Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Penry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Penry and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Penry
- 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 Penry:
- 39.486487, -78.060834
- 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 Penry
- 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 Berkeley County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Berkeley County
- Since Penry is near Morgan County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Morgan County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Penry ...
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.
- Elk Branch ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Branch
- Elk Branch is located in Berkeley County
- Goose Nest
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goose Nest have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Nest
- Goose Nest is located in Berkeley County
- Grubbs Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grubbs Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grubbs Corner
- Grubbs Corner is located in Berkeley County
- Hedgesville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedgesville
- Hedgesville is located in Berkeley County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 295 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hedgesville <2>
- Irish Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irish Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Hill
- Irish Hill is located in Berkeley County
- Jones Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jones Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Springs
- Jones Springs is located in Berkeley County
- Martinsburg
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsburg
- Martinsburg is located in Berkeley County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,514 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Martinsburg <2>
- Pikeside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Shanghai
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Tablers Station
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tablers Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tablers Station
- Tablers Station is located in Berkeley County
- Tomahawk
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Union Corner
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Corner
- Union Corner is located in Berkeley County
How Far From Penry to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Penry to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Penry once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Penry and extending to:
- Martinsburg, which is the Seat of Berkeley County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 207 miles [333.1 km]<4> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Penry to Charleston, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 68 miles [109.4 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,915 miles [9,519.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,625 miles [10,661.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,501 miles [7,243.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Berkeley County: www.berkeleycountycomm.org/
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Penry, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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 from Point A (ie- Penry) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Penry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4865, Longitude: -78.0608 In this case, the coordinates for Penry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Penry 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 308.462 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.18 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.925 degrees. |