guy with a bloody hand where the squirrel had mistaken his thumb for a nut. Those squirrels *don't* mess around.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 12:08 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
My wife and I were married at Bok Tower too. The squirrels there will climb right up your leg if they so much as glimpse a nut-like object in your hands. I once saw a guy with a bloody hand where the squirrel had mistaken his thumb for a nut. Those squirrels *don't* mess around.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 12:08 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
ah, Mount Trashmore. it's widely known in South Florida as the tallest spot around (it is quite far from Sugarloaf). Not sure if it is true, but it does make for a good story.
posted by evening at 5:19 AM on August 13, 2013
posted by evening at 5:19 AM on August 13, 2013
None of the five reports for Broward County on County High Points list Mount Trashmore as a peak, which is a shame, as the next tallest point in the county is 29 feet above sea level, if I'm reading that report correctly.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:01 AM on August 13, 2013
posted by filthy light thief at 7:01 AM on August 13, 2013
The stretch in Central FL that runs from Hernando Co through Pasco, Polk and into Osceola looks like you're in the rolling hills of Kentucky or Northern GA. It's some of the prettiest parts of the state and has become a winter destination for cyclists around the country. Sugarloaf doesn't look like much in photos but when you're at the bottom looking up from a bike it's pretty damn intimidating.
posted by photoslob at 7:03 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by photoslob at 7:03 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
The highest point in Fairfax County, VA, is a landfill.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:44 AM on August 13, 2013
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:44 AM on August 13, 2013
agog, most isolated point means topographic isolation, not geographic isolation. i.e. How far it is from a point higher than it.
posted by ambrosen at 8:20 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ambrosen at 8:20 AM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
The highest point in Delaware is a suburban development.
posted by interplanetjanet at 11:39 AM on August 13, 2013
posted by interplanetjanet at 11:39 AM on August 13, 2013
This reminds me of a random topological fact: The lowest point in Colorado (Arikaree River at 3,315 feet) is higher than the highest point in Pennsylvania (Mt. Davis at 3,213 feet) and the highest point in 18 other states.
posted by soelo at 12:06 PM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by soelo at 12:06 PM on August 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
« Older Daft Signz | If I Could Just Teach This to You Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by filthy light thief at 7:11 PM on August 12, 2013