Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Raven, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Raven and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Raven
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Raven:
- 37.087057, -81.855120
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Raven
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Tazewell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
- Since Raven is near Russell County and also Buchanan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Russell County
- eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Raven ...
We found five communities that share the name Raven.
Within Virginia, the name Raven is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alberta
- This Raven lies 1,885 miles [3,033.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Raven that is located in Tazewell County.
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- West Virginia
- Alberta
Curious and Interesting Names Near Raven ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Cedar Bluff
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Cedar Bluff is located in Tazewell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 998 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Bluff <4>
- Dye
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dye
- Dye is located in Russell County
- Fork Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fork Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fork Ridge
- Fork Ridge is located in Tazewell County
- Indian
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Lynn Spring
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lynn Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Spring
- Lynn Spring is located in Russell County
- Paintlick
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Premier
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Red Ash
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Seaboard
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Sulphur Spring ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Spring
- Sulphur Spring is located in Tazewell County
- Swords Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swords Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swords Creek
- Swords Creek is located in Russell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swords Creek <4>
How Far From Raven to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Raven to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Raven and extending to:
- Tazewell, which is the Seat of Tazewell County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Raven to Tazewell, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 244 miles [392.7 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 290 miles [466.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,179 miles [9,944.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,889 miles [11,086.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,765 miles [7,668.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Raven. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Raven) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Raven. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0871, Longitude: -81.8551 In this case, the coordinates for Raven have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Raven could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Raven to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.812 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.50 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.353 degrees. |