Craven County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: October 2005
Author: Peter Barr

I attempted the true Craven CoHP areas (the three in the swamp on the topo) from the north but also encountered gated roads, with hunters in their trucks with dogs. I did, however, find a non gated, straight as an arrow but sandy and bumpy, with the tractor tracks sand road into the middle of that vast space on the topo. Looking through my pictures, I found the sign at the end of that road, which had several of what I thought were chicken houses but really had hogs.

From my picture of the sign, the road and the farm are owned by Goldsboro Hog Farms. The sign says for visitors to sign in at the pump house. Despite the presence of many vehicles, including numerous sitting out in the fields themselves, I found the entire farm deserted, minus numerous hogs shrieking. The area is strongly posted and the HPs are behind the farm further west. I got the feeling the area is heavily used for hunting; lots of shotgun shells and beer cans but the three areas are only a few hundred yards off of the sand track continuing past the farm. They are very definitive and are natural.

I would say that the southern HP area is a waste of time since these are such defined rises and the southern area isn't a rise at all, despite that the topo suggests. Contact Goldsboro Hog Farms for permission or just show up and see if anyone is there to ask. I do not think that the tree farm on the signs you found owns all the way to the HP area.