Hills and Hollows

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1 Access

  • Location: Southwest Denton

2 Discussion

Edits and additional comments can be added to this section.

  • Hills & Hollows offers overnight camping within a short drive and is one of the best places in Dallas-Fort Worth to teach beginning topographic map skills.
  • Encroaching Development. Because Hills and Hollows is so close in to DFW, you can hear the road noise from I-35W whenever you are up on the hills that constitute the main part of the camp. Also, an improved roadway including a large bridge has been constructed barely to the west of camp on the pasture side. Although the camp has been allowed to grow back in many places over the years, the north and west fences are very open with most of the visual block having been removed between the road and Hilton Hill and Main Campsites. Archery Hill and Spirit Hill still have substantial visual block along the camp fence lines.
  • Four Campsites. Pavilion (can be rented); Latrines; Running water (may be seasonal); Can drive into two of the four campsites and then park in main parking lot. The other two require a short hike into the campsite. Camp webpage
  • Teaching Topographic Map Skills. This camp is very small, only 25 acres, and only 660 feet wide. But in just that 660 feet, you get 80 feet of vertical relief down and back up again. So there is enough vertical relief for people to really get a sense of what the contour lines on a map mean, and yet it is small enough that they cannot wander off and get lost. You can just put dots on a map and turn people loose to go find them. See Topo Map 2 for an example my troop has used in the past, although each trip requires adjustment based on conditions including what other campsites are being used. If you get really ambitious, you can even cut out a cardboard model of the camp by cutting out one layer of cardboard along each contour line and then stacking to build a model. Stand people on a hill and show them the map with contour lines, the model with 3D contour lines, and the ground with its real world relief. And then, as people try to find the pieces of surveyors ribbon that correspond to the dots on the map, wander around helping them to understand how it works until the light bulb goes on. Good preparation for a first NTOA meet.

3 Pictures

Additional links to pictures can be added to this section. Pictures are not hosted on this wiki page so that it will load quickly.

4 Resources

  • Ten-day weather forecast: 76207
  • On-site ranger: None
  • Local law enforcement: City of Denton Police Department, 911



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