Miami—Some climbers dream of summiting Mount Everest. Others chase the tallest peaks in all 50 states. And then there are the truly rare mountaineers: those who aspire to reach the highest point in a flat-as-an-arepa county like Miami-Dade.
They’re members of the Highpointers Club, a small but enthusiastic group of hobbyists who travel the United States documenting their journeys to the tallest natural peak in every state and, for the truly obsessive, every county. (Landfills and other artificial peaks don’t count.) No one has ever done all the counties—or even come close. The current leader, Bob Schwab, has reached the peak of just 2,385 of America’s 3,143 counties.
Sometimes, reaching a county high point means scaling a majestic peak like Mount Rainier (the highest point in Pierce County, Washington, elevation 14,411 feet). But, for this group at least, that’s easy. Hundreds of thousands of people have done that.
A county like Miami-Dade, however, is harder.
For starters, the land is so flat that there are 28 areas at roughly 20 feet of elevation that might be the highest natural point in Miami-Dade. To say for sure that you’ve been to the peak of the county, you have to stand on top of all of them. Just driving to all 28 points through Miami traffic is a momentous feat. Then you have to sweet talk or sneak past the private property owners who own the land or, in some cases, the public officials guarding government property.
