Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Helen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Helen and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Helen
- 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 Helen:
- 37.636078, -81.313872
- 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 Helen
- 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 Raleigh County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
- Since Helen is near Wyoming County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
- eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Helen ...
We found eight communities that share the name Helen.
Within West Virginia, the name Helen is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Meade County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Helen [Meade County].
- Sedgwick County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Helen [Sedgwick County].
- Maryland
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Helen ...
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.
- Amigo
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Basin
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Big Stick
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Blackeagle
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackeagle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackeagle
- Blackeagle is located in Wyoming County
- Coal City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Glen White
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen White
- Glen White is located in Raleigh County
- Jenny Gap ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Jonben
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Josephine
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Lego
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Lester
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Lillybrook
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lillybrook have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillybrook
- Lillybrook is located in Raleigh County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Mead
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Polk Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Princewick
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Princewick
- Princewick is located in Raleigh County
- Slab Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Fork
- Slab Fork is located in Raleigh County
- Stonecoal Junction
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stonecoal Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonecoal Junction
- Stonecoal Junction is located in Raleigh County
- Winding Gulf
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winding Gulf have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winding Gulf
- Winding Gulf is located in Raleigh County
- Mead
How Far From Helen 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 community such as Helen to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Helen and extending to:
- Beckley, which is the Seat of Raleigh County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Helen to Beckley, 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.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 52 miles [83.7 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 247 miles [397.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,132 miles [9,868.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,842 miles [11,011.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,718 miles [7,592.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Helen. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Helen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Helen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6361, Longitude: -81.3139 |
| <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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Helen 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 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 Helen 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 310.482 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.203 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.956 degrees. |