Red River County High Point Trip Report

Date: September 16, 2002
Author: Fred Dale

My thanks to the first ascender for site information.

This one is a bit problematic, but it should be easy. First, it's a "liner". A solitary 560-foot closed contour interval barely enters Red River County according to the map. However, the county line is marked on the topo as "Indefinite Boundary". So, does the 560-foot contour really enter the county? Secondly, it is critical for the cohper to actually enter Red River County. You'll be walking in from Lamar County on the west, crossing a fence at the roadside and another at the east side of the narrow pasture strip. That second fence might be the county line, but maybe not. Thirdly, the topo's road numbers don't seem to jive with reality. I did not use Delorme; perhaps that would have helped.

Start at Detroit, a community that is a couple of miles east of the Red River - Lamar county line, on US Highway 82. Go west past the county line and the roadside park to county road 45850. Turn north. This curvy road seems to be the one marked "1502" on the map. It's about 3.3 miles to Red Oak Cemetery, at which you'll turn southeast onto gravel county road 45900. Go 0.7 mile, by which time you'll be headed south. You'll have just passed a house on the left; look for the slight rise in the field on your left (to the east). Observe the caveat warnings above.

This knoll is pretty flat. Its summit area is larger than the 560-foot contour that it contains. The exact summit may be middle-field in Lamar County, but also the east fence line qualifies. The grade downward from there eastward is very slight. Therefore, there would seem to be a large amount of ground within the elevation range 559 - 561. Just step across this east fence, go east a little, and be sure of being in Red River County. "Grid", or wander, the area.

Someone needs to take a GPS reading at the east fence line, and also at the Red River cohp, whether it be on the east side of that fence, or on the west. I failed to do that. My topozone-derived coordinates are (33° 40' 34" N, 95° 18' 37" W).

One quarter mile to the southeast is a closed 550-foot contour which though I didn't ascend, did not seem to be as high.

topo chart