Clay County Highpoint Trip Report
six areas (1,540+ ft)
Date: November 26, 2004
Author: Mark Ness
Clay County's highpoint areas are located in Sections 1 and 2 of Tansem Township. I visited them during a
snowfall near the height of the full moon. I numbered the areas 1-6 from west to east. Areas 1-5 were in
fields of 2-foot high wild grass. It could have been a crop, though.
My approach to the Clay County High Point areas: From the intersection of U.S. Highway 10 and
Minnesota State Highway 34 in Detroit Lakes, I drove west on U.S. 10 (4 lanes, divided) for 20 miles to a
left turn onto S.H. 32. I went south on S.H. 32 for 12.5 miles, and turned left onto 130th Avenue south
(which was 1 mile south of Clay County Road 6). At 1 mile, 130th Avenue became "Minimum
Maintenance". It seemed true enough. Up to that point there were a few tire tracks in the snow but none
after that. Going 0.35 mile on that road brought me to the summit ridge where the road crested.
I parked on the road crest.
Due to the darkness, I did not take any photographs of this effort. It was then that I noticed the two radio
towers to the southwest. The northern one was a standard red light tower. The southern one was a blinking
blue-white light. These helped me keep my bearings throughout the hike.
Area 1: I hiked the summit ridge north-northwest to the obvious (even in near darkness) HP.
Area 2: From area 1, I walked east (to avoid the depression), then northeast toward area 2. At about the
mid-section line, I encountered an extremely thick row of evergreen trees, 3-4 trees thick. I looked for a
break in the tree line but did not see one, so I plunged through. From there, I crossed through the grass to
area 2, fairly obvious but not especially prominent, a 19-minute walk from area 1 which could have been cut
shorter as I could see a break in the trees after I arrived at area 2.
Area 3: This was just a few hundred feet from area 2 and about the same. A 4-minute walk.
Area 4: This is a large area and took some time to traverse, 10 minutes.
Area 5: This one is also large and fairly flat, 11 minutes.
Area 6: From area 5, I walked east toward area 6, crossed a barbed-wire fence to a field road on the section line.
Area 6 was an insignificant bump in the woods, just over the line in Section 1. While walking in the area,
I looked toward the south and noticed that the road rose significantly and seemed substantially higher
than area 6. I followed the field road, which went straight south toward the "Minimum Maintenance" Road.
About 100 yards south of Area 6, the road did rise significantly, seeming to me to be above area 6.
I should go back in the daytime and check again.
The walk back on the road is almost 3/4 mile. For those of you with a fellow traveler
who does not like to hike, this would be a good place for them to drive to area 6 and pick you up.
The total time for me was 1 hour and 21 minutes.