Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fork Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fork Mountain and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fork Mountain
- 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 Fork Mountain:
- 37.534024, -79.603649
- 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 Fork Mountain
- 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 Botetourt County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Botetourt County
- Since Fork Mountain is near Rockbridge County and also Bedford County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rockbridge County
- eBird sighting report for Bedford 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 Fork Mountain ...
We found three communities that share the name Fork Mountain.
There is one other community in Virginia which is also named Fork Mountain.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Virginia ...
- Franklin County
- This Fork Mountain is located in Franklin County and lies 50 miles [80.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Fork Mountain that is located in Botetourt County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Franklin County community of Fork Mountain.
- Franklin County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- North Carolina
- Macon County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Fork Mountain [Macon County].
- Tennessee
- Anderson County
- This Fork Mountain is located in Anderson County and lies 283 miles [455.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Fork Mountain that is located in Botetourt County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anderson County community of Fork Mountain.
- North Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fork Mountain ...
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.
- Alpine
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Greyledge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Harvey
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Natural Bridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natural Bridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natural Bridge
- Natural Bridge is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Natural Bridge <4>
- Natural Bridge Station
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natural Bridge Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natural Bridge Station
- Natural Bridge Station is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Natural Bridge Station <4>
- Red Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Rocky Point
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Solitude
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Springwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Springwood is located in Botetourt County
How Far From Fork Mountain 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 Fork Mountain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Fork Mountain and extending to:
- Fincastle, which is the Seat of Botetourt County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Fork Mountain to Fincastle, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 118 miles [189.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 168 miles [270.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,065 miles [9,760.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,771 miles [10,896.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,647 miles [7,478.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fork Mountain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Botetourt County: www.co.botetourt.va.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
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 from Point A (ie- Fork Mountain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fork Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5340, Longitude: -79.6036 In this case, the coordinates for Fork Mountain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Fork Mountain 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. |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Fork Mountain to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.466 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.028 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.275 degrees. |