In ‘The Silent Cartographer’, you could cause a glitch enabling you to explore on top of the level. I always did this glitch as it was really fun.
Glitch demonstrated in this video.
However, in CEA, it appears that 343 has put a massive forest on top of the entire map.
This is shown in the first few clips of this video.
Will this obstruct the ability to explore on top of the map? If that’s the case, I will be pretty disappointed.
I hope not, I also hope they didnt add an invisible barrier around the island to prevent us from driving out into the sea.
no it won’t 
You can always go into classic mode and then switch back once you’ve reached the top.
Maybe the skull is up thar
Huh… I always just used hunters to hit me out of the map.
Also, the forest is almost certainly just aesthetic. Chances are they will have no mass- you’ll be able to simply walk through the forest.
It wont. Despite the graphics layers, they didn’t fix any of the fun glitches and bugs that has been discovered over the years. Plus it wouldn’t make sense if you could do in classic, but not Anniversary. So don’t fret OP, you’ll be able to Reach the top, might even be a skull up there…
I’ve always thought that it’s a bit of a stretch to call getting to the top of the island a “glitch.” I mean, it’s so easy to do that Bungie employees must have known that it’s possible, the terrain is solid and textured, it doesn’t break the level at all, and the views are so good that it almost feels like they wanted you to go there.
In any case, though, it will be possible; it wouldn’t make sense for there to be collision changes that that in Anniversary.
they are keeping everything the same.
only the grafics and skulls/terminals are new.
I’m up there right now. I was searching the net to see if any Easter eggs or skulls are up there (instead of searching the whole thing myself). Also, there is a much easier way up there than the ones in the video.
You can drive your hog up into the middle of the island (up the path you walk to go into the building without the silent cartographer in it). Not to far in there is this spot that’s not very high next to a big rock. Back your hog on to the rock, jump on to the back of it, then just crouch jump on to the top of the level (you might not need to crouch even, but I did). It’s hard to explain exactly, so maybe I’ll post a video of my own.