Waller County Highpoint Trip Report

Dates: various in 2000-2003
Author: Bill Jacobs

partial completion

Waller has four 350 foot contours near the Grimes/Waller county line on Highway 362. I have made three trips there, completing one of the four areas. By extrapolation, the county should be complete after nine more visits. Waller, obviously, still remains a virgin but I thought I would share with fellow Texas travelers the benefits of my frustrations: once was confused by the rearranged road system (pre-GPS days) in the "retreat" described below and once was run off by a Texas-sized "gully-washer".

Area one is a liner about 0.3 mile east of H362 on the county line. At 0.2 mile south of the county line, on H362, is a metal gate, easier to climb than the barb-wired fence. Head in a northeasterly direction along the rising ridge line, passing a pipeline right-of-way. The county line is not apparent so I used a GPS latitude to confirm passage into Grimes County.

The remaining three areas are to the west of H362 between 0.6 and 1.3 miles. The topo portrayal of the open pasture land and dense vegetation is fairly accurate. The unimproved roads shown to the north have changed and are misleading. I tried several times to access these areas through a "retreat" center north of the county line on H362. No one ran me off but I did get a few cross-eyed looks. Drive the"retreat" road system in a somewhat southerly direction until passing a recreational lake shown on the topo just south of the county line. The road continues looping east-to-south until crossing a small creek. Off to the left is an ORV trail that takes a circuitous route to the open pasture near where the three areas are. One area is actually in the dense foliage to the west and, for me, it was a time of year unsuitable for exploring the Texas underbrush. Where the trail comes to the break between the open land and forest is the backside of a home. I did not have time to ask for permission (a T-storm intervened) to access the surrounding fields for the other two areas. An approach from H362, south of the county line, is possible but I was unable to gain access through the gate. There could be other avenues of approach from the southwest.

The Waller contours are not all that far from the multiple areas of Harris County.