Adams County Highpoint Trip Report

one mile north of Ram Hill (2,060+ ft)

Date: July 25, 2004
Author: Dan Case

This highpoint can easily be done by a short detour from the Appalachian Trail as well as by car.

Take PA 233 north from US 30 about midway between Chambersburg and Gettysburg, a half-mile east of the Franklin County line. It enters Adams County within a mile. At 10-11 miles north of the intersection, after having passed through an amalgam of Michaux State Forest and private residential lands, you will reach the four-way intersection with Shippensburg and Arendtsville Roads. Turn left and go up Shippensburg. It is wide and well-paved but ascends steeply enough to make low gear a good idea at times. The road you want near the ridge crest is the one on the left with a gray gate, just after the radio tower near the road, with lots of mailboxes out front, opposite a Mountainview Drive on the other side.

It may well be open when you come by, giving you the opportunity to drive right to the HP. If not, it's a short, leisurely stroll 0.3 mile to the very flat 2,060-foot contour. The road itself is no longer dirt but gravel, almost paved. Many of the lots along it have been sold to people who use them as weekend places, with trailers or small homes. Pass the last trailer before the road starts to dip, signed as the Holders. Just inside the other end of their driveway on the left, there is a huge elevated berm about the size of a trailer that is quite clearly artificial but also just as clearly the highest ground around (best bet on the natural HP seemed to be at the other end of the driveway).

From the AT, turn right at the Shippensburg Road crossing. After 0.2 mile you will cross into Adams County; after another 0.2 mile you will reach the road on your right.