Highpoint #19: Mississippi

Return Cross-Country Highpointing Trip, Stop #3

Vanity Shot at the Summit of Woodall Mountain

Steadily heading home from California, we dipped south from Tennessee to visit the highpoint of Mississippi.  Near the small town of Iuka, the highpoint is located very close to point where the borders of Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi all intersect.  Fortunately, for this weary traveler, the highpoint is located pretty close to major roads, so this was not the biggest of deviations. 

The highpoint itself is called Woodall Mountain.  Now, mountain is probably a generous term for a summit whose elevation is a mere 807 feet!  With that said, what Woodall Mountain has going for it is that its summit actually does have prominence.  Indeed, one can actually make out the hill and its peak from a distance, which can not be said for the highpoint in neighboring Louisiana, for example. 

Thankfully, the Highpoint is Very Easy to Find!

The directions to the mountain were pretty easy to follow, all the more so with fairly good signage along the way.  The final approach to the summit is an unpaved road about a mile in length that winds its way up the hill.  The entrance to the road is prominently marked with a sign from the Highpointers Foundation which gives some background on the highpoint.  For example, by reading the sign, I learned that the mountain is really a “monadnock”.  Yay, my first monadnock!  

200' of Elevation Gain!!

After a quick photo stop, we continued on blithely with our winter ascent.  While the road was unpaved, there was nothing really remarkable about it.  The mile passed by rather quickly, and we soon found ourselves at the top.  Really this was a relief after all of the ice and snow at the Missouri highpoint. 

Fancy Summit Register!

At the top, there was some concerted effort to make the place special.  There was a shiny, new black mailbox that contained the summit register.  Beyond the mailbox, there was a large boulder that at one time contained a plaque that commemorated the place.  Said plaque was sadly missing from the boulder on my visit.  Seriously?  Yes, seriously. 

Um, Where is the Plaque???

Only in Mississippi...

In front of the boulder though, there was raised cylindrical mound of cement that housed the USGS marker that officially marked the highpoint.    

Official USGS Benchmark Marker

To the side of the boulder, there was a bench where one could have a rest.  There was also a posted sign displaying a phone number that one can call for a “self-guided audio tour”.  I guess Woodall Mountain is one of the --many-- highlights of Tishomingo county, Mississippi.  Who knew?  We opted not to call for additional information, but it’s good that the local community is pretty enthusiastic about what their area has to offer. 

Wait There's More!  Explore Tishomingo County!!

I wish I could report that we spent some time taking in the view before departing, but there really was not much to see from the summit.  Worse, we were kind of itching to just head home after all of these travels.  So we bade Woodall Mountain adieu, and called it a wrap.