New Hanover County Highpoint Trip Report
Date: September 2, 2007
Author: Shannon Dillmore
I recently got a new GPS unit and have learned just enough to be dangerous.
Labor Day weekend was spent near Wilmington, NC so I headed over to New Hanover
county to knock that off my NC list.
The northern of the two candidates was just as described in a recent post by
Brian Bockhahn, with the high point looking to be in a yard in near the
intersection of Addie's Land and Tattersalls Drive. I took my dog for a walk in
the neighborhood and hit the high ground.
Brian and Fred Lobdell seemed to think the southern candidate had been quarried
away but unfortunately this doesn't seem to be the case. The high point seems
to be between a gated community and a more modest neighborhood. To reach the
contour, I headed south on US 421 about two miles past Myrtle Grove Junction
(where NC 132 and US 421 converge). Immediately after passing an Exxon station,
I turned right onto South Ridge (ha ha) Road. After about 0.15 mile, I turned
right at a sign for house numbers 35-41, then immediately turned left (a field
with a couple of picnic tables is on the left here). After turning left, the
road quickly ended with a right turn possible. I parked here carefully to avoid
blocking the narrow road. At this point my GPS indicated I was roughly 50 feet
south of the 75-foot contour and this agreed with a steep hill I saw in front of me.
I strolled over to the owner of a house across the street from the
overgrown hill and got permission from the owner to walk up (along with the
customary bewildered look when explaining my business). I started at a red mail
box, walking up and to my left. There are a couple of possible high spots and I
walked around the area for about 5 minutes until I was satisfied. I did not
need to enter the gated community at all.
For the southern contour I also investigated approaches from the north, south,
and even west but was thwarted by the gated community. I'm pretty sure the
access I describe here is the easiest.
My GPS elevation read at 71 feet for both the southern and northern HP
candidates. I don't take much stock in the readings but I do think the southern
area needs to be visited to claim the county.