Duval County Highpoint Trip Report
Date: December 29, 2006
Author: Denis Dean
I attempted to visit the 185-foot liner that is reported to be the highest point
in Duval, FL. I went to the gate that Fred Lobdell mentions in his report.
It was posted by Dupont, Inc. and the Butler Bay Hunting Club.
I called the number listed for the hunting club and spoke to Ed.
He was very nice and understanding of my quest but said that Dupont did not allow
anybody in the highpoint area due to titanium mining operations.
He also said that the highpoint area I described
was underwater and I would need SCUBA gear to reach it (I'm not sure Ed
completely understood the concept of a highpoint :-).
Since I was denied entry from this point I decided to explore. I continued west
on SR 228 into Baker county and took the first left onto a dirt road.
As I traveled south on that road, I could see the mining operations in a large
cleared area that contained the GPS indicated highpoint. I drove down several
dirt roads and a trailer park in Baker county in an attempt to get as close to
the mining site as possible. All ways into the site were posted and gated by Dupont.
I returned to SR 228 and proceeded east to the Duval county line.
From here I parked on the south side of the road and followed a woods path south.
The woods are not posted and the ground is still natural. I followed the path
to the large clearing that marks the mining operation. The clearing is
completely unnatural and there are berms, holes, and active earth moving
machines as far as the eye can see. I walked northwest and southeast along the
woods line to assure that I hit the highest natural spot of this area.
I also recorded the GPS-indicated coordinates of the woods line.
In looking at the topo map and Google Earth I have come to the following conclusions:
1) The next highest contour in Duval county that is separate from this area is a
155-foot liner to the north in section 19 (not visited).
2) The area along the woods line that I visited is at or very near the 170-foot contour.
3) Google Earth and my own observations reveal that the mining operation
encompasses everything in Duval county over 175 feet.
4) Therefore the new highpoint of Duval county, FL is the natural northern part
of the 170-foot contour in section 31.
5) Based on the above information, I successfully visited the new highpoint of
Duval county.
6) Per Rule 7, anybody who previously visited the Duval, FL CoHP can still claim
it as a completion since they walked over the same 170-foot contour as I did.
topo chart