Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Bear Spring, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bear Spring and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Bear Spring
- 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 Bear Spring:
- 37.247625, -80.633674
- 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 Bear Spring
- 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 Giles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Giles County
- Since Bear Spring is near Pulaski County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pulaski County
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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
Communities Also Named Bear Spring ...
We found two communities that share the name Bear Spring.
Within Virginia, the name Bear Spring is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Montana
- Fergus County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Montana community of Bear Spring [Fergus County].
- Tennessee
- Stewart County
- This Bear Spring is located in Stewart County and lies 396 miles [637.3 km]<2> to the west of the Bear Spring that is located in Giles County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stewart County community of Bear Spring.
- Montana
Curious and Interesting Names Near Bear Spring ...
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.
- Centerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Centerville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
- Centerville is located in Montgomery County
- Dry Branch
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dry Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Branch
- Dry Branch is located in Pulaski County
- Fairlawn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlawn
- Fairlawn is located in Pulaski County
- Highland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Maybrook
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Mountain View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Mountain View is located in Giles County
- Parrott
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parrott
- Parrott is located in Pulaski County
- Pepper
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast) - Peppers Ferry
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peppers Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppers Ferry
- Peppers Ferry is located in Montgomery County
- Poplar Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Hill
- Poplar Hill is located in Giles County
- Ripplemead
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ripplemead have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripplemead
- Ripplemead is located in Giles County
- Staytide ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Wake Forest
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wake Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wake Forest
- Wake Forest is located in Montgomery County
How Far From Bear Spring 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 Bear Spring to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Bear Spring and extending to:
- Pearisburg, which is the Seat of Giles County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 176 miles [283.2 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Bear Spring to Richmond, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 226 miles [363.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,121 miles [9,850.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,828 miles [10,988.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,705 miles [7,572 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bear Spring. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Giles County: www.gilescounty.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bear Spring 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. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bear Spring) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Bear Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2476, Longitude: -80.6337 In this case, the coordinates for Bear Spring have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Bear Spring to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.082 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.689 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.795 degrees. |