First State National Monument Highpoint Trip Report

Date: July 25, 2013
Author: John Mitchler

All coordinates use the WGS84 datum.

General Description: Farmland and wooded hills on either side of the border of Delaware and Pennsylvania is the setting for several short walks on trails and along roads to reach several separate highpoint areas. They are connected by a network of hiking trails among farms which comprise the Woodlawn Trustees, Inc., and the experience of reaching them is reminiscent of hill walking in the British Isles.

Steps of Finding the Highest Point:

A) After this monument was announced in March 2013, Dave Covill assessed the three NPS (National Park Service) comprising sites which are separated by many miles - Dover, New Castle, and Woodlawn, the latter which he found to have the highest ground.

B) The next step was guessing the possible boundary. The Woodlawn site centers on Woodlawn Trustees, Inc. land, a map of which is available from their web site. Dave and I separately traced their boundary lines on printed topo maps, identifying five sites containing nine contours of 410 feet and one of 420 feet, the latter not being on Woodlawn trust land. I’ve denoted these sites, listed from north to south, as the following, with a map link to the highest ground (after field inspection) ...

C) Then in late June 2013, Fred Lobdell obtained a draft NPS boundary map along with a qualification that the boundary is still being defined and is subject to change. This map may not yet be posted. It shows NPS acreage which is less than the Woodlawn trust acreage. This fact was confirmed by communication in the field with owners of a farm and a winery who stated they were part of the trust but not part of the new monument. They also thought the formal land exchange would not be concluded until 2016. This draft NPS boundary map reduces the candidate highpoint sites to the following, with a map link to the highest ground ...

D) On July 25, 2013 I visited the five sites on NPS land plus the “excluded” contour sites on the Woodlawn trust
    (just to be thorough, and in case boundaries change before being final).

Finding the National Monument:

This new national monument is situated west of US 202 at the DE-PA boundary, one mile west of Ebright Azimuth, the Delaware state highpoint. The five highpoint sites are within a 2-mile by 1-mile area, with trailheads off Beaver Valley Road and US 202.

From the DE state highpoint, take Ebright Road south to Naamans Road (DE 92), and go west (left) one mile to US 202. Cross US 202 onto Beaver Valley Road, and drive 0.4 mile to the first trailhead (and just before that, notice DE 92 goes south (left) on Ramsey Road). From US 202, Beaver Valley Road extends 1.3 miles west before it cuts sharply northeast (right) at the DE-PA boundary and extends another 1.7 miles back to US 202.

To complete the loop, turn right (south) on US 202 and go 0.4 mile to the DE-PA line and another 0.6 mile to DE 92 (Beaver Valley/Naamans roads).

To Visit All Five Sites (containing nine 410 foot contours):

Distance: 3 miles cumulative
Difficulty: Easy walk
Elevation gains: 10, 10, 100 and 210 feet
Summit elevation: 410+ feet
Maps: Woodlawn Trustees trail map is very useful;
            NPS boundary map, DeLorme p. 63, USGS topo useful but not necessary.
Access/permits: 8:00am to dusk every day / none required
Best months: Year-round
Visitor Center: None yet.

The NPS passport stamp is available at adjacent
Brandywine Creek State Park
47 Adams Dam Road
Wilmington, DE 19807
(302) 577-3534
Park Service Web Page

Trailheads:

There are four trailheads. Three trailheads are official Woodlawn parking lots (denoted as "P" on their map). They are small, poorly marked, and easily missed (as are the trails). The fourth trailhead is the paved parking lot of an athletic area.

Visiting the Highpoints:

Descriptions here are in order of likelihood in being the true highpoint.

BM Twaddell

The trailhead is a gravel parking lot south and east of the junction of Beaver Valley Road and Beaver Creek Road, where the north and south branches of Beaver Valley Road meet. View the satellite image for this parking lot.

From the parking lot along Beaver Valley Road walk west 100 feet and cross north over paved road and bridge over creek, and immediately turn left (west) on a wide foot path which turns right (north) and ascends the hill as a farm road (obvious on the satellite image). This road again becomes trail as it winds north and then east up the ridge of a hill, gaining 210 feet. The trail enters woods, and at the hill's top, cross over a 100 foot wide open pipeline path (roughly west-east trend). This trail goes over the hilltop, and the highest ground appears to be on the left (north).

The Twaddell benchmark could not be found. Continue east on the trail to the small 410 foot contour on the left which is much lower. The pipeline path is identified as a trail on the Woodlawn trail map and could be used to reach the Perkins BM by following it east.

BM Leach

The trailhead is a small gravel parking lot along Beaver Valley Road 0.4 mile west of the junction of Beaver Valley Road’s “south branch” and US 202. View the satellite image for this parking lot.

From this parking lot, walk west (right) along the paved road, keeping to the south side for safety from the speeding traffic which appears out of nowhere from the dips and rises. Walk a half mile as the road crests. Pass several ranch style homes of which #421 on your right (north) is on the 420 foot contour, and is apparently excluded from the monument. Pass by farm house #205 on your left (south) and the entrance to Hy-Point Farms on your right (north). You’ll also pass a poorly marked Woodlawn trail on your left (extends south). The road dips 20 feet before it reaches the highpoint crest. This is about three quarter mile from the parking lot, and about 1,500 feet west of farm house #205.

