Jersey County High Point Trip Report

Date: December 24, 2000
Author: John Mitchler

In southwest Illinois just north of St. Louis, this beauty lies in Pere Marquette State Park along where the Illinois River enters the Mississippi River. This is the location where Pere entered Illinois (canoeing upstream on the mighty Missouri), thus becoming the first European to do so. A word to the wise: set aside some time for the drive from Alton to Grafton along the river. The rock palisades and the barge traffic are spellbinding and the river towns are scenic. To absorb this setting is what cohping is all about.

West of Grafton on IL100 (McAdams Hwy.), watch for a correctional center and then a monument commemorating Pere's journeys. Watch for Graham Hollow Road on your right (north) which is 17.4 miles from US67 in Alton. Follow this road through the hollow. At mile 1.2 there is a road to the left (west) that climbs the hill directly to the HP, but it was gated when I was there. I continued on for 2.3 miles to Liberty Ridge Rd. I turned left (west) and then immediately again left (south) through Gate 1 onto a paved park road. I followed this for 0.7 miles to another paved park road and made a left turn (south). This road was blocked and unplowed so I parked my car and walked a half mile south along the road to the HP. The HP is a knoll just west of the intersection of 3 paved park roads. The entire area is immature woods and the knoll only requires a 25' ascent. The southern half of the knoll has been whacked off for widening of the park roads.

There are two other possible HP areas of 886+ for Jersey and they lie just north of the park, along Liberty Ridge Rd, on a different topo. The park HP (900+) is on a normal topo and the other two HP's (886+) are on a metric topo. The first of these two areas is only a quarter mile north of the intersection of Graham Hollow Rd and Liberty Ridge Road. The highest land of this area is just south of the water tower. Owners of the house just north of the water tower (labeled Jersey Co. Rural Water) said they heard that the county HP was the second area farther east along Liberty Ridge. From the water tower I drove another half mile east and parked my car. The land appeared very high on the right (south) of the road in a cornfield that was isolated by stands of trees on all sides. I suspect that the true HP of this county is the knoll in the state park, but there's no way to tell so you have to visit all 3 areas.