Britton Hill - Florida High Point

Britton Hill, the high point in the State of Florida, is the lowest of all the state high points. In fact, at 345 feet in elevation, it is lower than 16 other state low points. The next lowest state high point is in Delaware, 103 feet higher. Britton Hill is situated in Lakewood Park, in the Florida panhandle, just about a mile from the Alabama border, and has a paved road to within 50 feet or so of it. 

Passing from Alabama into Florida. Britton Hill is about a mile ahead on the right. Doesn't look too steep yet.

A little hill as we approach the summit, which is on the right just beyond where you can see.

But "summiting" Britton Hill was not without its difficulties. First, it is out of the way. We stayed in a place called Defuniak Springs, Florida, a small spread out town about 80 miles east of Pensacola, and then had to drive about 25 miles north down country roads to get to Britton Hill. So it was quite a bit out of the way of other things we planned to do. Second, it was raining like crazy. Rain was coming down so hard that I had the windshield wipers on extra speed-wipe in order to try and clear off the rain water. We weren't sure how we were going to get anything like our customary "summit" picture without getting completely drenched.  No matter how high or how small, it seems like the weather at the high points when we visit tends to be extreme. Third, it was actually a little hard to find. Unlike some high points, this high point is not obvious. Our GPS led us just a bit past the place and we ended up wandering into Alabama and realized we needed to turn around. 

A view from the visitor shelter. The granite summit marker and a bench are to the left. Our car and the parking lot are to the right. 

The Florida high point marker. 

A helpful sign.

A view of the rest of the small park. Not much sense of elevation.

However, the high point gods were with us and it literally stopped raining as we pulled into tiny Lakewood Park. We took a few pictures and Judy announced she was getting back to the car before the deluge began again. I lingered a few minute longer and then high-tailed it for a tiny visitor shelter to take some more pictures while the rain cloud spiggot resumed to full-on position. 

In Florida, height is relative. I visited Shark Valley in Everglades National Park later in the trip and learned that Shark Valley truly is a valley, even though it looks as flat as a table top. It is 18 inches lower than the surrounding terrain. So when you have valleys that are 18 inches low, a height of 345 feet can seem significant. In fact, I wondered before-hand if it would seem like it was higher. On the way up to Britton Hill we actually did go up some noticeable hills. Nothing too significant, but noticeable.