Burlington County Highpoint Trip Report

one area 1,600 feet south of Arneys Mount BM

Date: April 1, 2007
Authors: Sue Ann Miller and Frank Price

The unnamed dirt lane that crawls across the west side of the green bumps just east of Mount Holly Speedway on the TopoZone map is signed Tower Drive along CR669 (Juliustown Road), so we drove in. This passes homes but clearly keeps going as it winds up toward the tower along the dotted line trail route shown on that topo. We had clearance and would have been less eager to drive on in a sedan but some of this lane was roughly paved above the homes after passing over some deep ruts. This ends at a fenced communications site where a hunters path leads east from ample parking space. The thorns were manageable, so we picked our way (pun intended) east toward the HP.

At the start of this path there are concrete footings for a previous tower that had been placed on the high ground of this sub-summit. The size of tower suggested by the arrangement seemed small for a fire lookout and we saw no evidence of a stairway footing. Having a fondness for fire tower sites as well as highpoints, we e-mailed a query to a source listed at www.firelookout.org and got a thorough and quick response from Bob Spear, National Historian, Forest Fire Lookout Association. This site is not in the state fire tower history but could be an old estate or other private tower. It also occurred to us that location just west of Fort Dix could offer explanations for a small tower on this hill in past decades.

The path led only to a hunter's blind in a tree on the east slope of that hill but from there it was possible to pick a way through thorn arches down to and across another rough dirt lane (also shown on the topo) and continue picking east to the HP area. This route is slightly longer than previously described but it was not posted on our visit and no one questioned our presence.

On departure, we visited the 1775 Quaker Meeting house that sits on the southwest corner of the intersection at the Arneys Mount BM. There was evidence of work to clear fallen tree limbs and recent "Posted" signs glared over the substantial stonework fence. That was also the situation for walking around the fence on the uphill side from the north. Having already visited the HP, we did not bother local residents.

As we advise in other reports from this NJ CoHP blitz, we recommend using Google Earth to update and expand on what topo maps and DeLorme show. This area of New Jersey was photographed on a leafless day, most roads are marked and named, and some of the unnamed lanes at this site could also be previewed.

Finally, we did not drive Wynwood Drive, the lane that runs along the east side of this rise that is completely lined with homes nor did we investigate Birmingham Drive to see if possible access via the southeast ridge from that road was also posted. Going north using a farm lane through woods from Birmingham Drive could be another access for subsequent CoHPers to determine.