Ace: What would you say is the highest point in Charlottesville?—Rhett E. Tuclime
Rhett: Ace’s knee-jerk reaction to your question was to say that Lee Park is probably the highest point in Charlottesville (heh heh). But, Ace realized that, in all seriousness, this wasn’t what you meant, and therefore brushed up on some terms to get himself in the mood. Geographically speaking.
Elevation, for those of you who were late to class, is the height of a geographic location above a fixed point, usually sea level. Charlottesville itself is at an elevation of 594 feet. So, knowing this, Ace contacted the Charlottesville-Albemarle Visitor’s Bureau and found out that Charlottesville’s highest point is Observatory Hill, located right on UVA’s campus. At an elevation range of 364 feet (that’s above Charlottesville’s 594 feet, for a total of 958 feet), standing at the very top would make you higher than anyone. Elevationally speaking.
UVA’s O-Hill boasts some of the city’s greatest trails for running and biking—not to mention it’s Charlottesville’s highest point.
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Besides its stellar geographic qualities, O-Hill boasts some of the city’s greatest trails for running, biking and any other physical activity not technically endorsed by Ace (if he’s told you once, he’s told you twice—Ace was not put here to exercise). Though it may be foolish, Ace has an overwhelming fear of tipping over on his bike and having his head run over by oncoming traffic. Irrationally speaking.
But, don’t let that stop you. Every spring, the University’s Mountain Biking Club hosts a five-mile race around O-Hill, aptly named “Meltdown Mountain Bike Race.” Ace won’t spell out the obvious connection here, folks.
Probably just as you were, Rhett, Ace was surprised that simple little O-Hill held the coveted spot of “highest point of elevation,” but then Ace remembered the “in Charlottesville” distinction. There are, in fact, many other locations around our fair city that have a decently high elevation. Fortune’s Cove Preserve, for instance, reaches 1,500 feet at its highest point. And the trail at Ragged Mountain climbs 300 feet even before the first half-mile! That’s a hike if Ace ever saw one (which, of course, he hasn’t)
