I am proud to say that my five-year-old son, Danny, and I recently became highpointers. Before a recent podcast episode, I didn’t know what a highpointer is. It is someone who travels to the highest points in states, counties, countries, etc. Danny and I traversed the Mt. Everest of New England, Rhode Island’s Jerimoth Hill.
At 812 feet, Jerimoth Hill is one the shortest high points in the union (46 out of 50). Jerimoth is in Foster, Rhode Island, just before the border with Connecticut. We parked on the north side of Route 101, just after the sign for Jerimoth Hill. Crossing the busy road was certainly the most treacherous part of the journey. There seemingly is a parking lot next to the entrance on the south side of the road but due to the few inches of snow, we played it safe.
Get your crampons ready!
A sign greets you to begin the arduous trek up the tallest peak in the Bay State. For a hill, this is one walk on flat ground. Signage along the way leads in the direction of the top of the hill. About halfway from the lot, there is a marker identifying a survey that took place here in 1968. Given that our trek was in the snow, other footsteps, both human and canine, attested that others were here recently.
Eventually, a little over a quarter-mile from the road there was a clearing. This is where my confusion set in. For a location with signs pointing to Jerimoth Hill on almost every fifth tree, the signs stopped at this clearing. One sign said bear right for the hill and straight for a path. I assumed the high point was in the clearing. Although in pictures I have seen there was a rock and a box to sign in and declare for posterity that you have traveled to this peak, I didn’t find the box and the rock was covered in snow.
What I did see near the clearing were two decrepit shack-like buildings and the remains of something with metal objects stuck out of the ground which is most likely a remnant of the observatory that was once located here. My guess is that due to the snow, the box was covered since the footprints ended in the clearing, which is where I knew the high point is.
Scaling Jerimoth Hill
Jerimoth Hill is a super easy hike, actually more like a walk. In preparation for our walk, Danny and I had fun looking at his atlas of the United States, which labels each state’s highest point. After scaling Jerimoth Hill, Danny was proud to say he climbed it himself. To be fair, he couldn’t really grasp why this walk was not very hilly and was probably expecting a bit more. Either way, I am happy I was finally able to scale Jerimoth Hill.
If you’re looking for more Rhode Island fun, check out: Long Live Beerworks.
