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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Rock 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 Big Rock:
- 37.356327, -82.189141
- 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 Rock
- 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
- Since Big Rock is near Pike County and also Dickenson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Pike County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Dickenson 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 Rock
Communities Also Named Big Rock ...
We found twelve communities that are also named Big Rock.
Within Virginia, the name Big Rock is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of twelve communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Pulaski 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 Arkansas community of Big Rock [Pulaski County].
- Sebastian County
- This Big Rock is located in Sebastian County and lies 689 miles [1,108.8 km]<2> to the west of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sebastian County community of Big Rock.
- Illinois
- Kane County
- This Big Rock is located in Kane County and lies 454 miles [730.6 km]<2> to the northwest of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kane County community of Big Rock.
- Iowa
- Black Hawk County
- This Big Rock is located in Black Hawk County and lies 643 miles [1,034.8 km]<2> to the northwest of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Black Hawk County community of Big Rock.
- Clinton 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 Iowa community of Big Rock [Clinton County].
- Scott County
- This Big Rock is located in Scott County and lies 551 miles [886.7 km] to the northwest of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Scott County community of Big Rock.
- Kentucky
- Leslie County
- This Big Rock is located in Leslie County and lies 60 miles [96.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Leslie County community of Big Rock.
- Michigan
- Montmorency County
- This community is historic<3> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Big Rock [Montmorency County].
- North Carolina
- Granville 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 North Carolina community of Big Rock [Granville County].
- Ohio
- Jackson County
- This Big Rock is located in Jackson County and lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Big Rock.
- Tennessee
- Stewart County
- This Big Rock is located in Stewart County and lies 311 miles [500.5 km]<2> to the west of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stewart County community of Big Rock.
- Texas
- Henderson County
- This Big Rock is located in Henderson County and lies 851 miles [1,369.6 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Big Rock that is located in Buchanan County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Henderson County community of Big Rock.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Rock ...
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.
- Beaver Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Beaver Creek is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver Creek
- Fedscreek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Fedscreek is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fedscreek
- Home Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Home Creek is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Creek
- Ira
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ira is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ira
- Lick Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Lick Creek is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek
- Lick Creek Station
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Lick Creek Station is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Creek Station
- Longbottom
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Longbottom is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbottom
- Maxie
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Maxie is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxie
- Mikegrady
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Mikegrady is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mikegrady
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Motley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Motley is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Motley
- Paw Paw
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Pearly
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Pearly is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearly
- Royal City
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Royal City is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal City
- Tookland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Tookland is located in Buchanan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tookland
- Woodside
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Woodside is located in Pike County (KY)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside
How Far From Big Rock 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 Rock to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Rock and extending to:
- Grundy, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 260 miles [418.4 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Big Rock to Richmond, with an average speed<4>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 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 299 miles [481.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,181 miles [9,947.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,893 miles [11,093.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,768 miles [7,673.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Big Rock 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 '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- Big Rock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Big Rock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Big Rock 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 Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3563, Longitude: -82.1891 |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.011 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.767 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.412 degrees. |
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