Hampton County High Point Trip Report

Date: April 14, 2003
Author: Ken Oeser

Use a topo while doing this county because giving directions to all 11 areas is tough. From Estill at the junction of US 321 and SC 3, go west on SC 3 about 6 miles to the Allendale county line. Turn left and go 0.2 mile and park on the side of the road. There are two driveways on the left, both dirt. One has a name while the other says it is Forestry Wildlife Management Area. We wandered in the woods and along the roads here a few minutes, but the roadside is likely highest. Go back to SC 3, cross it and follow the county line road 0.9 mile to a house on the left. Nobody was home, so we pulled into a wooded dirt road on the right that leads to a huge field that goes into the largest contour. A large hump is visible in the distance, so we hiked along the edge of the field to the hump, and followed it into the woods until it sloped down. The highest area seems to be this area, and due to the rise visible from each direction on the road, plus the ridge in the field hand-levels higher than the road areas, this is likely the highest in the county. We hiked south from the edge of this field along a field/wood road to the ridge beyond that comes out next to SC 3 at the continuation of this contour. I didn't write the distance since we did the next 3 areas first, but continue northeast on the county line road and turn right onto the first dirt road and drive about 0.4 mile and park. We walked into the pines to a grassy road and hiked around inside this contour to what we thought were the highest areas. Return to the car and continue east on this road about 0.7 mile to an intersection and turn left. Drive north about 0.5 mile, passing some houses on the way, then pull over and park. Hike east and west of the road about 500 - 600 feet and look for the highest areas. These areas don't seem to rise much. We then backtracked all the way to the county line road and SC 3.

From the county line drive south on SC 3 0.6 mile to the crest of the road where it crosses a small section of the huge contour. Hand-leveling showed the field area 0.5 mile is slightly higher, and that the road here is higher than the plowed field ridge just north and paralleling the road. South on SC 3 another 0.4 mile, pull over at a field road heading north into the contour. We found that this leads to the road to the largest area of the contour, and this plowed area doesn't seem to have as much gain as the other part of the contour.

Drive east on SC 3 another 0.8 mile and turn left onto a dirt road, go 0.4 mile and park. Walk around in the cleared area to the left, but there isn't much gain here. Turn left and drive north up a dirt road here marked by a mailbox. We were looking for a house, but didn't find one. We followed this road 0.8 mile until the road started sloping downhill, which is toward the end of the contour. There is a ridge just past a split at about 0.7 mile. We hiked the 100 feet to the highest part of this ridge, which is about the same height as the split itself. Go back to the main dirt road and turn left, then drive 0.3 mile and park on the right. From here follow a grassy field road south toward the 2 'orchard' contours. The first is in a field, and has little gain, while the second seems to be planted in pines and has a little gain.

Drive east on the main dirt road 0.3 mile and turn right, go 0.1 mile, turn left, go another 0.1 mile and turn right. Drive south 0.3 mile and park on the left at the Goodwill Church. The highest area in the contour seems to be just south of the church at the edge of the cemetery, where there is a small rise with 4 large trees, so it may be natural.

Drive south 0.2 mile and turn left onto a field road and drive east 0.5 mile. This seems to be the highest area of this contour since both sides are plowed.

To return to SC 3, drive south on the Goodwill Road 0.3 mile, turn left and go 0.6 mile to the junction with SC 3.

It is our opinion that the hump at the field/woods edge in the middle of the largest contour is the highest, with the rise near the church and the ridge in the 'middle' north/south contour contenders. The others don't seem to rise enough. A 5-foot contour map would help narrow it down for sure.