Sinkhole risk in Highland County, VA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 36%
At or near the surface: 36%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Highland County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 150 of Highland County's 415 square miles on soluble rock, 150 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 2,348 residents (6 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 565 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Highland County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Staunton city, VA, about 31 miles southeast, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Bath County, VA 22 mi southwest · 24% at surface
Pocahontas County, WV 24 mi west · 30% at surface
Pendleton County, WV 24 mi northeast · 19% at surface
Augusta County, VA 27 mi southeast · 49% at surface
Staunton city, VA 31 mi southeast · 89% at surface
Randolph County, WV 33 mi northwest · 17% at surface

What Highland County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ridgeley Sandstone, Helderberg and Cayugan Groups (sandstone), Silurian-Devonian in age, covering about 27% of the county. Next is the Moccasin or Bays Formation through Blackford Formation at 7%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Highland County ranks 34 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 82% of US counties on that measure.