At an altitude of 345' , Britton Hill is the highest point of Florida and the lowest of the 50 state highpoints.
If you've followed my adventures long enough, you know I'm always working on several peakbagging lists. The 50 US State Highpoints is the most noteworthy of the lists I'm working on. Prior to Britton Hill, I'd climbed 43 other points with the latest being Mt Sunflower of Kansas back in 2019. With almost 3 years passing since my last high point, I was very excited to notch highpoint #44 in Florida.
Getting to Britton Hill
For all the ease of hiking Britton Hill, its a difficult place to get to. Its about halfway between Mobile, Alabama and Tallahassee, Florida which are the largest cities in the region. Panama City, Florida and Pensacola, Florida are about an hour and a half away. To fly there, you're probably connecting through at least one city. Its a logistical quagmire for peakbaggers on the west coast which is why it took me so long to get here.
Fortunately, I had a conference in Atlanta in early November. The timing was perfect (although we were hit with a late season cat 1 hurricane that week). Atlanta is (only) 4 hours away from the blessed spot so I seized the opportunity. The drive from Atlanta was not particularly thrilling although I passed by some bucolic southern landscapes. Google maps essentially got me there without incident.
The "climb" of Britton Hill
Britton Hill is located in Lakewood Park near the town of the same name. Its entirely public land, free of charge and open all hours. There's ample parking along with picnic benches and a restroom. It's about a 100 foot walk from the parking lot to the highpoint plaque. By the restroom is a summit register which is always worth flipping through. Plenty of famous peakbagger names were signed into the register. In my unscientific survey of the register, this was between #20 and #30 for most high pointers who specifically visited for state high pointing.
Although the high point is easily accessed from the parking area, there is a pleasant hike through the hardwoods that's worth taking. Also, one of the trails passes within a few hundred feet of the highpoint confirmed by LiDAR, per peakbagger. Here's my "route"-
I tramped around the forest looking for some evidence of a marker but found none. Using the peakbagger app, I'm confident I stood atop the highest mound in Florida. The hike itself was nice enough though I took care to avoid the dozens of Golden Orb-Weaver spiders. These behemoths have 2 inch long bodies and are a frightening sight. They're relatively harmless- a bite is comparable to a bee sting. But their pattern of weaving webs right across a hiking trail adds to the fear factor of this otherwise unassuming summit.
My hike took less than 30 minutes and was a nice exposure to the wilderness of the Florida Panhandle. Had I more time I would have visited Blackwater River State Park which has much more hiking. Alas, I only had time for the Britton Hill That's 44 of 50 for me. Which will be next?
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