RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Wise County >> Big Laurel >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Laurel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Laurel 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 Big Laurel:
    • 37.012601, -82.621823
    • 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 Big Laurel
  • 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 Wise County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Since Big Laurel is near Norton City and also Letcher County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norton City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Letcher 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 Big Laurel

Communities Also Named Big Laurel ...

We found three communities that are also named Big Laurel.

Within Virginia, the name Big Laurel is unique.

Beyond Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Harlan County
      • This Big Laurel is located in Harlan County and lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<1> to the west of the Big Laurel that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harlan County community of Big Laurel.
    • North Carolina
      • Madison County
      • This Big Laurel is located in Madison County and lies 74 miles [119.1 km]<1> to the south of the Big Laurel that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Big Laurel.
      • Swain County
      • This Big Laurel is located in Swain County and lies 122 miles [196.3 km] to the south southwest of the Big Laurel that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Swain County community of Big Laurel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Laurel ...

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.

  • Clear Creek ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Clear Creek is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Creek
  • Dewey
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Dewey is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Flat Gap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Flat Gap is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Gap
  • Hugh
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hugh is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugh
  • Hurricane
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hurricane is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
  • Josephine
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Josephine is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
  • Lanes Store
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lanes Store is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanes Store
  • Lipps
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Lipps is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipps
  • Needmore
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Needmore is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Needmore
  • Peaks Store
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Peaks Store is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaks Store
  • Roaring Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Roaring Fork is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Fork
  • Round Top
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Round Top is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Top
  • Wise
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)

How Far From Big Laurel 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 Big Laurel to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Laurel and extending to:

  • Wise, which is the Seat of Wise County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 287 miles [461.9 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Big Laurel to Richmond, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 17 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 330 miles [531.1 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,215 miles [10,002.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,926 miles [11,146.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,802 miles [7,728.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Big Laurel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Big Laurel 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 Big Laurel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0126, Longitude: -82.6218       In this case, the coordinates for Big Laurel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.272 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.016 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.697 degrees.