Crittenden County Highpoint Trip Report

eight unnamed areas on Brandywine Island on Frenchmans Bayou and Pecan Point Quadrangles

Date: January 20, 2003
Author: Hans Haustein

From just looking at quad sheets and the DeLorme this county originally looked like it would take a boat to access it. I checked out some recent aerial photography that showed a new road to the island, which made this attempt possible.

To reach the areas start at Frenchmans Bayou on US Highway 61and take the gravel road on the east side of US 61 (Post Office is directly across the street) and go east, soon crossing some RR tracks. At a fork shortly past the RR tracks take Mississippi County Road (MCR) W1212 for about 0.1 mile to a road to the south MCR W1246. Near this intersection there is Frenchmans Bayou Baptist Church, there is also a sign at this intersection advertising the "Brandywine Island Lodge 6 miles". Take MCR W1246 to the south and then turning east for 3 miles to St. Thomas (shown on the DeLorme) just west of the levy. Continue east on W1246 crossing the Barney Chute into Tipton County, TN to a 'T' intersection 0.7 miles from St. Thomas. At this intersection there is another sign for the "Brandywine Island Lodge 3 miles". Go left (southwest) at the 'T' for 1.6 miles to a large brick and iron gate on the east side of the road. This is the gate to the Brandywine Island Lodge. With permission, continue southeast on the drive for 0.8 mile to the lodge.

Just past the lodge the road crosses and old cut-off from the Mississippi River (this is where the road crosses into Crittenden County, AR). When the river is high this road crossing will be underwater. Continue east on this gravel road for 2.2 miles to a 'T' intersection and a road signed S. Lake Road. Turn Left (north) at this intersection and continue 0.7 mile to another 'T' intersection, this cross road is signed N. Lake Road, shown on the quad sheet as a trail. At this intersection there is a complex of buildings used for the hunting club. This is where I parked.

Go west along the N. Lake Road (it was pretty sandy) to the high points. I don't have exact distances between the 8 different points, but it was about 1 mile from where I parked to the 8th area. The high points are described from east to west.

The first area is about 0.25 mile from the 'T' intersection and is on the north side of the road in a cleared area right on the edge of the bluff line (about 40 feet down to North Lake) near a large tree. In this same clearing there was a water tank hung in a tree with a long black hose.

The second area is southwest from the 1st area less than 0.2 mile, follow a trail on the south side of the road from the clearing of the 1st area. The area is pretty obvious from the trail. It was covered with greenbriars and other assorted vines.

To reach the third area return to the N. Lake Road and continue northwest a few hundred feet or so from the 1st area. The third area is on the north side of the road and is within sight of the 1st area. I hand-leveled and it appeared that the third area is lower than the 1st area.

Continue northwest to the fourth area about 0.2 mile from the 3rd area. It is located on the north side of the road at the base of a large tree.

The fifth area is reached by continuing west for about 0.1 mile, the highest area is south of the road in some river cane.

The sixth, seventh, and eigth areas area located in the same general area in a large clearing about 0.2 mile southwest of the 5th area. There is a large deer hunting stand with a stair case in the general area of the final three high points. I hand-leveled in this area, but all the areas seemed about the same.

I talked with Rod Alexander, the manager of the Brandywine Island Lodge and land, and he said that when the river was at its highest that he could remember (over 38 feet at Memphis) the water still was about 15 feet lower than the 1st high point area.

This was a really enjoyable high point trip. There were some nice views of North Lake. There was even some snow left on the ground. It was definitely a lot easier than I had imagined.