Richmond County Highpoint Trip Report
Dates: January 8 and February 14, 2005
Author: Don Desrosiers
The various points are reasonably close together. All are pretty much along 624. I have numbered them 1 to 13
going north to south. Mileage values are not critical unless noted. There have been a number of changes
since the original topo was made, although the major roads are all in the same locations.
From the intersection of VA 3 and VA 624 (Flat Iron Road), turn south onto 624. This point is 15.4 miles
south of the intersection of VA 3 and US 301, or 5.2 from the light in Oak Grove, or 2.3 miles from the
turnoff to get to George Washington's Birthplace.
Point #1 - On the right side of 624 at 4.6 miles from Route 3. There is now a beige house near the point
(#12937) and the actual HP was to the right of the house near the woods line.
Nobody was home, although I parked before getting to the house and came up along the power line.
Point #2 - (north of 638) - Continue on 624 and turn left onto 638 (China Hill Road).
HP is in the front yard of the first house on the left.
Point #3 - (southwest of point 2) - Presuming you parked on the southwest side of 638 across from point 2,
walk through the logged area along the ridge. This one may not be over 180 any more.
It is obviously lower than points 2 and 4.
Point #4 - (at dogleg on 638) - From point 3, look at where you want to go. This will save trouble in the
long run. Continue on 638 to the dogleg where there is now a gated dirt road (not shown on topo) running
through the northwest edge of the area. About 75 yards along the dirt road, bushwhack left into the heavily
overgrown woods. Wander until satisfaction is accomplished.
Points #5, 6, and 7 - (south of 624/638 intersection) - First point is south of the house at the edge of the woods.
The point across 624 is small and not obvious. The area has been logged and may not be over 180 anymore.
The last point is to the left of 624 and is obvious about 50 feet off the road.
I believe it is the highest of points 5 - 7 and may be the highest of 2 - 7 (no real clear shots available).
Point 8 - (on dirt road) - The road is now paved VA 693 (Carter Town Road). The point is in the side yard
of the first house on the left.
Points 9 and 10 - (in open area southeast of 624) - Tooling down 634 toward the 142 BM there is a sign for
the Historyland Nursery. Figuring this was roughly the area I needed to go, I headed up to the office
(clearly marked) to ask permission to wander around. The person at the office wanted to know why I
wanted to search around. I will presume he was just having a bad day because he was just at the point of
being hostile. He did NOT want me on the property, despite my explanations. Period. End of discussion.
I finally told him about the web site, politely thanked him and walked out the door scratching my head on how
I was going to do this one. At this point it hit me: Right in front of the office was the point I was seeking.
Taking a bearing toward the south area (I had my compass around my neck), where I was standing was
obviously the higher of the two. Life is good! Just look up and say, "Thank you."
[Note: This point was confirmed with a GPS unit in February.]
Points 11 and 12 - (west of 142 BM) - The northern point is obvious and is off of Turkey Trot Road (not
shown on the topo). In front of the house. The point just above the "624" is in the field near the road.
It is obvious.
Point 13 - (northeast of "624" on map) - I can see now how I missed this one but it still offends me that I did.
The point is in the middle of a field, is fenced in, and had horses therein. Nobody answered at the
house and I was uncomfortable wandering around without permission. From point 12 (across the 624) this
point looked the lower of the two points. I walked along the fence at the edge of the woods to verify.
I have no idea which point is highest, although as noted, I can tell which points are not.