Madison County High Point Trip Report
Black Mtn (1,502 ft)
Date: November 16, 2002
Authors: Dave Covill, Rick Hartman, and Don Holmes
This is a good bushwhack through eastern hardwood forests.
Reach it from Arcadia by going south on 21 to E road, then taking E for about 10 miles to where it comes
very close to the St. Francois River. Here the road passes through a narrow gorge. Just as the road curves
and begins to drop down steeply to the east, look for a small pull-off on the north side. We actually were
dumb enough to try to drive down this, cross the creek (shallow), then got about another 200 feet,
before being stopped by trees. The road basically died.
We encountered a fence line that was very recently installed, and followed it on foot for about 1/4 mile to
the north, then curved northeast and bushwhacked to the southeastern false summit. We encountered faint
traces of an old jeep road at several spots, but it kept dying out. From the southeast summit, cross the flats
to the north and go up to the top. It is hardwood trees all the way up.
We found the BM and the cairn and register left by Hans Haustein. We got back down in only 20 minutes,
although it was about 40 minutes up. It is 900 feet up, quite a whack for MO. If the eastern approach is
better and can be found, someone should try it.