Cross the road to its north side and plunge through the narrow band of trees to reach an open field which is overgrown with immature locust trees. The satellite image shows this land in crop. The BM could not be found. Subject yourself to inspection for the highest point there (i.e., Lobdellize). Return to the parking lot.

Athletic Field

The trailhead is a paved parking lot at the end of Garden of Eden Road, 0.2 mile west of US 202, about two miles south of DE 92 (Beaver Valley/Naamans roads). View the satellite image for this parking lot.

The paved lots are used for the athletic fields, picnic pavilions, and swimming pool along Garden of Eden Road. Walk north and northwest to woods at the open athletic area's edge. Probe into the woods to search for higher ground, which I found to be 0.2 mile north, past a muddy pavilion and obstacle course in the woods. There were no boundary marks.

Beaver Valley Road

From the BM Leach highpoint site described above, retrace your steps by walking east along the road back toward the parking lot. After the road descends 20 feet it begins to rise toward farm #205. Notice the open fields on your right (south). A small 410 foot contour lies at the far end near the woods, but it hand levels much lower than the 410 foot land you previously walked along the road.

Beaver Valley Road (410 foot contours likely excluded from NPS land)

The trailhead is the same for BM Leach and is a small gravel parking lot along Beaver Valley Road 0.4 mile west of the junction of Beaver Valley Road’s “south branch” and US 202. View the satellite image for this parking lot.

While in the parking lot, notice the high ground on either side of the road. This lot is within the 410 foot contour; however, higher ground lies farther west, so walk west (right) on the south side of Beaver Valley Road taking care to watch for speeding cars on this narrow road. Pass the long driveway to the north for home #411 which is shown on the topo map. Continue walking as the road ascends to the highest point within the monument’s boundaries, a 420 foot contour centered on home #421.

The ranch style homes on either side of the road are excluded from the Woodlawn Trust and certainly from the national monument. Examine the corn field north of the road, next to house #415 which is adjacent to the 420 foot contour. This is high ground, but is lower than across the road to the southwest.

Across the road to the south from #421 is a fenced field attached to farm house #205 (farther west along the road). The northeast corner of this field is along the road and appears to be the highest ground, yet is apparently not included in monument property.

BM Perkins (410 foot contours likely excluded from NPS land)

The trailhead is a small gravel parking lot along the “north branch” of Beaver Valley Road, 0.6 mile east of the junction of Beaver Valley Road and Beaver Creek Road, and 1.1 miles west of the Beaver Valley Road / US 202 junction. View the satellite image for this parking lot.

From the gravel lot along Beaver Valley Road take the trail south as it ascends the highpoint ridge, then turn left (east) before it reaches the pipeline path. Follow the trail east to a nice gravel driveway. The trail is indistinct here, but it basically turns right (south) along the drive, and then turns left (east) to follow a treeline as it ascends 30 foot to the hill top which is bisected by a vineyard on the left (north) and open field on the right (south).

I did not look for the BM which is located outside the 410 foot contour.

Analysis:

The BM Twaddell hill contains two contours. The hilltop contour is much higher than the small eastern contour. The area is wooded, undisturbed, and has significant relief. Fred Lobdell's 1954 map does not show the BM but does show a 414 foot spot elevation.

BM Leach has one 410 foot contour, and is a half mile west of the 420 foot contour hill along Beaver Valley Road. This area is cleared but fallow. Fred’s 1954 map shows BM “Leach” which the current maps do not show.

Athletic Field has one 410 foot contour, most of which is in the athletic field area (although the fields themselves are sunken); and the rest of which is in woods on the west edge of the athletic fields. The area is heavily used and is rather flat with an indistinct boundary.

Beaver Valley Road has three contours, of which only one appears to lie within the NPS boundary. It is small and is active grazing land, and it hand levels very low. Farther east, one large 410 foot contour is crowned by a 420 foot contour (which lies in a private property in-holding and is excluded from Woodlawn and the NPS monument). The high ground directly across the road to the south from the hill’s crest is part of Woodlawn but is likely not part of the NPS monument. A second small 410’ contour to the south hand levels much lower. The area is farmed and grazed, and it has significant relief.

The BM Perkins hill has two contours, of which the eastern one is much lower. The area is cultivated and grazed.

Summary:

If the draft NPS boundary becomes final, the likely highest point is BM Twaddell, with an assumed elevation of 414 feet. BM Leach has less local relief and has been more recently farmed. Going with Woodlawn property only, the highest ground is likely the corner of the field south of the 420 foot hillcrest along Beaver Valley Road, but is unlikely to be in the NPS monument.

Irony:

Delaware wanted an NPS site, the last state so honored. In that regard, the monument should be named "Last State". It’s ironic for BM Twaddell to be the highpoint, located in Pennsylvania, in a monument created to honor Delaware.

Camping and services:

No camping or services (other than a winery) on Woodlawn acreage. Apparently there’s no camping at adjacent Brandywine Creek State Park. Full services are along US 202.