Mount Sunflower

Mount Sunflower
The "summit" of Mount Sunflower
Elevation	4,039 ft (1,231 m) [1]
Prominence	19 ft (6 m) [2]
Listing	U.S. state high point
Location
Mount Sunflower Wallace County, Kansas, USA
Coordinates	39°01′19″N 102°02′14″W / 39.02194°N 102.03722°W / 39.02194; -102.03722Coordinates: 39°01′19″N 102°02′14″W / 39.02194°N 102.03722°W / 39.02194; -102.03722[1]
Topo map	USGS Mount Sunflower
Climbing
Easiest route	Drive

Mount Sunflower is the highest natural point in the 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 in Montgomery County in southeastern Kansas due to the gradual rise towards the Rocky Mountains to the west. Located in Wallace County, it is less than half a mile (0.8 km) from the Colorado state border and close to the lowest point in Colorado.

Mount Sunflower is located on private land owned by Mike and Rae Marie Jones, who encourage visitors to the site. Amenities include a picnic table, a sunflower sculpture made from railroad spikes, and a plaque that states "nothing happened here in 1897."

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.

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

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Mount Sunflower". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:484933. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
2. ^ "Mount Sunflower, Kansas". Peakbagger.com. http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6307. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 

External links

• Visiting Mount Sunflower
• "Mount Sunflower". SummitPost.org. http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/152360/mount-sunflower.html. Retrieved 2008-12-21.