Miami-Dade County High Point Trip Report
Date: February 5, 2000
Author: Fred Lobdell
There are many areas that are possible HPs of Miami-Dade County.
The majority of these are probably man-made, but someone needs to spend some time
physically investigating each of these possibilities.
Traffic is abominable and I think that at least two full days will be required.
1. Aventura Mall, sec. 3, T. 52 S., R. 42 E. Two areas of 20+. It took me 10 minutes
to find a parking space on a Saturday afternoon and almost 45 minutes to walk completely
around the mall. There are two raised areas right up against the mall.
I thought the first of these might be a natural fossil coral reef until I noticed
the mortar between the blocks of coral. Aventura Mall is just east of US 1,
about a mile south of the Dade/Broward county line.
I recommend avoiding this place on a Saturday, if at all possible.
As a matter of fact, I recommend avoiding it altogether,
as it's not a natural high area.
2. Greynolds Park, sec. 9, T. 52 S., R. 42 E. I paid $2 to get into this city or county park
just so I could report back to you guys! And my report is, save your money.
The small area of 20+ is obviously man-made, a mounded-up area with a stone wall built
on top that serves as part of a play area for children. The park is reached by going
west from US 1 about a half mile on route 860, Miami Gardens Drive. There will be a
brown sign indicating the park to your left (south) and the park entrance is only a
couple of hundred feet up this side road.
3. The third area I visited is an area east of US 1 and west of the Bay Vista campus
of Florida International University. This area, in sec. 21, T. 52 S., R. 42 E.,
is shown as a large area of 20+ that contains a smaller area of 25+ and a tiny area
that rises to 35+. On the north side of the area are signs prohibiting entry and saying
something about it being a closed landfill operated by the city of North Miami.
But there is a small area of 20+ near the road that serves as the north border
of this area, and I should have walked in here just to check it out.
This area is reached by going south on US 1 from its intersection with route 826
(Golden Glades Drive) about 0.75 miles to the entrance to FIU on the left (east).
Here you can turn left and go about a half mile to the athletic field on the left,
where parking can be had. This would be the place to park if you were going to
investigate the small 20+ area mentioned above.
The rest of the area is probably best accessed by continuing south on US 1 to a
small shopping center on the left (east) side. I pulled in here and parked at
the east edge of the parking lot. I walked east into the woods, which are not posted,
and climbed onto the higher ground. There are a number of dirt roads and tracks running
through the area, not shown on the topo. The bodies of water shown on the topo seem
to be dry now, and they had hoses leading out of them. Perhaps they were drained
because of safety considerations.
I walked around much of this area but don't feel
confident that I actually stood on the highest ground. I did not find the small 35+ hill,
if it still exists. I'm not sure that any of this area is a natural surface,
but I don't know that it's entirely artificial, either. If you're doing the Miami-Dade Co. HPs,
I would recommend visiting this area, and perhaps spending more time than the half hour
I spent here. It would be useful to see a map of this area from, say, 50 years ago.
This area was not a total washout: I did see three common ground doves, a new species for me.