Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orkney, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orkney and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Orkney
- 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 Orkney:
- 37.430101, -82.735158
- 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 Orkney
- 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 Floyd County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- Since Orkney is near Knott County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Knott County
- eBird sighting report for Pike 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 Orkney ...
We found three communities that share the name Orkney.
Within Kentucky, the name Orkney is unique.
Beyond Kentucky, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, one is located in the United States and the other two communities are located in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Ontario
- Saskatchewan
- This Orkney lies 1,491 miles [2,399.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Orkney that is located in Floyd County.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orkney ...
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
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
- Beaver is located in Floyd County
- Betty
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Blue Moon
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Moon
- Blue Moon is located in Floyd County
- Drift
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Hunter
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Jacks Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacks Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacks Creek
- Jacks Creek is located in Floyd County
- Melvin
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Minnie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minnie
- Minnie is located in Floyd County
- Porter Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porter Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Junction
- Porter Junction is located in Floyd County
- Price
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Printer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Printer
- Printer is located in Floyd County
- Raven
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Teaberry
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
How Far From Orkney 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 Orkney to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orkney and extending to:
- Prestonsburg, which is the Seat of Floyd County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Orkney to Prestonsburg, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 128 miles [206 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 325 miles [523 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,200 miles [9,977.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,913 miles [11,125.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,789 miles [7,707.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orkney. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Orkney 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Orkney) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orkney. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4301, Longitude: -82.7352 In this case, the coordinates for Orkney have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Orkney 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 311.34 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.155 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.621 degrees. |