Lewis County Highpoint Trip Report
22 areas (740+ feet)
Date: October 12, 2007
Author: Bob Schwab
This is another MO county that I believe Dick Ellsworth devirginized some time ago.
What follows is a brief synopsis of the highlights of my visits to this county,
which I finally completed on October 12. Most of these contours lie
right along the western edge of the county line. In the process of researching
and exploring this county, I think I found one additional area not mentioned in
Andy Martin’s book in the Deer Ridge quadrant (see section 19-62N-9W).
DEER RIDGE QUAD - two areas in sections 19/30/31-63N-9W (740+ feet)
From Williamstown, drive west on Route E for 6.4 miles to the junction of Routes
K and E. Continue west on K for about 0.5 mile to a grain bin on south side of
the road. Park here and hike south to this contour out in the corn field.
Continue west on Route K for 0.5 mile to spot elevation 741. This is the
beginning of a very large contour in a bean field that covers most of the
northern half of section 30 and extends into section 19. Walk northwest into
the field and note how it rises gently. You can also drive 1 mile west to the
county line, then go north on a field track into the contour. Wander around in
here to satisfy yourself that the high ground has been found.
five areas northwest of LaBelle (including BM 750) in sections 18/19/30/31/32-62N-9W (740+ feet)
From LaBelle, drive west on Route 6 for 2.1 miles to the county line. Turn
north on 100th Avenue (county line) and continue for about 1.25 miles to spot
elevation 744. Along the way, note the large contour to the east in hay and
beans, which eventually crosses the county line up near the spot elevation site.
Continue north on 100th Avenue for about 1 more mile to the intersection with
Route HH. There is another contour just southeast of spot elevation 738 out in
the corn field. Continue north another 0.5 mile or so to a witness sign next to
a telephone pole. This marks the location of BM 750 (actually Lipes Reset, 751
feet) which sits on a large contour that extends east into the bean field for
0.75 mile. You can also explore this large contour by using the road that runs
east from the Route HH intersection. There seems to be a small sliver of an
area right along 110th Avenue between BM 750 and spot elevation 738 to the south
which I believe is a separate area not reported in Andy Marin’s book.
However, since this area has little rise above the 740-foot contour,
it cannot compete with the BM 750 area to the north, so it isn’t a relevant
contour for highpointing purposes.
The final contour of these five straddles the section 31/32 line out in the
field about a mile or so northwest of LaBelle. You can either hike north 0.3
mile from Route 6, or you can hike west for 0.5 mile from Western Avenue. There
is some rise in this contour but it doesn’t achieve the approximate 10-foot gain
we’ve seen in some of the contours along the county line, thus it may not be
worth the visit.
LA BELLE QUAD - three areas west of LaBelle in sections 5/6-61N-9W (740+ feet)
On the western county line, where Route 6 and 100th Avenue intersect, go south
for 0.35 mile and park. Hike east into the cornfield to a modest contour.
Continue south on 100th Avenue another 0.75 mile (1.1 miles south of Route 6)
and turn left (east). Drive east, then north, then east for almost 1.4 miles to
a tiny contour just north in a bean field. Continue east on Main Street another
0.4 mile to South 10th, turn right and park at the end. You can either walk
along the edge of the cornfield, or you can hike directly south to this contour.
I thought this one had the most gain of the three areas.
three areas in section 18-61N-9W (740+ feet)
Return to 100th Avenue and drive south 1.2 miles to Road 210. There are two
concrete silos just southeast of this intersection which has a spot elevation of
740 feet. The topo map shows a 740-foot contour that just touches this
intersection from the west. Continue south on 100th Avenue for another 0.5 mile
to a crest in the road where another contour intrudes from the west into the
hayfield to your east. You can park here and hike east, then southeast roughly
0.4 mile to a second contour. Both of these contours have more gain than the
first tiny area at spot elevation 740.
three contours in sections 29/30/31/32-61N-9W (740+ feet)
Continue south on 100th Avenue for another 2.5 miles to where the road ends at
Route U (this is 5 miles south of Route 6). Along the way (actually the last
0.7 mile or so) you’ll cross into another large contour that reaches east into
the corn field. This contour has some rise within it and can be explored from
anywhere along the county line road. When you arrive at Route U, turn left and
drive east for 1 mile. Park next to a blue gate at spot elevation 741. You can
explore this large contour which covers a bean field to the north and a corn
field to the south. You can also hike southeast from this location across the
corn and beans for about 0.75 mile to visit the third contour. An alternate
(better) approach is to continue driving east on Route U to Route D, turn right
on D and park 0.4 mile south. Then hike west into the bean field 0.3 mile to
this smaller 740-foot contour.
two areas in sections 20/21/28/29-61N-9W (740+ feet)
From the Route U and Route D intersection, drive north on D 1 mile to spot
elevation 744 and a blue water tower. Most of this contour is a bean field,
with the higher ground to the west of the road. You can hike west for 0.7 mile
to a small contour near spot 739 but, when these fields are clear, you can see
that it is definitely lower. You can also drive north 0.5 mile, then west for
0.5 mile to spot elevation 741 and hike south to explore the northern arm of
this large contour which seems to contain some high ground.
two areas in sections 6/7/18-60N-9W (740+ feet)
From the Route U and Route D intersection, drive south on D for 1.5 miles to 255
Street. Turn right and drive west for 2 miles to the county line and spot 738.
There is a large contour here which seems high but relatively flat out in the
corn field. After wandering around on both sides of the road here, backtrack
0.5 mile to 105th Avenue and turn south for 0.25 mile. This is supposed to be
where this contour crosses the road again but you’ll not believe what you see.
The field to the east has been significantly regraded and the east side of the
road is at least 12 feet higher than the west side. Obviously this is not
natural but it looks like perhaps they will leave this as a permanent mound.
This man-made bump may turn out to be the highest ground in the county!
Continue south on 105th Avenue for another 1.25 mile (about 1.5 miles south of
255th Street ) and park along the road. Hike west 0.5 mile and gain about 80
feet to spot elevation 745 which sits right on the county line. Since there are
other sites confirmed above the 750-foot elevation in this county, this spot
doesn’t need to be visited, except to confirm that the spot elevation is the
highest point up there.
NEWARK QUAD - two areas in section 31-60N-9W near the SW county corner (750+ feet)
From Newark, drive south on Route E for just over 2 miles to a two-track road
going left. This path is listed as CR 395 in Delorme. This primitive road made
me a bit nervous, particularly when I bounced over a deep ditch I wasn’t expecting.
Drive southeast for 0.85 mile to where the road abruptly turns south.
Park here, cross the iron gate into the pasture, and hike east into the
woods (the cows were not a problem). There is an obvious contour here with rise
which goes above 750+ feet. Be sure to hike all the way east on this contour
since the western part is in Knox County. This is actually my candidate for the
county highpoint, since I know the contour hasn’t been eroded or plowed like the
other field contours along the county line. There is a second, very small
contour right at the southwest corner of the county which can be reached by
continuing south on the two-track path to the Shelby County line, then bushwhack
east to the county corner. This one is not as high as the first area however.