Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Thornton 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 Thornton Gap:
  • 37.202601, -82.792381
  • 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 Thornton 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 Thornton Gap is near Knott County and also Pike County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Knott 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 Thornton Gap

Curious and Interesting Names Near Thornton 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.

• Bellcraft
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Bellcraft is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellcraft
• Bottom Fork
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Bottom Fork is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Fork
• Craftsville
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Craftsville is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsville
• Crown
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Crown is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
• Democrat
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Democrat is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Democrat
• Haymond
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Haymond is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymond
• Hemphill
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Hemphill is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
  • Hemphill has also been known as:
  • Jackhorn
• Little Colly
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Little Colly is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Colly
• Lucastown
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Lucastown is located in Letcher County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucastown
• Continue List   (6 more) ...
  • Marshal Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Marshal Branch is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshal Branch
  • Martinsville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Martinsville is located in Knott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinsville
  • Millstone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Millstone is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
  • Neon
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Neon is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Neon <1>
  • Neon Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Neon Junction is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon Junction
  • Polly
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Polly is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polly

How Far From Thornton Gap 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 community such as Thornton 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 Thornton Gap and extending to:

• Whitesburg, which is the Seat of Letcher County, lies just to the South Southwest.
• Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 132 miles [212.4 km]<2> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could drive a straight line from Thornton Gap to Frankfort, with an average speed<3>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 334 miles [537.5 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 6,213 miles [9,998.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,801 miles [7,726.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'