Burlington County High Point Trip Report

Date: June 17, 2001
Author: Dan Case

This is the highest point in South Jersey, and the HP of the state's largest county. Arneys Mount is in all likelihood the name for this somewhat anomalous, officially nameless bump in the mostly flat topography of the region and can be seen from some distance as you approach.

Easiest way is to get off the Turnpike at Exit 7, US 206 (the main exit for Fort Dix). Follow this south for several miles to the junction with Juliustown Road (County 667). You may miss it, as it's just after the light for Burlington County 537.

Turn left and follow for a very straight two miles past farm fields towards the very obvious hill. An antenna complex on the ridge appears to be on the summit but is not near it in actuality.

As Mike Schwartz writes, you will find the best access at the intersection with Arneys Mount Road. On the southwest corner sits a 1775 Quaker meeting house with accompanying cemetery.

Parking and going uphill to the wall at the back, I noticed one posted sign. After noting some blue survey flags on the nearby trees possibly marking a property line that I could stay to the left of, I began the climb. The slope is steeper than one would like, but not too bad. The undergrowth is a lot less dense than I had expected from Mike's report, even at this time of year; still, it's probably not a bad idea to wear long pants, as I was. It levels off a couple of hundred feet from the back of the cemetery, and presents you with several small mounds, the higher of which I topped. From there you can see some more, higher ones to the southwest. I went to do those, and found a fairly good path running alongside them.

I have no idea where either end is. One might be at the tower, and the other could be on private land. In any case it was obviously used, and made the passage that much easier to the two bumps I saw and stood on top of to ensure the highest ground. There may seem to be more further on, but these seem to be within the requisite quarter-mile from the intersection shown on the map, and the highest offerings available.

Re: the tower and access. It obviously doesn't appear on the topo. I noticed, a half-mile before the intersection, a newer road off Juliustown named Tower Road that seems to be public and in all likelihood leads to the tower. If it turns out that the shorter approach is a problem with the landowners in the area, this may be worth exploring.