HikeArizona.COM

*Nerd Alert*

I saw a cool infographic on a social site yesterday and it got me thinking ... what's the highest elevation that occurs on a state border? (boarders sleep, ski, and surf )

Check out the graphic if you want to cheat a little bit, but it doesn't actually answer the question.

I did some research and think I've got it answered, but haven't confirmed it. There are two that are very close to the same, and I haven't taken the time to scan thousands of miles of borders on a topo map.

@chumley
My guess is its going to be somewhere between Nevada and California, isn't some 14er right on their state line?

Seems like the Alaska/Canada border would have some high elevations? They didn’t include it though.

@friendofThundergod
Boundary Peak(13,140'), the highpoint of Nevada, is 1/4 mile from the California state line...just across the line on the California side is Montgomery Peak(13,441')...so I guess the border is in the neighborhood of 13,000 feet -- 12,880' to be exact

I checked and the only higher state border is Mount Saint Elias (18,008'), between Alaska and the Yukon Territory

The Colorado-New Mexico border highpoint is 12,840', so it is not far behind Cal-Nev

The Arizona border high point is 9,320', on the NM border in Apache County

@friendofThundergod I don’t think there’s a 14er right on the Boundary... ;)

@chumley
Alaska / Yukon

@LindaAnn @mazatzal
Since we have yet to adopt Canada as the 53rd state (let's be realistic, DC and PR will come first) Alaska isn't included. But if it was, 18,008-ft St. Elias would easily take the title. What fun is that though?

Speaking of nerd alerts ... St. Elias is the 2nd highest peak in both the US and Canada. I never knew that. Nor did I know what the higher Canadian peak was. Which at 19,551 is also #2 on the continent to Denali.

@chumley The map shows the rest of the states bordering Canada. You didn’t specify a border between two states.

@LindaAnn Chums has been known to move the goal posts a bit as he goes....

DixieFlyer wrote:The Arizona border high point is 9,320', on the NM border in Apache County

The highest Chuska Mtn USGS contour is at 9320, but the border is higher than the map contour. The NED sync pins it at 9345, but there's some room for error there.

It looks like the highest crossing in the White Mountains is just east of Escudilla on the slopes of Turner Peak at ~9280.

@LindaAnn @friendofthundergod ok you both win. Would you prefer a medal, a plaque, or a trophy? PM me your address so I can send it to you.

@chumley
Nobody wins, because I don't even believe in artificially drawn borders by colonial oppressors.

Of course it’s Lee who ends up getting the thread locked...

@LindaAnn
Well it was this or getting outraged about a completely non enforceable mask mandate while recreating outdoors on federal land,

@DixieFlyer
You seem to be enjoying this ... what are the high points for all of Arizona's borders with other states?
Utah:
Nevada:
California:
Baja:
Sonora:

@dixieflyer Don’t give him the elevations for Baja and Sonora—he doesn’t think a state’s international border counts for elevation purposes.

@chumley
Changing my answer after rereading the title and OP.
"Highest Border Elevation"
"what's the highest elevation that occurs on a state border?"
New answer: Chomolungma

@LindaAnn Are they on the map I posted?

@chumley The borders are there, but there’s no legend to even tell you what the colors mean. This was really a terrible map and reddit post. Two entire states are missing.

Do you think the Kansas-Nebraska border is the least variable? It's a damn near perfect slope from the Colorado line to the Missouri River.

Or in Linda's world would that have to be the Hawaii border?