Clay County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: January 12, 2007
Author: John Mitchler

Overview

Clay County, Florida, is currently listed as a virgin. Back in October 1999, Fred Lobdell paid a visit to the 300-foot contour (which is listed in Andy Martin's book) and he correctly assessed it is as manmade. It is a mine waste pile from DuPont's active Trail Ridge Mine. This mine is located on leased property on Camp Blanding. The nearest natural, undisturbed ground is a 250-foot contour at the mine's edge.

The general highpoint area is covered by immature pine forest with locally dense underbrush. Mined areas are clear of underbrush and have an exposed surface of pure, white sand.

manmade

natural

Ownership

Camp Blanding (a.k.a. Fort Blanding) is the training ground of Florida's Army National Guard. Of the 73,000 acres, 56,197 acres are part of the Camp Blanding Wildlife Management Area, which is administered by the State of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). DuPont carries a lease of 1,200 acres where they mine heavy minerals for titanium from the sand deposits on the high ridge that extends north-south through the area (and thus features the cohps for Baker, Bradford, and Clay). As Fred notes, Sand Ridge extends all the way down peninsular Florida to Highland County and there are quite a few cohps along it. Dave Covill's "pinpoint" map might demonstrate this nicely.

Some of Camp Blanding is strictly off-limits because it is a bombing range (and duds litter those areas).

Some of Camp Blanding is active training grounds.

Some of Camp Blanding is hunting land managed by FWC.

Some of Camp Blanding is leased to DuPont for mining.

My Recent Visit

I had visited this area a couple years ago and, on January 12, 2007, I revisited the area.

1) I called the FWC regional office in Lake City, FL (386-758-0525) and found that they have an office on Camp Blanding. I contacted them for access to the wildlife management area.

Map of hunting areas

2) I called the Camp Blanding museum (904-682-3196) to discuss access and was referred to Range Control (904-682-3193) who in turn referred me to a civilian forester, Mathew Colby (904-682-3243). He explained to me that the HP area in Section 33 has been clear-cut of a monolithic, exclusionary stand of root-rot prone Sand Pine, in favor of replanting the area with Long Leaf Pine in an effort to create a more natural, native landscape.

3) I visited the DuPont offices at the mine and spoke to a geologist about maps and about the extent of the disturbed land. I parked in a visitor parking space but I had to try several buildings before I found one that was not locked. The geologist I met had several types of mining maps on his walls and he knew about mining activity and the contours and the high ground. He did not want to talk about the mine's product or details of their operations, for which I give him credit.

DuPont mining description

4) I walked the 250-foot closed contour that covers the southwest corner of Section 33 and the northwest corner of Section 4. This area is 2 miles south of Kingsley Lake and 1.5 miles northeast of DuPont's mine.

Candidate Areas

Fred correctly assesses this area as being problematic for locating the true CoHP. The high ground of the county is located on a north-south ridge along the western edge of Clay, with all high ground being within 2 miles of the Clay-Bradford line. Seven miles of highest stretch of this ridge has been mined (shaded stipple on the topo map) and, therefore, the high spots within that area are man-made, or at least man-disturbed. Any remaining natural high ground exists outside this mined area.

Within the mined area I identified the following candidate areas greater than 250 feet (listed from north to south).

250' sec 7 (2 areas)
250' sec 8
260' sec 19/20
250' sec 20
250' sec 29 (2 areas - one with s.e. 251')
250' sec 30 (1 area in SE cor)
250' sec 32 (many areas, two that spillover to sec 31)
275' sec 32
300' sec 6 (NW SE quarter)
250' sec 5 (much of this section is greater than 250')
250' sec 33/4 (appears to be outside of mined area)
250' sec 8 (NE NE quarter)

Evaluation

If we eliminate all the high ground in the mined area as being manmade, this leaves one area of 250 feet outside the mine as being original natural ground. This would be the Clay CoHP.

In agricultural areas around the USA, if we find high ground in a plowed field, we accept it as the CoHP, even though the surface has been highly disturbed by man. If we follow this logic, then the disturbed high ground in Clay's mined area is the CoHP. Fred notes that this analogy is entirely perfect. Plowed fields typically affect only 12 inches and the general undulations of the land are retained whereas, with mined land, the affect goes many feet deep and the surface elevations are completely destroyed.

Besides the destruction of the original surface contours, the mined surface in Clay County is ever-changing. The DuPont geologist confirmed that the high waste piles in Section 6 are not the same as when the topo was created. They are bare of vegetation and are being reworked. If we exclude the active high waste piles in Section 6, other high bumps within the mine might be considered the CoHP because they are not so active; many have grass and trees growing on them. If we do consider these bumps as the CoHP, we will need to field check the mined landscape to visually determine which areas are candidates. Permission will be needed to do a thorough job of this. Permission may be needed for future CoHPers to visit them, although some of the land lies on public hunting grounds (see below).

If instead we elect to consider the highest remaining original surface as the cohp, then it would be the 250-foot contour in Section 33/4. This high ground lies within "Area D" of the FWC hunting map and is considered archery hunting ground. On the map it is shown as the land southeast of the curve, north of Yerkes Road, and west of Duvall Road. I also note that hunting Area E is south and west of these roads in the disturbed mined land.

Directions

Follow these directions to the natural highpoint of Clay County, Florida.

From US 301 in the center of Starke (in northeastern Florida), take signed County Road 230 east, through downtown and out into the country. Cross the Bradford-Clay county line. After 5 miles, stay straight and leave CR 230 as it curves left (north) towards CR 16. Continue straight for a quarter mile to a closed fence gate that indicates the border of Camp Blanding. Turn right (south) on a good paved road and drive 1 mile. Park. Note that the land on the right (west) has the undulating sand surface of disturbed mined land. The land to the left (east) is flat and has been recently cleared of most of the trees. A radio tower marks the highest ground. Cross the fence by climbing over metal gates, not the wire fence. Wander the ground until you're satisfied you hit the highest parts. Stand close to the fence along the road and study the curve in it as it passes over the subtle rise in the land. The highest ground seems to be at the southern end of the closed contour. If you had kept driving south on the road past the CoHP, after another 1/4 mile the road curves to the right (west) towards DuPont's mining operations. At this curve, Yerkes Road extends left (east).