Philadelphia County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: January 7, 2006
Author: Lanny Wexler

Directions

1) Take exit 339 off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
2) Take PA 309, a divided highway south towards Philadelphia for 2.3 miles.
3) Take Paper Mill Road towards Springfield for 0.1 mile.
4) Take the ramp toward Chestnut Hill College/Erdenheim for 0.1 mile.
5) Turn right onto Paper Mill Road for 1.4 miles.
6) Turn left onto Bethlehem Pike and go south 0.6 mile until you see a Sunoco
    gas station on your left. The Sunoco gas station is on the east side of
    Bethlehem Pike, just before Germantown Avenue.
7) Make a left just before the Sunoco station and turn on to Summit Street.
    The Philadelphia high point is located at 12 Summit Street which is the
    second house on your right.

I decided to do the Philadelphia County highpoint on a whim. I was planning to visit the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall on a day trip from Long Island, NY, some 120 miles to the northeast of Philadelphia. I had not "bagged" a new high point in about 6 months and I thought bagging an urban highpoint might be easy to do. The night before, I went on the County Highpointers website as I was curious to see how easy Philadelphia County would be to do. My main goal was to visit Independence Mall and my schedule was limited to 5 hours tops in Philadelphia, including the high point visit.

I was interested in doing a highpoint that was both easy and conveniently located. Philadelphia County met that bill. We left Highland Park, NJ on a clear, cold January morning and took the New Jersey Turnpike south to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and then west to exit 339 (Fort Washington). We exited the Pennsylvania Turnpike and took PA 309 south to the exit for Flour Mill. We made our way over to Bethlehem Pike and followed Bethlehem Pike as it entered the city of Philadelphia it gradually climbed in elevation.

Once on Bethlehem Pike, our approach was flawless. My friend saw the Sunoco station and turned left on to Summit Street. We drove a little past 12 Summit Street and parked the car. It must have been about 11:45 am. We walked about 100 feet down the sidewalk and located 12 Summit Street and snapped two photos.

We headed downtown and saw the National Constitution Center and Philadelphia highpoint, all in one day.