Greene County High Point Trip Report
Date: April 6, 2002
Author: Ken Oeser
Don't forget to visit nearby Moundville Archeaological Park when in the area. This county highpoint took
us 2-3 hours due to lack of enough topo copies for the northernmost area.
one area 2 miles southeast of Snoddy
From exit 45 on Interstate 59/20, go north on Highway 208 for 5.9
miles to the town of Union. Go east on Highway 191 to Snoddy at a stop sign (don't have distance) and
turn right (south) onto a road for 0.2 mile, then left onto Highway 213 and go 0.9 mile. Turn left onto
Highway 220 and drive 1.5 miles to a gate on the right. This appears to be paper company land, possibly
leased for hunting, but not posted. We parked and hiked up the dirt road 0.5 mile to the base of the highpoint,
then turned right and ascended the hill, which has a dirt road and hunting stand on the summit.
This point has some gain (maybe 10 feet) within the contour, and may be the highest in the county.
three areas 1.5 miles north of Union
From Union (see above) go east on Highway 191 1.1 miles and turn left
onto Frenchie Burton Road. Go 0.6 mile and turn left onto Carolyn Carpenter Road, pass a stop sign (with
a possible cable across the road) at 0.3 mile and continue another 0.5 mile to a low spot on the road just
before a steep, rutted road. Park and hike up the dirt road, which crests just south of the middle contour.
Hike north on a dirt road for 0.2 mile to hit both of the small contours (which probably have 2 - 3 feet of
gain), then return to the saddle and hike south along the ridge on a dirt road for 0.3 mile to the larger
contour here. An abandoned house sits a few hundred feet north of the contour near the road. This contour
has 3 - 5+ feet of gain, judged by the saddle within the contour. A water tower sits on the Union BM 0.5
mile south along this road, and the road continues south about a mile total to a red locked gate which we
checked first, before getting directions from a local.
one area 4 miles northeast of Mantua
From Union take Highway 208 north, or from Snoddy take Highway 60
west 4 miles to Mantua. From this intersection go north on 208 for 0.4 mile and turn right onto Highway 186.
Zero the odometer and drive on this road for 1.8 miles where the pavement ends, and continue
(straight at 2.1) for 3.3 miles to a T-shaped intersection and turn left.
Pass an old house at a right curve at 3.7, and turn left
onto another dirt road at 3.9 miles. Drive north on this road along cleared fields about 0.5 mile to a yellow
unposted gate and park next to the road. The old house and cleared area is shown on the topo. It is a hike
of about 1.3 miles north along the road to the highpoint area which will be on the right (east) side of the
road in some woods. The shorter routes from the north and east are all gated and/or posted, but this route
had no such problems. Some signs mention Gulf Shores Paper. We circled the whole area before finding
this route. Unfortunately I had counted on the northern route, so I didn't have the topo area just to the east,
and the continuation of the main road past the old house may give a route that could be driven to this contour.
We drove this way, north and east, for another 1.2 miles or so before returning and checking the
correct road along the cleared fields in relation to the old house. This contour seems to only have a couple
of feet of gain.