Sinkhole risk in Grant County, WV: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 11%
At or near the surface: 11%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Grant County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 53 of Grant County's 477 square miles on soluble rock, 53 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 10,971 residents (23 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 516 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Grant County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harrisonburg city, VA, about 49 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Tucker County, WV 20 mi west · 8% at surface
Hardy County, WV 20 mi east · 10% at surface
Mineral County, WV 24 mi northeast · 12% at surface
Garrett County, MD 31 mi north · 8% at surface
Pendleton County, WV 31 mi south · 19% at surface
Hampshire County, WV 34 mi northeast · 8% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Tonoloway, Wills Creek, and Williamsport Formations (limestone), Silurian in age, covering about 6% of the county. Next is the Helderberg Group at 4%.

Against the rest of West Virginia

Grant County ranks 15 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 68% of US counties on that measure.