Washington County High Point Trip Report
two summits on Saddle Mountain (3,464 and 3,440+ ft)
Date: August 9, 2003
Author: Dean Molen
As you ascend SR 6 from the east, watch for the turnoff at the top of the pass
for Roger’s Camp and Browns camp on the south side of the road.
A short distance in, you will see a sign indicating Brown’s Camp, 2 miles.
At this point, you are only 10.1 miles from the highpoints.
Take the right towards Browns camp and
stay on this road 2.3 miles to the junction with the road to Brown’s Camp.
Take a right (Brown’s Camp is to the left) and stay on this road, Beaver Dam Road.
Within another mile is the most confusing road situation I found, a junction
with the Saddle Mountain Road. It goes uphill to the left - DO NOT take it.
Stay on Beaver Dam road which drops downhill to the right and stay on this road.
It's about 7 more miles to the highpoints and the road will go uphill most of the way.
As you near your objective, you finally come to the correct Saddle
Mountain Road which also goes to the left and this is the one you’ll want.
The Saddle Mountain highpoints are very close to this junction and it becomes the 7
Cedars Road (to the left again) until you hit the saddle at the 10.1 mile mark
from the SR 6.
Park at the saddle and walk the road uphill to the west, on which you'll find a gate.
Go past the gate and follow the road and you will soon find yourself
walking up to an area that has some towers on it. The first highpoint is in
this area.
Going back down to your vehicle, go east up the rutted jeep road which ascends
steeply to the top of the hill. At the top, get into the brush area to the
north and start looking for a fireplace remnant. Behind this area is the HP
of this second hill and you’ll know you have it correct when you find a Benchmark.
I also made certain that any other rock or boulder that was in the
vicinity was stood upon or touched to just be on the safe side. Descend back to
your vehicle the way you came, making certain not to get turned around on the
descent and going down in the wrong direction.
It took me two hours to find out that Beaver Dam Road was the correct one as I
had assumed that the first Saddle Mountain road would get me to the proper location.
It did not and it is a mess on the roads you’ll find back in there.
I won’t go into detail on the predicament I found myself in on a couple of
occasions but suffice it to say: Stay on Beaver Dam Road almost the whole way
and you’ll be home free.
A GPS is helpful to point you towards the HP as it is
very easy to get turned around in this area. You’ll also find that there are
lots of OHV and mountain bike paths everywhere as this is a very popular area on
the weekend.
photos