Plymouth County Highpoint Trip Report

one area and Manomet Hill (395 ft)

Date: August 2, 2008
Author: Chris Gilsdorf

I called the contact number (Dave Tarantino) and was readily granted permission and directions to the summit, once he bemusedly realized I wasn't asking about the Highpoint detox center, which is apparently located in the area.

I set off for the Plymouth County HP that Saturday, taking the commuter rail line to the north end of town, then the GATRA bus to downtown, where I was greeted with sunny skies above and thick haze over the ocean. From there, it was a 4.7-mile walk straight down 3A to the turnoff, which was right where I expected to find it, near the height-of-land, across 3A from another dirt road, and with a gate across it. From here, walk a few dozen feet up the road to a small path which bypasses the gate and drops you right back on the dirt road to the summit (I missed this on the way up). It was another easy and obvious 0.6 mile to the summit, where no views but sunny skies awaited.

I visited the second candidate area to the southwest but found it to be almost unquestionably lower than the true summit (and a nuisance bushwhack besides). The very top appears to be a small rock in the clearing.

Having a few hours to spare before my return train, I walked most of the length of Plymouth Beach's jetty, and was caught out in the rain on the way back. I also dropped by Plymouth Rock, the housing of which is undergoing some renovations. I found the locals to be pretty friendly.

As a side note, this is a great county to walk sea level-to-summit, as I accomplished this in 45 minutes from Plymouth Beach.

Hike statistics: from Plymouth (not including the jetty) ca 10.6 miles and 3 hours.