Rhode Island High Point Trip Reports

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The highest point in Rhode Island is Jerimoth Hill. It is in the west central part of the state, near the Connecticut border. The land is owned by Brown University. There are no roads connected to the property so they use an easement from a property owner to access the land from State Route 101. At the summit there is a small patch of cleared land, a mailbox that houses the summit registry and a large rock that is the actual high point.

Although the high point is only a few hundred yards off of State Route 101 and rises only five feet in elevation, for many years it was one of the most difficult high points to reach because of access restrictions. The owner of the land between the highway and the high point originally allowed people to cross his property to reach the summit, but after years of abuse he closed the access completely. After much pressure from the High Pointers Club, the owner agreed to open his property for five days a year. In 2005, the property was sold and the new owners created a path to the high point and allow access daily, from 8 AM to 4 PM.

2009, November 8th

On vacation this summer I wasn't able to hike Wheeler Peak in New Mexico because of my injury, I told myself that I would at least pick up Rhode Island by the end of the year. Time was running out, so Todd and I decided to take a trip to Jerimoth Hill. Since Snoopy is feeling better lately, we decided to take him on our adventure. In the morning my friend Jenn, Lacey and I ran Talcott Mountain in Simsbury, up to Heublein Tower. Snoopy waited in the car and went on our cool down walk with us. Jenn and I are planning on running the Meriden Tradition Run in January. It is a road race that climbs Castle Craig and we need to do hill training. Todd decided to run the Parker Holt Road Race in Manchester at 11 AM. I met him at the race and we left from there.

We took I-384 to Route 44 and then we got on Route 101. I had never been on the back roads in that area. It was very scenic with little towns and lots of trees. We drove near the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Just before crossing into Rhode Island, Todd told me to take a few deep breaths and then hold it. Todd gets funny ideas and most of the time I go along with him. So I held my breath. At least, for a little while. I soon tired of his game and started breathing again. But he continued to hold his and after a minute or so, at the top of a hill, he finally took a breath. Then he got a big smile and said, "We are there." as he pointed at a sign outside my window. We did a u-turn and parked across the road.

Of course, the beagles were excited to be there and there was much barking. We crossed the road, read the sign and started down the trail. A couple minutes later we reached the summit and were greeted by swarms of biting lady bugs. Todd insists that the trail does not rise five feet from the road to the summit, but I have no issues believing the experts. Our friends Jenn and Kevin were there a few days before, so I pulled out the summit registry and found their entry. Todd pulled out the video camera and since there wasn't much to see, we spent most of the time decided how many high points Bentley and I have been to. Years later, I am sure we will be so excited to watch that conversation! It was mid afternoon and I hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we took a few pictures, Todd signed the registry and we left. Everyone piled everyone back in the car and headed back to Connecticut.