2023-05-15: Hoosier Hill

Indiana: State High Point 24/50. Elevation 1257'.

"Indiana passes the vibe check."

I woke up in my car at 5 AM at a rest area somewhere in southern Indiana. I hadn't eaten in eighteen hours, my car was still recovering from last night's storm, and the intensity of a three-day solo roadtrip was beginning to drag me down. I went inside, got changed, and then headed out on the highway. I wouldn't really have any energy until I hit Bloomington.

North of the city is a complex of state forests, which I had tentatively looked at while seeking stops along the trip, but I dismissed them as low-priority. However, with two of my planned hikes cancelled and another cut drastically short, I figured I needed to get out of my car and move a bit. My very preliminary research before I left college led me to the Low Gap Trail, a four-mile loop in Morgan-Monroe State Forest home to valleys, waterfalls, and an impressive rock shelter.

The Low Gap Trail was overwhelmingly beautiful to walk through and reminded me a lot of hiking back home in the Catskills, especially in the Neversink region. I was quite surprised by this; I know every state has its hidden wonders, but I had never expected to see anything so much like home in the middle of Indiana. The rock shelter in particular was quite striking, damp and cool (lower than the surrounding 45° F) and brought to mind all sorts of fanciful ideas of using it as a literal shelter. I returned to my car wide awake and rejuvenated in a whole new way, ready to face the final day of my highpointing roadtrip.

Trees along the top of Tincher Ridge in the early morning clouds.

Mixed temperate forest surrounds a shallow seasonal creek at the base of Tincher Ridge, instantly giving sensations of home that I had missed since January.

The trail runs alongside the creek through the base of Sweeney Hollow.

A view of the rock shelter from the creekbed. The shelter was under ten feet tall and at least fifteen feet deep, the largest by far of several similar rock overhangs along the trail.

Rock is exposed in several areas above the trail on both sides.

After finishing the very refreshing loop, I got back on the highway headed northeast  towards Indianapolis. I was searching for lunch, as I was beginning to reach the bottom of the food supplies Audrey had given me for my trip. I discovered here that my stereo was broken, presumably due to the storm in Illinois the previous night. (This storm caused quite a bit of damage to my car that I would discover over the next few days; the stereo eventually fixed itself).

Distracted by the stereo, I pushed on to Richmond IN without food and feeling rather ragged as a result. A few turns off the highway, I began to run into small signs directing highpointers and curious daytrippers to Hoosier Hill, the state's high point, hidden somewhere here among the flat barren cornfields.

One of the street signs marking the route to the highpoint.

Soon I pulled up to Hoosier Hill, a spot I had seen in photos many times. The highest point in Indiana is located in a small patch of woods surrounded by fields on all sides, all of them empty and brown in the mid-May early growing season. While most of the area is remarkably flat, Hoosier Hill is at the crest of a notable incline, although the parking area appears lower in elevation than a nearby field (the high point, in the forest, is higher). Blue gravel covers the area which includes a picnic table, a bench, and an engraved stone marking the highest point in the state.

Looking down Elliott Road, on which Hoosier Hill is located, from the parking area.

An engraved rock and stone cairn marks the highest point of a very flat state.

Wide view of the summit area, including the Highpointers Foundation summit register. Not pictured are the picnic table and bench, which didn't fit in the frame.

A view of the forest surrounding the summit. Forest is rare in this part of Indiana; a few trails seem to wander off into the woods before quickly disappearing.

A view of the spring cornfields that surround the highpoint on all sides.

Hoosier Hill IN, elevation 1257'. US State High Point 24/50.

I stayed at Hoosier Hill for some time, struggling to balance my tight travel schedule and the relatively boring spot against the reverence that I felt a state high point deserved. After all, there are only fifty of them, and each one represents a state conquered. Still, I was soon on the road again, fighting my stereo as I headed for the last new state of my trip: Ohio.