Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rural Retreat, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rural Retreat and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rural Retreat
- 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 Rural Retreat:
- 36.893724, -81.275799
- 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 Rural Retreat
- 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 Wythe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Wythe County
- Since Rural Retreat is near Smyth County and also Bland County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Smyth County
- eBird sighting report for Bland 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rural Retreat ...
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.
- Beaver
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Blacklick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Blessing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Cedar Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
- Cedar Springs is located in Smyth County
- Cripple Creek
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cripple Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cripple Creek
- Cripple Creek is located in Wythe County
- Crockett
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
- Crockett is located in Wythe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <2>
- Eagle Oak
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast) - Grubb
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Noble Furnace
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noble Furnace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble Furnace
- Noble Furnace is located in Wythe County
- Shady Grove
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
- Shady Grove is located in Smyth County
- Speedwell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speedwell
- Speedwell is located in Wythe County
- Stones Mill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stones Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stones Mill
- Stones Mill is located in Wythe County
- Sugar Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Smyth County
- Turkey Fork
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Fork
- Turkey Fork is located in Grayson County
How Far From Rural Retreat to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a town such as Rural Retreat to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Rural Retreat and extending to:
- Wytheville, which is the Seat of Wythe County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<3> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rural Retreat to Wytheville, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 215 miles [346 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 269 miles [432.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,164 miles [9,920 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,871 miles [11,057.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,748 miles [7,641.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rural Retreat: www.townofruralretreat.com/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rural Retreat) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rural Retreat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8937, Longitude: -81.2758 |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Rural Retreat to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.468 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.078 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.172 degrees. |