Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Soft Shell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Soft Shell and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Soft Shell
- 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 Soft Shell:
- 37.402320, -82.942108
- 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 Soft Shell
- 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 Knott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Knott County
- Since Soft Shell is near Floyd County and also Breathitt County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- eBird sighting report for Breathitt 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 Soft Shell ...
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.
- Baker Camp
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baker Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baker Camp
- Baker Camp is located in Knott County
- Betty
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Elmrock
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Handshoe
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Hindman
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hindman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hindman
- Hindman is located in Knott County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 663 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hindman <2>
- Hollybush
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Larkslane
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Mousie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mousie
- Mousie is located in Knott County
- Rock Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Tina
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Soft Shell 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 Soft Shell to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Soft Shell and extending to:
- Hindman, which is the Seat of Knott County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 118 miles [189.9 km]<3> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Soft Shell to Frankfort, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 336 miles [540.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,210 miles [9,994 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,924 miles [11,143.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,799 miles [7,723.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Soft Shell. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Kentucky: https://kentucky.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> | 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- Soft Shell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Soft Shell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4023, Longitude: -82.9421 In this case, the coordinates for Soft Shell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Soft Shell 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 311.466 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.294 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.717 degrees. |