Sullivan County High Point Trip Report

North Mtn (2,585 ft)

Date: May 12, 2003
Author: Roy Schweiker

After twice hearing from locals that the west approach to the HP was private land where I wasn't wanted, I decided to come from the east. This route is shown here with the map centered on the route and not on the summit), DeLorme A&G 51B6/5.

This land is owned by the Pennsylvania Game Commission - see here, which is jealous of its use by non-hunters and locks the gates except during hunting seasons - see here. You can contact the Northeastern Region dispatcher at 877-877-9357, they are very polite but not familiar with detailed access information.

Anyway I heard the gate was open for spring turkey season and attempted to approach from Nordmont to the N but discovered a bridge removed for repairs maybe a mile N of the turnoff - two dispatchers had mentioned a bridge under construction but neither located it here. An approach from Central to the E was more successful. The gate was open and it was barely possible to drive 7.8 miles to the highpoint in a passenger car. You will probably want 4wd if there is any snow and those with low-slung cars should not do it at all.

The approach uses a road from Central to Nordmont which is shown on the PA state highway map, as shown it is paved from the Central end but not all the way from Nordmont. The turnoff is where the road swings N-S instead of E-W, from Central it is a sharp L immediately after the road crosses the bridge near "Emmons", a place which doesn't have any buildings. The gate is reached almost immediately, and you just stay on the main road ignoring gated side roads. (The PGC map calls the bottom part Shingle Mill Road and the upper part Fishing Creek Road but the dispatchers were not familiar with either name.) The road is one- lane gravel but there are occasional passing spots, there is one rocky area and a couple of muddy areas and plenty of potholes. The last 0.2 mile to the top was recently gravelled and is the best. There is a clearing to park in near a radio tower.

The white State Game Land boundary passes just E of the summit. The area to the W is variously posted NO HUNTING by the state forestry department and NO TRESPASSING by private owners. The fire tower is gone but I found one footing with RM2 which was about the same height as a nearby point in trees. GPS (WGS-84 datum) at footing was (41.319346° N, 76.554543° W). The warden's cabin with 60 on the roof and the outhouse are still there.

I hadn't looked up the BM stuff in advance and didn't find the main marker because I didn't know where to look, here is an extract:

LZ1926
******
LZ1926 DESIGNATION - NORTH MTN ET
LZ1926 STATE/COUNTY - PA/SULLIVAN
LZ1926 USGS QUAD - SONESTOWN (1981)
LZ1926* NAD 83(1992) - 41 19 10.33672(N) 076 33 16.43240(W) ADJUSTED
LZ1926* NAVD 88 - 788. (meters) 2585.(feet) SCALED
LZ1926 |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
LZ1926 | PID           Reference Object               Distance               Geod. Az
LZ1926 | CB4825   NORTH MTN ET RM 1   16.293 METERS   09145
LZ1926 | CB4826   NORTH MTN ET RM 2   18.551 METERS   17105
LZ1926 'THE STATION MARK IS A STANDARD TABLET STAMPED NORTH MTN ET 1968
LZ1926 'CRIMPED TO THE TOP OF A COPPER-COATED STEEL ROD DRIVEN INTO THE
LZ1926 'GROUND. IT IS 61 FEET NORTHWEST OF NORTH LEG OF TOWER, 54 FEET WEST
LZ1926 'OF DOOR OF CABIN, 22 FEET SOUTHEAST OF UTILITY POLE, AND 11 FEET
LZ1926 'NORTHEAST OF STEEL WITNESS POST.
LZ1926 '
LZ1926 'REFERENCE MARK NO. 1 IS A STANDARD REFERENCE MARK TABLET STAMPED
LZ1926 'NORTH MTN ET 1968 RM 1 SET IN DRILL HOLE IN CONCRETE STEP OF
LZ1926 'CABIN.
LZ1926 '
LZ1926 'REFERENCE MARK NO. 2 IS A STANDARD REFERENCE MARK TABLET STAMPED
LZ1926 'NORTH MTN ET 1968 RM 2 SET IN DRILL HOLE IN CONCRETE BASE OF NORTH
LZ1926 'LEG OF FIRE TOWER.