RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Carter County >> Clifty >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Clifty, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Clifty and the surrounding area.

  • 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 Clifty:
    • 38.221439, -83.036331
    • 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.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Clifty
  • 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 Carter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carter County
    • Since Clifty is near Elliott County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Elliott County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Clifty

Communities Also Named Clifty ...

We found six communities that are also named Clifty.

There is one other community in Kentucky that is also named Clifty.

Beyond Kentucky, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Kentucky ...
    • Todd County
      • This Clifty is located in Todd County and lies 240 miles [386.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Clifty that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Todd County community of Clifty.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Cullman County
      • This Clifty is located in Cullman County and lies 351 miles [564.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Clifty that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cullman County community of Clifty.
    • Arkansas
      • Madison County
      • This Clifty is located in Madison County and lies 606 miles [975.3 km]<1> to the west of the Clifty that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Clifty.
    • Indiana
      • Decatur 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 Indiana community of Clifty [Decatur County].
    • Tennessee
      • Cumberland County
      • This Clifty is located in Cumberland County and lies 200 miles [321.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Clifty that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cumberland County community of Clifty.
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Clifty is located in Fayette County and lies 112 miles [180.2 km]<1> to the east of the Clifty that is located in Carter County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Clifty.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Clifty ...

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.

  • Beetle
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Beetle is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beetle
  • Brushy Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brushy Fork is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Fork
  • Dewdrop
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Dewdrop is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewdrop
  • Green
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Green is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green
  • Gregoryville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Gregoryville is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregoryville
  • Ibex
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ibex is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ibex
  • Johns Run
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Johns Run is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns Run
  • Leon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Leon is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leon
  • Mountain Top
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Mountain Top is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Top
  • Reedville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Reedville is located in Carter County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedville
  • Shady Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Shady Grove is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
  • Stark
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Stark is located in Elliott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark

How Far From Clifty 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 Clifty to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Clifty and extending to:

  • Grayson, which is the Seat of Carter County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Clifty to Grayson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 99 miles [159.3 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take three full days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 327 miles [526.3 km] to the east (E). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,176 miles [9,939.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,893 miles [11,093.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,769 miles [7,675 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 from Point A (ie- Clifty) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Clifty 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>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.
<4>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 Clifty to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Clifty. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2214, Longitude: -83.0363       In this case, the coordinates for Clifty have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.52 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.475 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.512 degrees.