Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Terra Alta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Terra Alta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Terra Alta
- 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 Terra Alta:
- 39.443820, -79.540621
- 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 Terra Alta
- 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 Preston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Preston County
- Since Terra Alta is near Garrett County and also Grant County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Garrett County
- eBird sighting report for Grant 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 Terra Alta ...
We found one communities that share the name Terra Alta.
Within West Virginia, the name Terra Alta is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, there is another community also named Terra Alta in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Ohio
- Hamilton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Terra Alta [Hamilton County].
- Ohio
Curious and Interesting Names Near Terra Alta ...
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.
- Amboy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Aurora
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aurora
- Aurora is located in Preston County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aurora <3>
- Cranesville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cranesville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranesville
- Cranesville is located in Preston County
- Freeport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Heathers Run
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heathers Run
- Heathers Run is located in Preston County
- Kingwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
- Kingwood is located in Preston County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kingwood <3>
- Lake Ford
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Salt Lick
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Lick
- Salt Lick is located in Preston County
- Sunnyside
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
How Far From Terra Alta 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 town such as Terra Alta to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Terra Alta and extending to:
- Kingwood, which is the Seat of Preston County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 135 miles [217.3 km]<4> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Terra Alta to Charleston, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 139 miles [223.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,979 miles [9,622.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,692 miles [10,769.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,567 miles [7,349.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Terra Alta. 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> | 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 Terra Alta 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. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Terra Alta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Terra Alta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.4438, Longitude: -79.5406 |
| <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 Terra Alta 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 309.357 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.19 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.583 degrees. |