Graves County High Point Trip Report
Date: January 25, 2004
Author: Ken Oeser
four areas 1 1/2 miles southwest of Bazzell Cemetery
From Browns Grove, go north on KY883 about 0.5 mile and turn left onto Antioch
Church Road. This is about 1.5 miles south of the junction of KY883 and KY121,
on the Graves/Calloway county line. Go west on Antioch Church Road 0.6 mile and
turn right onto Jordan Road. Drive about 200 feet and park on the side of the road.
The highest of these contours is on the left, and the highest area is
only 100 feet or so into the field, which was very soggy this day. This area
hand-levels higher than the area to the northwest and the house/contour to the south.
We hiked to the second contour to the northwest, just around the corner
of the wooded area. Hand-leveling here indicated that the area to the north is
very flat and lower.
two areas 1 1/3 mile west-northwest of Rhoades Chapel
From Lynnville at the junction of KY94 and KY381, go west on KY94 2.1 miles and
turn left onto High Road, then follow this for 1.1 miles to a high area and
house on the left. We first pulled into the driveway, but then pulled back onto
the road and parked beside it at the north end of their fence. The highest area
here is at the top of the dirt road cut, next to a large pine tree.
Hand-leveling shows this area is higher than the small contour just down the road,
across from a house and yard.
one area 3000 feet south of Rhoades Chapel
From Lynnville go west on KY94 0.5 mile and turn left onto KY1382. Go south 2.4
miles to a white house on the left and pull into the drive, just before a road
on the left. Nobody was home, and this house may be abandoned and/or part of
the larger farm just to the north. We hiked into the open fields behind the
house and the barn across the road, all within the contour. Hand-leveling shows
the area around the driveway to be the highest in the contour, making this a
quick stop.
one area at TN state line, 2 3/4 miles south of Rhoades Chapel
From the above area, continue south on KY1382 1.6 miles and go straight at a
curve onto Warren Road. Follow this 1.5 miles, crossing into TN, and turn left
onto Jaybird Lane. Go 0.8 mile and park where a dirt road goes left into the
woods. We hiked up this road toward the last contour of the county, noting
fresh tire tracks in the mud. After a few hundred feet, we arrived at a downed
cable and some postings, and were pondering what to do when I heard a vehicle
coming down the road from the highpoint direction. The driver stopped, and we
explained, with binoculars around our necks, that we were bird watching and
wanted to hike to the highpoint up the road, and showed him our topo copy.
Westvaco owns much of the road frontage and some acreage in the area, but this
man owns the highpoint, and shares the road right-of-way with another landowner
whom he doesn't get along with. He lives northwest of the highpoint, across the creek,
and can drive the north/south road in dry conditions. Annette and
Alexandra petted his Black Lab while I chatted with him, and he gave us
permission to hike on to the highpoint. He said we could drive up, but I
mentioned that we would see more birds by hiking, and we did, spotting several
in the clearing at the highpoint, which is 0.4 mile from Jaybird Lane.
He headed off to watch the University of Kentucky basketball game. I noted on our
hike that Westvaco signs are just left of the woods road for a few hundred feet
past the downed cable and postings, but apparently curve off to the left about
halfway to the highpoint. There is an old hunters' trailer at a curve just
before the highpoint, and the main dirt road curves right here and goes another
couple hundred feet to the highpoint here.