Don't worry. I'm not going to compare one state's high point to another's. Sure, it's true climbing 9,000 feet of a glaciated volcano with the constant threat of avalanches, crevasses, and surprise storms is a little more intense than parking and walking a few feet, but each high point has its charm.
Take West Virginia's Spruce Knob, for example. It's a long, winding drive to the summit's trailhead, but then it's a beautiful walk through the forest and rock fields to the actual high point. It felt like many of the peaks from home. I thought I saw a pika, too, but I'm probably wrong.
Next on the tour was Maryland's high point called Hoye-Crest. The easiest approach is from a small pullout on a road in West Virginia. Walk up an old logging road, through a clear cut, enter Maryland and ride the ridge to the viewless summit. The sections in Maryland were quite nice.
Lastly, Mt. Davis in Pennsylvania. It's another drive up, though this time part of the road wasn't even paved! There's a 50 foot tower atop the high point that gets you above the trees and makes you wonder if you're actually on the high point. Don't worry, there's an interpretive sign confirming the point that looks higher isn't really higher so you know you're in the right place.
All told, it took about four hours of driving and 160 miles to tag all three high points. Actual hiking was only about 3.5 miles and less than 1,000 feet of gain. By squeezing all three into a single day I was able to use all three of my hiking shirts, see a lot of the Appalachians, and save time before my flight out the next evening to see a couple of NPS sites that were otherwise going to be missed. And I raised my high point count to 10.
📍On the lands of the Manahoac, Shawnee, and Osage peoples.
