Williams County Highpoint Trip Report
Date: March 4, 2007
Author: John Hasch
It is a neat treat to find the Williams County high grounds so close to the
tri-state point. You might say the first hill was a mere stone’s throw away.
(Well, a really strong throw, by a really strong person, anyway). So I set off
on foot to the southeast to climb the first hill that lies northeast of the
nearby house and barn. When I reached this hill, I looked around. The highest
ground in the broad area was clearly in Michigan to the (relatively) distant north.
I also spied two areas - one due south (southeast of the barn) and a
second one due west near the house. Neither of these two sites has a contour on
the map, but they appeared to be similar in elevation.
I hiked back to my car. When I reached the embankment from the field up to the
road, I spied the concrete stone marker that was the original tri-state marker.
It was in line with the "M" marker and the Williams county sign found on the
opposite side of the road. The marker’s top was broken off and some of the
words could not be fully read as a result. On the north side of the marker was
the word "MICHIGAN". On the south side of the marker was the word "OHIO".
The west side contained the words "INDIANA" and "xx.xx FEET"
(I couldn’t read the missing numbers). The east side was blank.
Each of these words were printed vertically along the marker,
so parts of some of the words were missing and on the piece of the stone that was broken.
I drove my car south and hopped out to ascend the hill immediately north of the house.
I then moved my car and climbed the area southwest of the barn. I did
not visit the fourth, non-contoured area, though it looked similar in elevation
to the three areas I did visit.
Future visitors will have to make their own determinations.
My final effort was to drive north and scout the route Mike Schwartz had followed.
At the north end of the state line road, I found the sign for Cope Road
(the state line road). To the east, the intersecting road was identified as
"Territorial Road" (the Michigan name). To the west, the intersecting road
was SR 120. This is an Indiana road, not MI/OH as identified by Mike. I turned
left (northwest) into Indiana (the Indiana-Michigan state line is about 3 miles
to the north). I proceeded 0.9 mile to the intersection with CR 925E (also
known as Old Road 1). CR 925E is a paved road that travels south through York, IN.
To recap, from the intersection of CR 925E and SR 120, travel southeast along SR
120 for 0.9 mile to a northeast bend in the road where the name becomes
Territorial Road. At this point, Cope Road (the state line road) turns right (south).
Continue south for 0.8 mile to the Hillsdale County bolder/marker
found on the left. The tri-state point is just beyond this point and the
Williams County high points are in the fields surrounding the house just beyond
and to the left (east). South of this area along the state line road, CR 300N
turns off to the west. This road will also take you through York, IN.
Statistics
Time In, Out: sometime around 5:45 pm, 45 minutes duration
Temperature: high 20s
Wind: Windy
Tools, aids: None
Steps, distance hiked: Negligible, not tracked