Source: Fredlyfish4 / Wikimedia Commons
16. Kansas
> Highest peak: Mount Sunflower
> Elevation above sea level: 4,039 ft.
> Coordinates: 39.0° N, 102.0° W
> Value added in 2017 camping, hiking, boating, and hunting: $1.02 billion
> 2018 population: 2,911,510
The state of Kansas is scientifically flatter than a pancake, so its highest point is barely distinguishable from the rest of the state. The name Mount Sunflower is tongue in cheek. The owners of the land, apparently in on the joke, put a plaque at Kansas’ highest point reading “Nothing happened here in 1897.”
Source: LongLiveRock / Wikimedia Commons
17. Kentucky
> Highest peak: Black Mountain
> Elevation above sea level: 4,145 ft.
> Coordinates: 36.9° N, 82.9° W
> Value added in 2017 camping, hiking, boating, and hunting: $1.42 billion
> 2018 population: 4,468,402
Black Mountain has been a huge source of coal in Kentucky for decades. The mining has left the mountain in such precarious shape that would-be climbers must sign a waiver before summiting.
Source: Fredlyfish4 / Wikimedia Commons
18. Louisiana
> Highest peak: Driskill Mountain
> Elevation above sea level: 535 ft.
> Coordinates: 32.4° N, 92.9° W
> Value added in 2017 camping, hiking, boating, and hunting: 1.73 billion
> 2018 population: 4,659,978
Louisiana sits partially below sea level and its highest point doesn’t rise too much higher than that. Driskill Mountain, located in the northern part of the state, is just 535 feet above sea level.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
19. Maine
> Highest peak: Mount Katahdin
> Elevation above sea level: 5,268 ft.
> Coordinates: 45.9° N, 68.9° W
> Value added in 2017 camping, hiking, boating, and hunting: $905.5 million
> 2018 population: 1,338,404
Mount Katahdin derives its name from the Penobscot tribe. In the Penobscot language, “Katahdin” roughly translates to “greatest mountain.” The mountain is the northernmost point on the Appalachian Trail.
Source: Brian M. Powell / Wikimedia Commons
20. Maryland
> Highest peak: Hoye Crest
> Elevation above sea level: 3,360 ft.
> Coordinates: 39.2° N, 79.5° W
> Value added in 2017 camping, hiking, boating, and hunting: $1.93 billion
> 2018 population: 6,042,718
Backbone Mountain, along with other parts of the Allegheny Mountains, make up part of the Eastern Continental Divide. The mountains help to naturally sort the water into the Chesapeake Bay before the water finally flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
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