Seminole County High Point Trip Report
Date: January 22, 2000
Author: Fred Lobdell
There are three areas of 130-foot elevation, all located near the west county line,
that may be the HP of Seminole County. They are all quite flat and it's not at all
obvious where the highest point might be. It does not make things any easier that
they are in the Orlando area, which has been, and is being, rapidly developed.
So there are many more streets and buildings than shown on the 1980 edition of the topo.
In the town of Altamonte Springs, just north of Orlando, take the first exit
(Exit 48, I think) off I-4 north of the Seminole County line. Go west on FL 436
(Altamonte Ave.) for about 2.5 miles to Lake Brantley rd. Turn right (north) and go about
a mile to a traffic light at a "T" intersection. Turn left (west) and go about a mile
to Hunt Club Rd. (It is not shown on the topo, but Hunt Club Rd. continues
south to Altamaonte Ave. It would have been possible to continue west on Altamonte
and turn right on Hunt Club, but I wasn't aware of it at the time of my
approach to this area.)
Turn right (north) on Hunt Club and go about a half mile to a traffic light.
(The topo shows Hunt Club Rd. as ending here, but it continues north.)
Turn left (west) at the light onto West Wikava Trail, then almost immediately
turn right onto Harrogate Place. The cul-de-sac on the right where the spot
elevation of 131 is shown is Harrogate Court, and I parked here.
There are a couple of places where the sidewalk, and the adjacent yards, goes over a small
rise of a foot or less, but generally it's all pretty flat.
To access the second area, return to Hunt Club Rd. and take it south all the way
to Altamonte Ave., a distance of about a mile and a quarter. Turn right on Altamonte
and go left (south) at the next traffic light. This should be Balmy Beach Rd.
The road rises to the high area in the next half mile. A spot elevation of 133
is given in the development on the west side, at an intersection of three streets.
This is shown as being up the third street on the right, but it's at least the fourth
or fifth street. Anyway, I found the 3-way intersection and stood on the grassy patch
between the streets, which seemed to be about as high as anything in the area and perhaps
a few inches higher than most of the area.
The third area, which is in the southwestern corner of the county, may be accessed by
returning to Balmy Beach Rd. and going south to Bear Lake Rd. Turn right (west) and
take this into Orange County. Take the right just before it ends at a dead end and
follow it to Piedmont Rd. Turn left (south) on Piedmont for a few hundrd feet to the
traffic light at US 441. Turn left (southeast) on 441 and take it about three-quarters
of a mile. Just past the Seminole County line, take the first right turn and find a
place to park. You will be within the third area here. There is a flea market on
your right here, and the highest part of this area seems to be along the line of
telephone poles parallel to the dirt road that fronts the flea market.
This area is also shown as extending to the north side if 441, but the area on the other
side of the highway all looked lower to me.