Noble County High Point Trip Report
four areas (1,340+ ft)
Date: May 24, 2003
Author: Bob Schwab
From the intersection of Ohio Routes 265 and 147 (about 3.3 miles southwest of Barnesville), drive south
on Route147 for 1.1 miles to Route 379. Continue south on Route 379 for another 4 miles, passing through
the town of Temperanceville. When you reach the crest south of town, turn right (west) onto a dirt road
and drive 0.9 mile to a four-way intersection. Park here and walk back west up the dirt road for about 0.15
mile to where you can easily mount the bank to your south. Climb the bank and walk south through the
woods to an open area where a few remnants of an oil well can be found. This flat area in the woods and
grass is the first contour (area 1).
Return to your vehicle and continue west from the four-way intersection. This road doesn't show on the
topo map, but DeLorme lists it as TWP 182. The road ascends, turns right, drops, bends left, and ascends
as it parallels a ridge (area 2). I drove about 0.5 mile from the four-way before I could find a place to park
as the road began to descend again. I then walked back (east) to the crest in the road and entered the woods
on my left (north) to explore the ridge. After wandering in the woods for a bit, I concluded that the spot
where the road crests the western part of the ridge was about as high as anything in the woods. I then
walked back to where I had parked, and continued going west (on foot) as the road descended.
About halfway down the hill, I mounted the bank and went south into the woods. Follow the ridge south about
0.15 mile as it drops and then rises to the highpoint (area 3). Stay to the west of the ridge to avoid the
worst brush.
Return to the four-way intersection and go south on TWP 181 for 0.6 mile to a steep dirt track on the right
(west) next to some old oil tanks. Park here and hike up the track, which bends west and forks in a grassy
area on top of the hill. There were some people camping in the right fork when I visited, and there appeared
to be a working oil well nearby. Stay to the left at the fork and follow the ridge as it drops, then rises to an
oil well site. My GPS told me that this was where I should find the contour that represents area 4, but this
whole area has been bulldozed flat. The old oil well is history, and so is this contour. There is no need for
highpointers to visit this spot because area 4 no longer exists.