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Rappahannock County was pretty much back to dirt.
Many roads in the old days kept near streams and rivers, the water level route, to avoid going up and over hills. Cut a grapefruit in half and lay the sliced side down on a flat surface. You can see it is the same distance going around the edge as going up over the top. It is the same with roads and hills.
Why burden yourself or an animal by going up and over, when it is more or less the same distance going around. Moreover, being near a steam allowed you or a horse, or a yoke of oxen, or cattle being driven to market to get a drink of water. The Warrenton Turnpike meandered in such a way, even when it first became Lee Highway.
People in the county thus understood that a grade of three percent or four percent was reasonable; otherwise, they would be spending too much energy climbing a hill and going down the other side. It was a question of economics. You could only haul as much as could be conveniently carried over the highest point along the way. A five percent slope meant a horse could only haul 40 percent of what he could on level ground.
High hills meant smaller payloads and thus less profit per trip. This is one reason why Rappahannock County never became a major trade thoroughfare. Going up and over
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