Dauphin County Highpoint Trip Report

Big Lick Mtn (1,771 ft) and Broad Mtn (1,763 ft)

Date: April 20, 2006
Author: Fred Lobdell

I followed Mike Schwartz's report for these two. I found Broad Mountain pretty much as he described it but conditions on Big Lick Mountain have changed somewhat since his report. There are those who feel that as both mountains have spot elevations only the higher need be climbed but Mike and I feel that given the uncertainty in the placement of contours and spot elevations, both mountains should be climbed.

Big Lick Mountain: This is given in Andy Martin's book as "spot elevation 1 mile north of Williamstown". I followed Mike's directions to his parking area and hiked the jeep road, still yellow-blazed, to where it crested. Subsequent observation suggests I should have gone further before starting my bushwhack.

From there I bushwhacked steeply uphill to the ridge line and started bushwhacking west. After going some distance, I noticed, not far below me, a new road had been bulldozed. I dropped down off the ridgeline to the road and followed it west as it climbed to the ridge and passed a short distance north of the rock outcrop that appeared to be the high point.

On my return trip, I followed the road east to where it switched back and lost some elevation, then continued to follow it westward. When I noticed the black road 100 or so feet below me, I dropped down to that road and continued west. That was an error, as I concluded after going about a half mile in the wrong direction and seeing nothing familiar. So I retraced my steps to where I had gotten to the road and continued east and, after a short distance (not more than a few hundred feet), I picked up the yellow blazes and followed them back to my car.

So my recommendation to future cohpers is to follow Mike's directions to the parking area and follow the jeep road uphill. Instead of bushwhacking straight uphill at the road crest, continue west for a few hundred feet until you see above you the evidence of a bulldozed road. Bushwhack up to that road and follow it EAST. It will switch back to the west shortly, gaining elevation as it does so, and it can then be followed to just north of the HP. This will eliminate most of the steep bushwhacking.

Broad Mountain: I followed Mike's directions here, which turned out to be quite accurate once I discovered that when he said to turn SOUTH on Market Street, he meant SOUTH. (I wasted 10 minutes or so trying to find his turns and landmarks on the north side of US 209.) I found BM "Broad" where the topo shows it to be, at the end of the road shown. However, there is now a dirt track that runs south from the road's end, parallel to the west edge of the field. I drove this track about a quarter mile but a high-clearance vehicle would have no trouble taking it to its end. Contours in the woods are fairly subtle and you need to bushwhack at least a quarter mile through the woods to get to the undistinguished high ground.