Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blake Forest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blake Forest and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blake Forest
- 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 Blake Forest:
- 37.143742, -80.332825
- 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 Blake Forest
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
- Since Blake Forest is near Floyd County and also Roanoke County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Floyd County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blake Forest ...
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.
- Apple Acres
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Apple Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Acres
- Apple Acres is located in Montgomery County
- Bangs ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Christiansburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Christiansburg
- Christiansburg is located in Montgomery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 22,399 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Christiansburg <2>
- Craig Mountain
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Craig Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Mountain
- Craig Mountain is located in Montgomery County
- Crockett Spring ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crockett Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Spring
- Crockett Spring is located in Montgomery County
- Diamond Pointe
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Diamond Pointe have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Pointe
- Diamond Pointe is located in Montgomery County
- Echo Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
- Echo Hills is located in Montgomery County
- Falling Branch
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falling Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Branch
- Falling Branch is located in Montgomery County
- Farmview
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Lee-Hi Court
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee-Hi Court have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee-Hi Court
- Lee-Hi Court is located in Montgomery County
- Lester Place
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lester Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester Place
- Lester Place is located in Montgomery County
- Mockingbird Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mockingbird Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mockingbird Hill
- Mockingbird Hill is located in Montgomery County
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Mountain View Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View Park
- Mountain View Park is located in Montgomery County
- Oak Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oak Grove is located in Montgomery County
- Raintree Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Raintree Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raintree Village
- Raintree Village is located in Montgomery County
- Ramble Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramble Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramble Ridge
- Ramble Ridge is located in Montgomery County
- Rogers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Sleepy Hollow
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sleepy Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
- Sleepy Hollow is located in Montgomery County
- Suburban Hills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Suburban Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Suburban Hills
- Suburban Hills is located in Montgomery County
- Sugar Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Montgomery County
- Victory Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victory Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Heights
- Victory Heights is located in Montgomery County
- Walnut Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Montgomery County
- Windmill Hills
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windmill Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windmill Hills
- Windmill Hills is located in Montgomery County
- Yellow Sulphur
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yellow Sulphur have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Sulphur
- Yellow Sulphur is located in Montgomery County
- Yellow Sulphur Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yellow Sulphur Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Sulphur Springs
- Yellow Sulphur Springs is located in Montgomery County
- Mountain View Park
How Far From Blake Forest 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 Blake Forest to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Blake Forest and extending to:
- Christiansburg, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the West Southwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 161 miles [259.1 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Blake Forest to Richmond, with an average speed<4>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 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 216 miles [347.6 km] to the northeast (NE). 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 6,113 miles [9,837.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,819 miles [10,974.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,696 miles [7,557.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blake Forest. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Montgomery County: www.montva.com/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.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> | 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- Blake Forest) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blake Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1437, Longitude: -80.3328 In this case, the coordinates for Blake Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Blake Forest 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 309.906 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.472 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.705 degrees. |