Illinois's High Point - "Charles Mound"

Illinois's high point is Charles Mound at 1,235 feet. Located on private property, the owners only allow visitors to the high point on the first weekend of June, July, August and September, which meant we had to make a special trip to Chicago to make this high point. We flew into Chicago on the Saturday 2nd June 2007, rented a car and drove straight to the highpoint which is located in the northwest corner of the state, near the town of Galena. As the highpoint is on private property and only open 2 weekends a year, we expected signs. Arriving at lunchtime, the driveway to the property was fenced off so we parked by the roadside and had to walk through the property along the road. We arrived at the top which was marked with a sign and a couple of chairs laid out for people to enjoy the view. The view was ok, but there was a lot of annoying flies. The flies made us take our photos and run. The return trip was about an hour and half.