Nebraska's highest ground is less a summit than a gentle swell in a pasture, standing 26 feet above the land around it in the southwest corner of Kimball County. The stone monument on top gives 5,424 feet; the current survey datum puts it at 5,429. Either way it is higher than Denver.
Two Kimball County men, Art Henrickson and Claude Alden, settled on this spot as the state's high point in October 1951, working with an altimeter from the First World War. The Kimball Chamber of Commerce put up the summit monument in 1971, and the Highpointers Foundation, the club for people who climb the highest point in every state, later added a marker and a bench.
The point is on the High Point Bison Ranch, private land. Visitors leave the fee in a box at the gate, drive the ranch road to the top, sign the register, and stay clear of the bison, which graze the pasture and can be dangerous. Colorado lies to the south and Wyoming to the west, wind turbines stand on the land to the south, and on a clear day the Rockies show on the western skyline. About 1.2 miles away, across the line in Colorado, a survey marker sets the corner common to Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. The way in is on gravel county roads that are best left alone in wet weather; the welcome center at I-80 Exit 20 in Kimball has maps.
The closest stops worth working into your route
Roadside plaques and monuments within a short detour