Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I guess it's not to surprising if you swapped Hawaii and Wyoming you would have a top 5 most people would consider to be the top 5 most beautiful states.
It's amazing to me that Santiago Peak, which is right behind my town, at 5689' is higher than any point in 31 states! It's a very small mountain by California and even by local standards. And looking over the list...what qualifies to be called a "mountain" is obviously relative and the distinction between mountain and hill is very fuzzy.
Does anybody talk about Santiago peak in the oc? Is it well known?
Fresno county has 17 peaks taller than Wyoming's tallest, yet nobody ever brings them up locally. It seems like the ocean overshadows everything out here in CA. That's def not the case in the PNW.
No, I'm not surprised that California is mountainous, I knew that. It's just eye-opening to see the states listed like this. I would have thought the Plains states, some of which I've visited, would be low on the list but they are positively hilly compared to some others.
I think it may seem that way without some perspective. For instance Kansas is basically one continual gradual slope toward the Rockies. It is still much less hilly than a Michigan or Wisconsin(or even Iowa) Here's the wikipedia about "Mt. Sunflower". It's located on the border with Colorado and there isn't a hill to be seen for miles. Similar to other plains states that are on the continental lead up to the Rockies.
If we're going from lowest elevation to highest then California would actually be 14,787 feet as Badwater Basin in Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level (Whitney's elevation is 14,505)
Meant to write:
"highest lowest elevation" to the "highest elevation."
One thing I found interesting is that most highest summits butt up against the border of another state. Very rarely are tallest peaks in the middle of the state.
Does anybody talk about Santiago peak in OC? Is it well known?
Fresno county has 17 peaks taller than Wyoming's tallest, yet nobody ever brings them up locally. It seems like the ocean overshadows everything out here in CA. That's def not the case in the PNW.
It's well known as the highest point in the county, and is visible from most of the southern parts, but most people don't know the correct name; they call it "Saddleback." It's a big deal when there is snow on Santiago/Saddleback.
The list of highest elevations per state does not necessarily equate to whether the topography is predominantly hilly or flat. Most of Pennsylvania, for example, has very hilly terrain including long developed areas of some of the state's largest cities - streets with steep gradients are very easy to find in Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton and more. But there tends to be one ridge and valley after another across much of the state, so the elevations never get particularly high.
Mt Washington is the most prominent mountain west of the Rockies.
Mt Washington is the 23rd most prominent mountain in the Lower 48 States (so, excluding AK and HA).
Mt Rainier is the most prominent peak in the Lower 48 (13.2k').
Only two mountains in the front ranges of the Rockies are more prominent than Mt Washington:
Mt Elbert in CO (9.1k'), the highest peak in the Rockies, #4 of the 23 - it's about 75 miles west of the eastern edge of the Sawatch Range.
Cloud Peak in WY in the Bighorn Mts (7.1k'), #15 - it's about 20 miles west of the eastern edge of the Bighorns.
Two other peaks in WY are also more prominent than Mt Washington:
Gannett Peak (7.1k'), the highest peak in WY and in the Central Rockies, in the Wind River Range to the SE of the Tetons, #16.
Grand Teton (6.5k') in the Teton Range, #17
NV has two peaks that are more prominent than Mt Washington
Charleston Peak (8.3k'), #8; and
Wheeler Peak (7.6k'), #12.
UT has one peak slightly more prominent - King's Peak (6.4k'), #19
AZ has one peak slightly more prominent - Mt Graham (6.3k'), #20.
CA, OR and WA have 13 other peaks more prominent than Mt Washington.
MT, ID and NM have no peaks more prominent than Mt Washington, which is kind of shocking.
(Mt Washington is the 59th most prominent in USA. 3 more prominent in HA, the rest are in Alaska. Mt Mitchell in NC is #62, and Mt Marcy in NY is #129.)
When you drive across Nebraska on I-80 you gain almost 4,500' in elevation without really realizing it. Omaha is at 1,089', and Burns, WY (a mile or so west of the Nebraska state line) is 5,518'.
Panorama Point is just a high spot in a field near the Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska border. There are more impressive, albeit lower, hills near Chadron and between Kimball and Scottsbluff.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
