Hampden County Highpoint Trip Report
Round Top Hill (1,781 ft)
Date: October 2, 2006
Authors: Sue Ann Miller and Frank Price
Previous reports are still good but we add information for finding the blazed
course. Standing at the crest on the road look west for an oak that is larger
than most trees around it. On the bark of the fine old specimen, someone carved
a triangle many years ago. It is not painted and is lichen-covered, so the scar
would be easy to miss. The blazes start about 8-10 paces to the right of the oak.
A large boulder to the left of this oak and near the road is 100-150 feet
downhill from a large rock cairn built along the blazed route.
We recommend taking the time to locate and follow this route to the summit.
It winds through the rock bands. Footing is not always good but it is easier to
tread a herd path than to slide in mud, moss, and wet leaves.
CoHPers can thank Will and Sarah Freedberg, whose names appear frequently in the
two registers that are neatly bagged in a pair of red cans at the summit benchmark.
They apparently maintain the blazes and trail of orange tape.
We continued northeast on the road, as suggested in previous reports, and saw the
base of the orange-tape blazed trail along the roadside. It apparently takes
the more moderate northeast slope up, and may serve as an xc-ski route.