On the way back to my house from Marsh Hill (W3/WE-001), I stopped at Dan’s Rock. Google Maps got me there with no problem. The site is a graffiti-covered metal staircase to steel observation platform, which overlooks a valley.
Driving towards the Rock, there is a sign that indicates this is some sort of wildlife conservation area, but it that’s the case, it’s a pretty poor effort. The roadway is lined with commercial antenna sites and refuse. There was more than one carcass of an old picture-tube TV lying alongside the road. Dan’s Rock itself is pretty trashed and appears to be a local teen hangout. There’s parking across the street from it next to an antenna installation.
I walked back and forth trying to figure out a place to put up an antenna. Because of all the commercial antenna sites, power lines criss-cross the area. The trees are relatively scrawny and I couldn’t find any that were in the clear and had good height.
Finally, I decided to go down the road just behind the parking spot; there are some tall trees along that road and they did well enough to support an end-fed antenna. Despite the high concentration of radio equipment in the area, background on HF was not a problem, and I worked stations without a problem on 20m and 40m, including a few European stations on 20m.
Some other approaches that could work would include setting up a self-supporting antenna on the overlook side of the road just before getting to Dan’s Rock. Alternatively, a pole could be lashed to the observation deck on top of Dan’s Rock, but this probably isn’t a good idea because there is a lot of foot traffic up and down the observation platform.
Sad to hear the area is trashed. I hope to get up there and activate it this spring.