Smith County High Point Trip Report

two points

Date: November 9, 2000
Author: Jon Mann

point one

From Polkville, turn east on Smith County Road 563. Follow 563 5.0 miles to MS 481, turn right on 481. Follow 481 0.4 mile to turnoff for Smith County Road 503. Follow 503 for 5.3 miles to just past junction with Smith County Road 578. The high point is the 600'+ contour that the road cuts through. The map shows a 605' BM on the west side of the road, but we could not find it. Going 60' into the woods on either side of the road should get this point, as the land slopes downward from there.

NOTE: At 0.9 mile before HP, you will pass the Coursey Fire Tower, which the topo shows as in the 590' contour.

Topo chart, midway between HP area and Coursey Fire Tower

point two

WARNING: MS 35 has been rerouted (this year, from the looks of it!), and no longer follows the route shown on the topo. The old road is still there, but unmarked. Also, this high point is being actively strip- mined for Bentonite. It is quite possible that in the near future, all the ground above the 600' contour will be gone (about half gone now).

From Smith #1, return to MS 481. Turn left (southeast) on 481. Go 6.6 miles on 481 to junction with MS 35. Turn left (north), and proceed 0.1 mile to unmarked junction. The new road (not shown on topo) continues north, while the old road is a 90 degree right turn. Follow old road 0.55 mile to mining area on right. If you continue on the road another 0.1 mile, you will see a blue water tower marked "Lorena Lemon Drops". The remaining high area is in the back (east) end of the mining area. When we were there, the area was not being used, but there were plenty of bulldozers (it had been raining the day before, so it might have been too muddy to work). We were able to pull in close to the remaining high ground, and scrambled up an embankment. The current highest remaining spot appears to be near the mining area. If there are people around, you should be able to access the area in back from the road, and skirt the perimeter of the mining area.

Topo chart