Sacramento County Highpoint Trip Report

Carpenter Hill (828 ft)

Date: April 3, 2005
Author: Chad Thomas

Not much has changed (regarding access) since the most recent trip reports have been filed, though construction in the subdivisions continues to progress. I was on the way back to the Bay Area with my girlfriend after spending the morning skiing in South Lake Tahoe. A small storm was moving in earlier than we had expected, so it was getting colder then we had prepared for and we happened to leave the resort early. On the way back we decided adding this latest HP to our list was an excellent opportunity to stretch our legs before "saving" some money at the nearby REI.

After taking the East Bidwell exit and heading north, we followed the directions outlined by Robert Green (just to see a bit of the subdivision I guess). A few houses near the top looked as though owners were beginning to move in, although other houses were still open and construction finishing up. There continues to be a more direct access, as Peter Maurer points out, by taking Iron Point Road and parking just past the top at an entry into new subdivisions -- one of these is still only a collection of foundations. On our route, just a few yards before the end of Caversham where it turns left before ending in the cul-de-sac, we parked on the side of the road.

From here we could have actually driven through an open metal gate (the one mentioned by Dale Millsap which still doesn't have a fence to one side of it) and up the one lane paved road to the benchmark. We chose to walk up the road, though, and within 200 yards easily found the benchmark on the left side. There weren't any "no trespassing" signs en route, and the only people we saw was a friendly couple checking out some of the unlocked houses. I believe they had already purchased one of them.

The trip was well worth the short detour despite the cloud cover. We could just make out downtown Sacramento, but too cloudy to see the Sutter Buttes or any far-off highpoints. The view of the immediate area wasn't too bad though -- nice and green -- and we walked around the hill a bit checking out the many wildflowers in bloom.