Fayette County High Point Trip Report

Seven Springs Ski Area (2,994 ft)

Date: May 22, 2001
Author: Scott Surgent

This was just minutes away from the Westmoreland County highpoint a couple miles to the north. An older route description to the top from the east is no longer valid, and I spent about a half-hour trying to find it before giving up. Instead, I hiked this peak directly below from the Seven Springs Ski Resort. The main entrance to this resort is off of Seven Springs Road about a mile east of the Somerset/Fayette county line. It's well marked.

This Resort is open all year, it appears, and has numerous hiking and biking trails in the area. When I arrived the parking lot was near full with some sort of convention. I parked away from the crowd, toward the west edge of the lot, near ski lifts #5 (Blitzen) and #6. A service road snakes up between these two lifts. I hiked up this steep road a short bit, then as it turned under the Blitzen run, I hiked directly up the grassy slope until the grade moderated. From here, I could see the Tahoe Lodge about 0.25 miles away, and I hiked toward it. Numerous roads are in the area but none appear to offer any direct routes.

Behind Tahoe Lodge is a large man-made reservoir, and behind this, relative to the Lodge, is the highpoint. I hiked counter-clockwise around this reservoir along a service road, and hiked up a small knoll near the top of more ski-lifts. In the woods behind this run was a set of boulders which appeared to be the highpoint. I dutifully stepped on these rocks. I continued around the reservoir but the road actually dropped about 40 feet and no other areas appeared to get as high as the aforementioned rocks. I also hiked out another road in the area just to scout and be sure.

The rain started to drizzle, then fall stronger until it was a down-right downpour! However, it was warm, about 70 degrees, and I took my time hiking back, although I did run the final bit down the hill as it was getting pretty nasty. I was soaked when I arrived back at the car. Total mileage hiking was about a mile and a half round trip, with about 450 feet of gain, most of which is at the bottom. The nice lady at the information kiosk at the resort said that hiking is allowed with no restrictions.