Hampton City High Point Trip Report

four areas 1/4 to 1/2 mile west of Big Bethel Road (30+ ft)

Date: January 17, 2002
Author: Michael Schwartz

First, to settle the matter of the footnoted, possibly manmade, 35+ foot area, 3/4 mile north of Lynnhaven Lake: The hill is gone.

For the two southern areas, turn west off Big Bethel Road, just south of I-64 (no access at Big Bethel Road), into the Sandy Bottom Nature Park, run by the City of Hampton. Park at the visitor center and walk the path around the large pond. Displays in the visitor center show that this area was excavated, and the ponds created, during I-64 construction. It's impossible to determine the natural elevation of this area.

For the two northern areas, continue north on Big Bethel Road about 1 1/2 miles north of I-64 and turn left (west) onto Saunders Road. Go 0.3 mile and turn right (north) onto Quarter Path Lane, not shown on topo. This goes through the western portion of the northernmost 30-foot contour. There is very little relief here, and after wandering around for while, I concluded that #6 Quarter Path Lane is on or close to the highest ground.

For the area to the south, cross Saunders, go east 1/2 block, and go south on Edgemont Drive, the road shown on the topo heading for the highpoint. At the T-intersection with Fairmont Drive, houses #133 and 135 sit on a slight rise.

There's a huge landfill just beyond their backyards, and this area may also be manmade. All in all, the contour north of Saunders Road is the least suspect of the four.