Chowan County Highpoint Trip Report
Dates: February 22 and March 1, 1998
Authors: Fred and Paulette Lobdell
General
There nine areas in Chowan County that are, or should be, surrounded
by a 16-meter contour. The qualifier is necessary because one area is
mistakenly surrounded by a 14-meter contour; it should be 16 meters.
These areas are all within a half mile of county Route 1002 (County Line Road) on the
eastern edge of the county. As most of these areas are in farm fields,
we recommend that they be visited between the fall harvest and the spring planting.
If visiting during hunting season, Sunday is best, as North Carolina does not
permit hunting on Sundays. The six areas that are the highest points in
Perquimans are also along County Line Road. We suggest that an "expedition" to
either county be combined with the other. We did these areas from south to north.
In order that they may be correlated with the map areas, we use the
numbers for the latter. This results in an approximate reverse order from that
of the map links.
NOTE 1: Map area 6 marks a long, narrow area. This is most likely a ditch,
either drainage or irrigation. If you change the map scale from 1:50,000 to
1:24,000, you will see quite clearly the hachures marking this area as a depression.
NOTE 2: The area opposite Perquimans County area #6 is unnumbered for Chowan County.
This is the area that is surrounded by an incorrect 14-meter contour.
Access
County Line Road (Route 1002) may be accessed from NC 37, about 3 miles
northwest of the village of Belvidere in Perquimans County. This intersection
is also about 4 miles southeast of the intersections of NC 32 and NC 37.
Directions
Area 9: From the intersection of NC 37 and 1002 (County Line Road)
go south on 1002 about 3 miles, staying on 1002 at the fork. Park by the side
of the road and walk northwest into the field to the non-obvious high ground.
Area 8: Go north a bit, less than a mile, to where Chappells Hill Church is on
your right. There will be a gravel road going west about 0.2 mile to a cemetery
on the left. This cemetery and the area around it is area 8. Park here and
walk around the area.
Area 7: Go back toward County Line Road (east) about 200 feet or so, where you
will find a dirt road going north. Walk up this road about 300 feet to another
cemetery, which sits on ground that is obviously slightly higher than the
surrounding terrain.
Non-area 6: See note above.
Unnumbered area, opposite Perquimans County area #6: Continue north on County
Line Road, crossing NC 37, for about 0.8 mile. This area is 0.5 mile north of
NC 37. On the map, it is shown as being surrounded by a 14-meter contour.
However, this is an error; it should be a 16-meter contour. Find a place to
pull off to the right. This fifth Chowan County HP is on the left (west) side
of the road. The high area continues across the road to the east side, and is
the first HP (from south to north) of Perquimans County. If you're "collecting"
both counties on this trip, walk on both sides of the road. There doesn't
appear to be an obviously higher area here.
Areas 3 and 4: Continue north on County Line Road for about 0.6 mile.
Find a place to pull off on the right. Walk due west, across a farm field, passing
over slightly higher ground. This is area 3. Continue due west to the edge of
the field, about a quarter mile from the road. This seems to be area 4.
There doesn't seem to be any obviously higher ground in the woods west of the field.
Areas 1 and 2: Continue north on County Line Road for about 1.5 miles.
Walk into the field just south of the house at area #1. After attaining the high ground,
turn left and walk south about 0.2 miles to a high area (#2) along an electric fence.
This appears to be the highest point around; ground on both sides of the
fence is lower, possibly due to erosion by vehicles and wind.