RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Montgomery County >> Alleghany Springs >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Alleghany Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alleghany Springs 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 Alleghany Springs:
    • 37.128428, -80.265141
    • 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 Alleghany Springs
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Alleghany Springs is near Floyd County and also Roanoke County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Floyd County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roanoke 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 Alleghany Springs

Curious and Interesting Names Near Alleghany Springs ...

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.

  • Arsenic Mine ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Arsenic Mine is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arsenic Mine
  • Bangs ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Bangs is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangs
  • Basham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Basham is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Basham
  • Christiansburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Copper Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Craig Mountain
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Craig Mountain is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Mountain
  • Crockett Spring ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Crockett Spring is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Spring
  • Falling Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Falling Branch is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Branch
  • Hemlock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hemlock is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
  • Huffville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Huffville is located in Floyd County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffville
  • Lester Place
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Lester Place is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester Place
  • Oak Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...

How Far From Alleghany Springs 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 Alleghany Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Alleghany Springs and extending to:

  • Christiansburg, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the West.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 157 miles [252.7 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Alleghany Springs to Richmond, 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 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 213 miles [342.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,111 miles [9,834.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,816 miles [10,969.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,693 miles [7,552.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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- Alleghany Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Alleghany Springs 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 Alleghany Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1284, Longitude: -80.2651       In this case, the coordinates for Alleghany Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.866 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.425 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.682 degrees.