Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Black Jack Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Black Jack Valley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Black Jack Valley
- 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 Black Jack Valley:
- 34.685965, -81.802601
- 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 Black Jack Valley
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Black Jack Valley is near Spartanburg County and also Laurens County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Spartanburg County
- eBird sighting report for Laurens 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 Black Jack Valley ...
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.
- Bishop Town ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bishop Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Town
- Bishop Town is located in Union County
- Buffalo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Buffalo is located in Union County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo <2>
- Cross Anchor
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Anchor
- Cross Anchor is located in Spartanburg County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cross Anchor <2>
- Cross Keys
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Keys have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
- Cross Keys is located in Union County
- Crows ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Dutchman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Glenn Springs
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenn Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenn Springs
- Glenn Springs is located in Spartanburg County
- Goat Alley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goat Alley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goat Alley
- Goat Alley is located in Union County
- Hobbyville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hobbyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbyville
- Hobbyville is located in Spartanburg County
- Meansville ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meansville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meansville
- Meansville is located in Union County
- Wildcat ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Black Jack Valley 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 Black Jack Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Black Jack Valley once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Black Jack Valley and extending to:
- Union, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Black Jack Valley to Union, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 392 miles [630.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,285 miles [10,114.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,985 miles [11,241.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,864 miles [7,827.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Union County: www.countyofunion.com/
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.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> | 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 Black Jack Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Black Jack Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Black Jack Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6860, Longitude: -81.8026 In this case, the coordinates for Black Jack Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Black Jack Valley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.773 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.107 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.034 degrees. |