Despite living in the northeastern US for six years, I only managed to check off three of the nine state high points.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying. We had plans to summit the highest point in New York before we moved away, but a late spring snowstorm thwarted that one. We also intended to summit the highest point in Maine but ran out of time to sort through the complicated logistics and actually make the trip up there.
I thought I had summited the highest point in Connecticut, but this was before I knew highpointing was a thing, and therefore hadn’t done the necessary research to learn that the highest mountain in Connecticut isn’t actually the state’s highest point.
(Yes, you read that right. The highest mountain in Connecticut is not the highest point in Connecticut. The highest point in Connecticut is actually on the side of a mountain whose summit is in Massachusetts.)
I also thought I had summited the highest point in Rhode Island. In fact, for years I counted this as my first ever high point. But, once again, the lack of research came back to bite me. It turns out the old roadsign at the top of the hill wasn’t marking the true highpoint, but rather the parking area for it. The actual highest point in the state is a short walk to the south (which is much more obvious on the new sign). Since I hadn’t gotten out of the car here, I hadn’t properly visited this high point either.
Long story short, I’d only actually accomplished Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
So when we headed back east for the recent holidays, I was determined to finally visit at least one of these missing high points. Rhode Island ended up being the one that fit best into our trip, so off we went.
Jerimoth Hill is one of the lowest high points in the US, rising to an elevation of just 812 feet (247 m). It’s located about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Rhode Island-Connecticut border along Route 101 in the town of Foster. There is a sign at the top of the hill marking a parking area. From here, it’s about a 5-minute flat walk to the true high point.
We visited on a sunny but chilly day, meaning we didn’t spend too much time here. We signed the register, took some photos, read the sign (what’s a high point without some drama?), and that was about it.
Apparently I didn’t actually take a photo of just the highpoint, but it’s a large boulder with a cairn on top. It’s impossible to miss.
And I guess that’s really all there is to say about this one.
A proper visit to the highest point in Rhode Island, and state high point #16: ✅
Up next: climbing the Boulder Peaks (Colorado)
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