|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Vail, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Vail and the surrounding area.
- 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 Vail:
- 40.705617, -78.210846
- 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 Vail
- 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 Blair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Blair County
- Since Vail is near Huntingdon County and also Centre County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Huntingdon County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Centre 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 Vail
Communities Also Named Vail ...
We found ten communities that are also named Vail.
Within Pennsylvania, the name Vail is unique.
Beyond Pennsylvania, we know of ten communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arizona
- Pima County
- This Vail is located in Pima County and lies 1,891 miles [3,043.3 km]<1> to the west of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pima County community of Vail.
- Arkansas
- Mississippi County
- This Vail is located in Mississippi County and lies 735 miles [1,182.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mississippi County community of Vail.
- California
- San Bernardino County
- This community is historic<2> and although located in San Bernardino County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Vail.
- Colorado
- Eagle County
- This Vail is located in Eagle County and lies 1,480 miles [2,381.8 km]<1> to the west of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Eagle County community of Vail.
- Iowa
- Crawford County
- This Vail is located in Crawford County and lies 883 miles [1,421.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crawford County community of Vail.
- Kentucky
- Breathitt County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Vail [Breathitt County].
- Trimble County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Vail [Trimble County].
- Michigan
- Alger County
- This Vail is located in Alger County and lies 578 miles [930.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Alger County community of Vail.
- New Jersey
- Warren County
- This Vail is located in Warren County and lies 167 miles [268.8 km]<1> to the east of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Warren County community of Vail.
- Washington
- Thurston County
- This Vail is located in Thurston County and lies 2,225 miles [3,580.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Vail that is located in Blair County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Thurston County community of Vail.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Vail ...
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.
- Charlottsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Charlottsville is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlottsville
- Frogtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Frogtown is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogtown
- Gray
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Gray is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
- Ironville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Ironville is located in Blair County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironville
- Sandy Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Sandy Ridge is located in Centre County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Ridge
- Seven Stars
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Seven Stars is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Stars
- Spruce Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Union Furnace
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Union Furnace is located in Huntingdon County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Furnace
- Warriors Mark
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
How Far From Vail 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 Vail to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Vail and extending to:
- Hollidaysburg, which is the Seat of Blair County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Vail to Hollidaysburg, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Harrisburg, which is the State Capital of Pennsylvania, lies 75 miles [120.7 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 139 miles [223.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,869 miles [9,445.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,584 miles [10,595.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,460 miles [7,177.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Vail) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Vail, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Vail 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Vail 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 Vail. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 40.7056, Longitude: -78.2108 In this case, the coordinates for Vail have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.475 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.383 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.522 degrees. |
|
|