Monmouth County High Point Trip Report

Crawford Hill (380+ ft)

Date: November 10, 2001
Author: Dan Case

A few additions to Mike Schwartz's on-the-mark directions: Holmdel Road is also County Route 4, and the Lucent facility entrance isn't obvious until you're right on top of it. This area is in Holmdel Township, anomalous as a hilly, horse-country sort of place in an otherwise low-lying coastal county.

Despite the "Authorized Personnel Only" signs, the gates were wide open when I came. The HP and the antennas (apparently this facility started out as a ground receiving station for the old Telstar satellites) are on a nice little loop road across the hilltop. Following the signs to "Additional Parking" takes you first steeply uphill, then sharply to the left and into a big wide area with lots of antennas of different types.

The highest ground is, as Mike said, on the north end of the hill just past these big antennas, around a 7-meter diameter radar-dish antenna. It didn't seem to be on; it looked like it could have fried you to a crisp if it was and you were in the wrong place.

The best candidate here is near the northeast corner of the white operator's house, but you will probably want to walk around. I also stepped on the berm (obviously artificial at least at first, although it has had tree growth on it for some time) at the north end of the nearby parking lot to be sure, but the 7-meter antenna area seems the better bet.