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Mount Sunflower

Coordinates: 39°01′19″N 102°02′14″W / 39.02194°N 102.03722°W / 39.02194; -102.03722
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mount Sunflower
The "summit" of Mount Sunflower
Highest point
Elevation4,039 ft (1,231 m)[1]
Prominence19 ft (5.8 m)[2]
ListingU.S. state high point 28th
Coordinates39°01′19″N 102°02′14″W / 39.02194°N 102.03722°W / 39.02194; -102.03722[1]
Geography
Mount Sunflower is located in Kansas
Mount Sunflower
Mount Sunflower
Kansas
LocationSoutheast Quarter of Section 12, Township 12 South, Range 43 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, Wallace County, Kansas, U.S.
Topo mapUSGS Mount Sunflower
Climbing
Easiest routeDriving

Mount Sunflower, although not a true mountain, is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Kansas.[1] At 4,039 feet (1,231 m), it is 3,300 feet (1,010 m) above the state's topographic low point, which lies on the opposite side of the state. It is located between the communities of Kanorado and Weskan in Wallace County, less than half a mile (0.8 km) from the state border with Colorado and is close to the lowest point in Colorado.

Mount Sunflower is located on private land owned by Ed and Cindy Harold, who encourage visitors to the site. Amenities include a picnic table, a little free library, a sunflower sculpture made from railroad spikes, and a plaque on the site stating, "On this site in 1897, nothing happened." Additionally, there is a mailbox on site with a registration book inside where visitors can write their names, where they are from, and how many members are in their party.

Access is via county dirt roads to the edge of the property, then across a cattle guard and onto a private dirt road through a cattle grazing pasture to the summit.Mount Sunflower was designed as Kansas’ highest point by a United states geologiccal survey in 1961. In the late 1970s Ed Harold decided to commemorate this site, homesteaded by his grandparents in 1906. The most famous attraction at the site is the sunflower sculpture made from railroad spikes and welded together.[citation needed]

The state of Kansas gradually increases in elevation from the east to the west. As such, Mount Sunflower, while the highest natural point in the state in terms of elevation, is virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding terrain.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mount Sunflower". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  2. ^ "Mount Sunflower, Kansas". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  3. ^ "Mount Sunflower | GeoKansas".
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