RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Letcher County >> Upper Cumberland >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Upper Cumberland:
    • 37.070716, -82.735688
    • 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 Upper Cumberland
  • 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 Upper Cumberland is near Wise County and also Norton City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norton City
  • 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 Upper Cumberland

Curious and Interesting Names Near Upper Cumberland ...

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
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Bellcraft is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellcraft
  • Big Laurel
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Laurel is located in Wise County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel
  • Bottom Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Bottom Fork is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Fork
  • Clark ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Clark is located in Wise County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clark
  • Craftsville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Craftsville is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craftsville
  • Crown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Crown is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crown
  • Day
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Day is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Day
  • Dewey
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Dewey is located in Wise County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Flat Gap
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Flat Gap is located in Wise County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Gap
  • Ice
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Ice is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ice
  • Kingdom Come
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Kingdom Come is located in Letcher County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingdom Come
  • Lipps
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lipps is located in Wise County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipps
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Millstone
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Millstone is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
    • Neon Junction
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Neon Junction is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon Junction
    • Oven Fork
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Oven Fork is located in Letcher County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oven Fork
    • Pardee
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Pardee is located in Wise County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pardee
    • Peaks Store
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Peaks Store is located in Wise County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaks Store
    • Roaring Fork
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Roaring Fork is located in Wise County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Fork

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Upper Cumberland and extending to:

  • Whitesburg, which is the Seat of Letcher County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 140 miles [225.3 km]<1> to the northwest (NW). If you could drive a straight line from Upper Cumberland to Frankfort, with an average speed<2>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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,217 miles [10,005.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,928 miles [11,149.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,804 miles [7,731.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Upper Cumberland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Upper Cumberland 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 Upper Cumberland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0707, Longitude: -82.7357       In this case, the coordinates for Upper Cumberland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.341 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.103 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.727 degrees.