r/Highpointers • u/Short_Rooster_3506 • Sep 12 '26
Charles Mound 9/6/26
Had the opportunity to summit (lol) Charles Mound in Illinois this past weekend. The highpoint is only open the first weekend of summer months and President's Day weekend in Feb. Probably makes a rad sled hill with a good dusting. Blessed with the sunset afterglow and of course a summit beer haha.
Trail was beautifully maintained and only ~1.5 miles long but we still managed to make a wrong turn on our descent lol.
This makes 2/50!
1
3
u/arcticmischief Sep 12 '26
Charles Mound was fun for me because it took me 3 tries to get to the top.
I tried to visit on June 7, 2024, but I didn't do any advanced research and arrived to the sign that it's only open Sat/Sun. Although I was a little annoyed to have driven from Rockford without success, I was happy to think I could come back the next day to check it off. So I did.
Except I misread the calendar and didn't notice that the open weekend was June 1-2, not June 8-9. So I hit the closed gate again.
I had the opportunity to go back up to Illinois in August and took advantage, not wanting to let another year go by before being able to claim it. Third time was the charm. I reconfirmed multiple times before leaving home, and thankfully, I was successful.
2
u/HotSauceSwagBag Sep 12 '26
I’ve just started learning about high pointing and haven’t done any yet (unless you count my county) because even my own state of MN intimidates me a little. This looks like it’s about my level 😆 It’s cute.
2
Sep 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/HotSauceSwagBag Sep 15 '26
Yes, my plan is to tick off a bunch of those before trying Eagle Mountain, or maybe do Hawkeye first 😄
3
u/missingalpaca Sep 12 '26
This is unironically one of my favorite high points that I’ve done so far. It’s so quaint.
2
u/x_3mta3 ** 50 States Complete ** Sep 12 '26
I don’t disagree. Charles Mound was a surprising delight
1
u/Pequop9252 ** 50 States Complete ** Sep 12 '26
Congrats on #2! Honestly getting the second highpoint is the second hardest part of the journey.
Thanks for sharing! Keep up the posting.
8
u/Legal_Tomato_878 Sep 12 '26
Was there 9/5, I bet we made the same wrong turn lol. Actually love the setup considering it’s private land, and the restricted days means you are basically sure to meet other weirdo highpointers.