page_title: Highland County, Virginia
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Highland County, Virginia / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: A map of Highland County, Virginia showing districts. Produced by U.S. Census Bureau, modified from original
context_page_description: Highland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,321, in 2018, the population was estimated at 2,210. Its county seat is Monterey. Known as "Virginia's Switzerland" or "Virginia's Little Switzerland", Highland County is the least populous county in Virginia. Highland lays claim to being one of the least populous counties and one of the highest average elevations east of the Mississippi River.
context_section_description: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Highland County has a total area of 415.9 square miles (1,077.2 km²), of which 415.2 square miles (1,075.4 km²) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) (0.2%) is water.
  The county's western border is naturally defined and lies along the Eastern Continental Divide in the Allegheny Mountains.  Likewise, the eastern border lies along the ridge line of Shenandoah Mountain.  The northern and southern boundaries of the county are defined more artificially, cutting across numerous mountain ridges and valleys.  The county is bordered to the west by Pocahontas County in the state of West Virginia, to the north by Pendleton County, West Virginia, to the east by Augusta County, Virginia, and to the south by Bath County, Virginia.  The county is 153 miles (246 km) northwest of Richmond, Virginia.
  The average elevation of Highland County is 2,832 feet (863 m), which is the 16th highest average elevation among counties in the Eastern United States.  The highest elevation in the county is 4,545 feet (1,385 m) in the Allegheny Mountains and the lowest elevation is 1,625 feet (495 m) near the Cowpasture River southwest of Patna.  The western regions of the county are generally higher in elevation than are the eastern and especially southeastern regions.  As the county lies within the Ridge-and-Valley province of the Appalachian Mountains, it features numerous valleys and mountain ridges that are generally oriented in a "northeast to southwest" direction.  The valleys are from west to east the Alleghany Valley, the Bluegrass Valley, the Monterey Valley, the Bullpasture Valley, and the Cowpasture Valley.  The majority of the county and all the southern portions of the county form part of the James River watershed, while northern sections drain into the Potomac River.  West of Monterey, the divide is roughly centered along the path of U.S. Route 250; however, in eastern Highland County, the James watershed extends further northward. 
  The westernmost valley, the Alleghany Valley, is narrow and situated between Allegheny Mountain to the west and Lantz Mountain to the east.  It is drained by Back Creek, a tributary of the Jackson River, in the southern section of the county and is drained by Straight Fork to the north.  The Laurel Fork runs to the west of Alleghany Valley, joining the Straight Fork in Pendleton County, West Virginia to the north to form the North Fork South Branch Potomac River.  The Bluegrass Valley contains the headwaters of the Jackson River south of U.S. 250 and the South Branch Potomac River to the north.  The northern section of the valley, in the area of the village of Blue Grass, is considerably wider than the southern section of the valley.  The Jackson River flows out of Bluegrass Valley to the east through Vanderpool Gap approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Hightown.  A short distance south, the Bluegrass Valley is drained by the Back Creek.  Monterey Valley is located roughly in the center of the county, and its drainage is separated at Monterey.  To the north of Monterey, the valley is drained by the Strait Creek and South Branch Potomac River; to the south, the valley is drained by the Jackson River.  The Bullpasture Valley is drained throughout the county to the south by the Bullpasture River.  The Cowpasture Valley, the easternmost valley in the county, is mostly drained to the south by the Cowpasture River, although a small portion to the north is drained by the South Fork South Branch Potomac River.
caption: Map of Highland County showing magisterial districts
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