A number of geocaches have been placed on high points with great views in Jackson County, including Black River SF Cache, Castle View, and Wildcat's Revenge. But no one had placed a cache on the highest point in Jackson County, so I decided to fix that.
Start on State Highway 54, and then turn north on to Saddle Mound Road. Park on the shoulder of Saddle Mound Road at coordinates N44 20.836 W90 30.338.
From the parking location you should see a sand trail/road that leads towards the mound. About 300 meters from the parking location (at N44 20.854 W90 30.137) you'll come to a fork in the trail. Here is where you choose how difficult you want the cache hunt to be. Heading north takes you directly up the west end of the mound. Although no hand climbing is required, it does get very steep at times. This route is recommended for Indiana Jones types. Heading east takes you on a trail that slowly winds up the mound. (This trail will curve north, then west toward the cache.) It is a much longer hike, but it doesn't get steep until you get very close to the cache. This route is recommended for Marcus Brody types.
Your ultimate goal is to reach a lookout area with a great view of the forest to the south, which is approximately in the middle of the mound. The cache itself is within 50 meters of the lookout area.
Cache container is a green, .30 caliber ammo can. Please be careful when looking for the cache because there are steep slopes in the area... just remember the cache is hidden in an area that is relatively easy to get to. Cache contains the usual geocache stuff (including a disposable camera). Featured cache items: "Girl, Interrupted" VHS tape and a Lee Ann Womack CD.
I'm pretty sure the highest part of Saddle Mound is the far west end, where a lookout tower and USGS benchmark can be found. So if you want to claim that you visited the highpoint and you took the easy way up, you'll have to head over there from the cache. Note the lookout tower is not intended to be used by visitors.
I've also got to thank my sister, Valerie, who climbed up the mound (the hard way... even though she really didn't want to) and helped me hide the cache.