Barbour County High Point Trip Report

Dates: September 26-27, 2001
Author: Mike Schwartz

USGS Elliot on Laurel Mtn (3,157 ft)

Approach: This point is located on Laurel Mountain ridge, about eight miles north of the other two areas described below. From the Barbour/Tucker County line, go 3.1 miles east on WV 38, and turn right (southwest) onto CR 19, signed for Texas Mountain. Pass church at 3.9 miles, and reach crest at 4.4 miles, with expansive views of Laurel Mountain, although probably not of the high point. CR 17/Mt. Zion Road comes in from right at 5.0 miles, and goes off to left at 5.1 miles. Faint overgrown road (probably the one shown on Delorme) on left at 5.5 miles near swale. At 5.6 miles, CR 19-4/Streets Hill Road comes in from left. This is paved all the way (10.8 miles) to Parsons, and is an alternate approach from the SE. Continue straight, start to climb, pass Saw Mill Road on right at 5.7 miles, pass jeep road, with junked cars, on left at 6.3 miles, then head steeply downhill to the junction at 6.5 miles, shown near BM 2619 on the topo. Brushy Fork Road/CR 8 goes off to the right, and apparently "short cuts" to WV 38 at a point 1.1 miles east of the county line, but the road does not appear passable to passenger cars from the WV 38 end. Also note the markers for the American Discovery Trail from the Streets Hill Road Junction to BM 2619, then on CR 8 to WV 38. Turn left at the junction and continue south, passing a gravel turnoff and pullout at 6.7 miles, where I left my car.

Hike: I walked the woods road uphill from the pullout, but it leads up the shoulder of the knob due west of BM 2619. Forget it. From parking, the gravel road continues another 0.2 mile to a fork, which may or may not be the one shown south of spot elevation 2,549 feet. The right fork is the one to take, passing through a gate posted by a hunting club. This gate was locked on my arrival, but unlocked on the return, and shortly after I passed through, ATV'ers passed by from above and paid no attention to me.

The gated dirt road heads west toward the saddle between knob 2905 and the summit knob, and is shown on Delorme, but not on the topo. The saddle is signed for the Foggy Mountain Hunting Club, and is graced by two trailers and a derelict school bus, which is rumored to have been towed there by the Monroe/Mercer County bread truck. From the saddle, head left (south) up a dirt road, climbing knob 2905. Once high up, break out into a clearing, and see what is probably the hunt club's building higher up. Cut right (south) toward the summit knob and follow a jeep road into the knob 2905/summit knob saddle. Reach a junction with a wide gravel road that drops off to the west (right), and take it uphill to the left. A short distance ahead, see blue boundary markers and many surveyors ribbons, where the county line/National Forest boundary/ridge line cross the road. From here bushwhack uphill/south on the ridge line, seeing occasional boundary markers. Reach the false, north summit shown on the topo, drop slightly, then climb again to the true summit. No sign of BM Elliot, but it was very dark, so it may still be around. Allow two hours, round trip.

spot elevation on Laurel Mountain (3,130 ft) and one point 500 ft north (3,120+ ft)

Approach: The USGS data sheet for BM Belington, the next knob south of the two high point areas, gives a still useful approach route. From the junction of US 250/WV 92 in Belington (pronounced Bee-lington), zero the odometer, go north on WV 92 for 0.3 miles, turn right on CR 48/Springtown Road, turn right at 0.6 mile onto an unsigned road, turn left at 1.7 miles at the Springtown Methodist Church, then continue generally uphill to 2.7 miles, where the paved road bears left and a gravel driveway goes right with a mailbox marked 240B/Martin. This is the junction shown on the topo about 1/2 inch west of the number 2200 marking the contour. I parked just below there on the downhill side of the paved road, where there is room to get a car completely off the pavement. I bushwhacked due east over the first intervening ridge, then across the top of the low area east of that ridge, heading for the next ridge to the east. Look for a fenced-in pasture to the right (southeast) at the top of the low area, and work northeast along the fence line, eventually rounding it and heading more easterly again. The fence line will lead uphill and join a gravel road heading from the farm below, up the ridge line that heads southeast all the way to BM Belington. This puts you back on the route described in the data sheet. Follow the good road for a short distance, then bear right on a lesser woods road that is eroded down to bedrock. Continuing further uphill, stay right at a major fork on the woods road, and now the path is clearly on the well-defined ridge heading southeast toward BM Belington. The path crests just south of BM Belington, from where bushwhacking begins. I found remnants of the cairn mentioned in the data sheet, but no benchmark. Again, it was very dark, and visibility was poor. Bushwhack slightly east of north, being sure to get onto the narrow ridge, and follow occasional use paths on an easy bushwhack to the high points knob. Pass over a slight bump on the way to the saddle, then climb 200 feet to spot elevation 3130. There is no way this is higher than the 3157-foot BM Elliot eight miles north, but it must be passed over to reach the 3,120+ ft area that is 500 feet north. There is a substantial dip between the two areas, and I could not see clearly to hand level the two areas. I thought the northern area might be higher. If it could be hand-leveled and proven to be lower or not much higher than spot elevation 3130, then BM Elliot could be declared the single highest point of Barbour County.

Trip Statistics: Hike took 1:05 up and 55 minutes down. Vertical gain, including ups and downs on the ridge is 1,400 feet.

Alternate approach: CR 11, which runs between Elkins and Belington, crests Laurel Mountain about 2 1/2 miles south of the high points. The topo shows at least a track road running the ridge north for about a mile, and from there the ridge could be bushwhacked north, over BM Belington and then to the high points. This is a longer route, but should avoid private property.