Lorain County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: October 24, 2000
Author: Mike Schwartz

6 points on county line of which the area 800' E of state route 58 is nearly 1130' (1120+ ft)

Not so sweet Lorain. This was three hours of ugly bushwhacking on a rainy, muddy day. I refer to the points by number, running from west to east. Point #4, "nearly 1130 ft", is almost certainly the highest, as none of the other points have any unusual features that would bring their elevations close to 1130 feet. However, hand leveling and/or eyeballing is impossible, so I felt the obligation to visit all points for proper defloration. This county is not worth the effort unless needed for glob or state completion purposes.

Points 3 and 4: From the junction of US 224/OH 58 in Sullivan, go north 2.4 miles to the Ashland/Lorain County line. I parked in a driveway to nowhere, right at the county line. For #3, follow the hedgerow west between houses to a low crest, perhaps 200 ft. west. For #4, follow the tree line east through a field to obvious crest, just north of some outbuildings. Cut south a short way through the tree line, to ensure reaching the county line.

Points 1 and 2: Drive around to the west, to a point on Clark Road (T581) 0.3 miles north of the e-w road that parallels the county line to the south. Walk east along the southern edge of the woods shown on topo. Cut into the woods past a large building on the left. Cross the two intermittent streams shown on the topo (prominent gullies), then reach the ridgeline of point #1. Walk this ridge to ensure crossing the county line. Continue east across the most significant low area yet, and cross the fields to high ground north of the woods shown on topo, point #2. The pipeline right-of--way shown on the map is useless. Fields were very muddy.

Points 5 and 6: Drive around to the east, onto Hawley Road (T381), to the county line. There are private homes in this area, but parking is available. Bushwhack due west from the county line, crossing a minor intermittent stream, after which you will come to a dammed pond, the last intermittent stream shown on the topo east of point #6. Work around the pond to the south and cut back slightly northeast to higher ground. From here the going is extremely ugly. The areas shown as non-forested on the topo are almost completely overgrown with thorny scrub, briars, and other grabbers. Visibility is poor. The two ridgelines containing points 5 and 6 are discernible, but each requires north to south wandering to have any assurance of crossing the county line.