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.