Piatt County High Point Trip Report
29 areas
Date: February 9, 2002
Author: Tim Worth
This county is a monster! Unless you are intent on someday completing Illinois, I wouldn't bother, but the
following is an account for those hearty (deranged?) souls like myself who HP the midwest. One problem
with this county is that it involves a lot of farm field hiking, which limits access to winter. I'd recommend
going when the ground is frozen. The day I went it was unseasonably warm, making the fields very muddy
(particularly the 13 areas in the Foosland quad). All 29 areas are nearby tiny Blue Ridge, IL, in the northeast
corner of the county.
Directions: From I-74, head east on US136 about 10 miles to 3900E. Turn south on 3900E which turns into
1200E (Piatt County) after two miles. Another half mile south and you are at area 1 in section 16.
Here is the area breakdown:
eleven areas in sections 15/16/21-21N-6E of Bellflower quadrangle (807+ ft)
1 in (16) - Fairbanks BM
1 in (15) - W 1/2 of SW 1/4
4 in (15) - S 1/2
5 in (22) - NE 1/4
Area 1 is on the road, at the survey marker sign; I could not find the Fairbanks BM. Area 2 is the minor
contour to the southwest of #1. I've marked areas 3, 4, and 5 as the group shown parallel to the pipeline
running diagonally across section 15. They can be reached by driving to the end of a dirt road off 1300E,
which is the driveway to a brick house marked "3350". No one was home. The foundation of the house
appeared to be just as high as the three contours. Area #6 is at the site of a white two-story house on the
north side of 3300N, about a half mile west of 1200E. Again, no one answered. Areas 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11
are south of the house at #6, in a field. From area #6, set out directly south to area #7. Area #8 is along the
crop line to the east, areas 9, 10, and 11 are to the south, marked from west to east. Hand-leveling amongst
these 11 areas either yielded the same elevation, or was inconclusive. The only area I could positively
eliminate was #11.
Topo chart (target on area 7)
five small areas in section 26-21N-6E of Mahomet quadrangle (810+ ft)
I next drove to 5 the contours of 810+ ft. From the intersection of 1300E (a.k.a. Piatt County Route 2) and 3300N,
head south 2 mile to 3100N, make a left (east), then another half mile to 1350E. Park. From this
intersection, hike north up the grassy fence line for about a half mile to a clump of four areas. The first area
is on the north-south fence line and I'd bet its the highest since it is unplowed. Area 2 is along an east-west
fence line, at a small white post. Areas 3 and 4 are to the southwest in a field. The fifth area is north of the
noticeable power lines, you could hike to it from the other 4 areas or head back to the car and access it from
1400E, as I did. Either way, it was too far from the other four areas to compare elevation-wise with a
simple hand level.
Topo chart
thirteen areas in sections 23/26-21N-6E of Foosland quadrangle (807+ ft)
1 in (23) - NE of RR Bridge
2 in (23) - N 1/2 near rail line
1 in (23) - tiny area just S of fenceline and "23" on topo
4 in (23) - S 1/2
1 in (26) - NE 1/4 NE 1/4
4 in (26) - contours closed by south map-edge
There are a lot of ways you can get to these areas. I did the 8 areas in section 23 by starting at a railroad
bridge on 3200N. The first area is a contour sliver just northeast of the RR bridge, it is almost unnoticeable
in the field and can be eliminated. From the RR bridge (built in 1998 and possibly the man-made cohp),
hike the railroad grade north approximately 0.6 miles to a minor rise on the left (west), just north of the fence line
on the topo. This is area #2. From this point, I've numbered areas 3 - 8 running from northwest to southeast,
all east of the RR grade, with area 7 being the largest contour of the group which leaks onto
3200N near a small horse stable. These areas run together with little relief so I spent most of the time
Lobdellizing in mud. Hand level comparison was inconclusive throughout, there is almost no relief. Three of
the 5 areas in section 26 are easy to see from the topo, the other two are hardly noticeable contour edges
which do not spill over onto the Mahomet quad, since the Foosland quad is metric. Area #1 is a bubble-like
contour just south of 3200N, southeast of the 246-meter spot elevation. Area 2 is the contour sliver just to
the south, it was close enough to the 5th area (810) on the Mahomet quad to eliminate it. Area 3 was at the
site of a metal post to the west of #2, Area 4 ( the other minute spill-over) was lower than area 5,
the contour whose eastern edge just touches section 26 on the topo.
Topo chart (target on area 2)