Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Payne Gap

• 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 Payne Gap:
  • 37.155381, -82.659323
  • 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 Payne Gap

• 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 Letcher County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Letcher County
  • Since Payne Gap is near Wise County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
  • Open the 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Payne Gap

Curious and Interesting Names Near Payne Gap ...

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.

• Bottom Fork
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Bottom Fork is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Fork
• Craftsville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Craftsville is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsville
• Dewey
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Dewey is located in Wise County (VA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
• Haymond
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Haymond is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymond
• Hemphill
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hemphill is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
  • Hemphill has also been known as:
  • Jackhorn
• Jenkins
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Jenkins is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,895 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jenkins <1>
• Millstone
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Millstone is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
• Neon
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Neon is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Neon <1>
• Neon Junction
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Neon Junction is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon Junction
• Potters Fork
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Potters Fork is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters Fork
• Pound
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pound is located in Wise County (VA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pound
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 917 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pound <1>
• Short ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Short is located in Wise County (VA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Payne Gap and extending to:

• Whitesburg, which is the Seat of Letcher County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Payne Gap to Whitesburg, 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 140 miles [225.3 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 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 328 miles [527.9 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,210 miles [9,994 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,922 miles [11,139.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,797 miles [7,720 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'