Mercer County Highpoint Trip Report

one area on Baldpate Mtn 3/4 mile west of Ackors (480+ ft)

Date: March 31, 2007
Authors: Sue Ann Miller and Frank Price

We recommend using Google Earth for pre-trip research to update and expand on what topo maps and DeLorme show. This area of New Jersey was photographed on a leafless day, all the roads are marked and named, and trails are partially visible.

Two cars were parked in front of the gate with the sign that says "Do not Block the Gate" but there was room to park on the shoulder off Pleasant Valley Road on either side of the track. There are no signs marking trail "I" or "A" now but the advice of previous reports is still valid. A new, plastic 3-sided post at the junction marks the trail to the right with a white arrow and the left course with an orange arrow. An orange plastic blaze is visible on a tree down the orange path but the only white plastic marker we saw was on a tree near the high ground and facing traffic going the other way.

In March it was easy to see through the many arched thorn bushes that are reminiscent of Rhode Island coastal CoHPs and Staten Island, (Richmond County, NY) and that would obscure visibility (and probably closer investigation) later in the season. The high ground is at a break in a stone wall that continues down the west side of the slope.