Berkeley County High Point Trip Report
Date: December 17, 2002
Author: Gene Daniell
Like Ron Tagliapietra, I eliminated the 116-foot point (and a neighboring point with a building on top that
appears to be 150+ feet - the contours are very hard to make out) near St. Stephen, as they are obvious spoil
piles in a mining area where the natural elevations seem to top out at 75 - 85 feet. Like him, I also
eliminated the area southeast of Poplar Hill Church that is on the fringe of a large 100-foot elevation area
that never rises to 105 feet, and makes Andy Martin's list merely because its quad has 10-foot contour
intervals instead of the 5-foot intervals that prevail in the rest of the area.
Given the general flatness of this area,
a sudden 5-foot rise on the fringe of a contour circle with swamps on almost every side seems very unlikely.
For anyone who really wants to visit this area, the best route would probably be to follow the road
that runs south from near the spot elevation 106 mentioned below until a small brook is crossed shortly
before the road turns east, then bushwhack west - GPS almost mandatory (approximate coordinates
(33° 14' 46" N, 80° 14' 57" W)).
For the first of the remaining two points, take SC 311 east from US 176, passing Poplar Hill Road at about 4 miles,
and turn right on Groomstown Road at about 5 miles. Near its end, this road jogs left then right and
public maintenance ends at a turnaround about three-quarters of the way down the last straight-away of
drivable road as shown on the quad. There is room to park here. The area is very flat and the area within
the 105-foot contour is quite extensive, and since it has undoubtedly been cultivated for a least a couple of
centuries and natural rises have probably long since been cultivated out of existence, visiting the high point is
largely a matter of how long you feel like wandering around the area. I decided to make my objective
reaching the road junction with the spot elevation at 106. From the turnaround, a farm road winds
southwestward to the southeast edge of the field shown on the quad (though it seems like the shape of the
field has changed somewhat, with woods encroaching on the edges), where it meets another farm road that
goes directly back to Groomstown Road near the house shown on the quad. There are more cleared fields
south of here than the map shows. Roads around the edge of the older field lead to an area of several road junctions,
including the one at spot elevation 106. There is at least one major road here - gated and posted,
unlike the rest of the area - that is not shown on the map.
For the second area, take SC 311 back to US 176, go north, then take GA 27 south past Lake Merkel to a
side road on the left just after the main road curves to the right. There are several roads on the left but this
one has a road directly opposite (on the right side) with a very substantial gate. The road you want was
blocked with a cable that had sagged so low I could have driven over it easily, but I chose not to. This road
runs northeast, then north, passing by some interesting terrain that is not really evident on the quad.
The road itself is a bit below the level of the contiguous ground (bulldozed?) and there is a substantial berm to
the right (southeast and east side). Beyond the berm is a ditch perhaps 10 feet deep that is so regular that it
must be man-made, at the bottom of which runs a small, slow-moving brook. I left the road after about 0.4
mile - partly because I saw a car parked ahead and preferred to postpone any potential discussions of my
activities until after I'd been over the high point (though the car proved to be empty when I eventually
passed it) - and crossed the ditch and climbed up to the field which now occupies the high area (it is shown
as wooded on the quad). There is a fringe of trees between this field and the one to the north that is shown
on the quad, and the ground actually seems to be perceptibly higher in the northern part of this field where
the quad says it should be. At the fringe of trees between the fields there is a road that runs back to the main
sand road, crossing just above the apparent north end of the ditch described above.
Ron Tagliapietra's route description had my head spinning for a while - it appeared he placed this second
area east of US 176, whereas I thought it was clearly to the west of US 176, almost to SC 27 (which he calls
Gaillard Road). Then I realized he meant "Continue over 1.5 mile to a RIGHT turn that is just a few feet
before a paved left (Poplar Hill Road)". He approached this high point area from the northeast instead of
from the southwest as I did. My approach is probably a bit shorter in walking time; his is probably shorter in
driving time, particularly if you're not headed to the Charleston area via the Interstate, to which SC 27
provides a convenient access. To use Ron's route, from Groomstown Road take SC 311 one mile west to
Poplar Hill Road, take Poplar Hill Road to US 176, turn right on US 176 and then almost immediately left
onto a dirt road, then follow Ron's directions. If you see the ditch I describe on your left, you've probably
gone too far.