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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gilley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gilley 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 Gilley:
    • 37.099268, -82.674880
    • 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 Gilley
  • 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 Gilley is near Letcher County and also Dickenson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Letcher 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 Gilley

Communities Also Named Gilley ...

We found one communities that are also named Gilley.

Within Virginia, the name Gilley is unique.

Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Gilley in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Letcher County
      • This Gilley is located in Letcher County and lies 25 miles [40.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Gilley that is located in Wise County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Letcher County community of Gilley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gilley ...

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.

  • Big Laurel
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Laurel is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel
  • Bottom Fork
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Bottom Fork is located in Letcher County (KY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Fork
  • Dewey
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Dewey is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dewey
  • Flat Gap
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Flat Gap is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Gap
  • Haymond
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Haymond is located in Letcher County (KY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haymond
  • Hugh
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Hugh is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugh
  • Jenkins
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jenkins is located in Letcher County (KY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,895 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jenkins <2>
  • Lipps
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Lipps is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipps
  • Millstone
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Millstone is located in Letcher County (KY)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millstone
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Neon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Neon Junction
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Neon Junction is located in Letcher County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neon Junction
    • Peaks Store
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Peaks Store is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peaks Store
    • Potters Fork
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Potters Fork is located in Letcher County (KY)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potters Fork
    • Pound
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Short ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Short is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short

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

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

  • Wise, which is the Seat of Wise County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Gilley to Wise, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 289 miles [465.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 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 6,213 miles [9,998.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,925 miles [11,144.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,800 miles [7,724.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Gilley) 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 Gilley 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 Gilley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.0993, Longitude: -82.6749       In this case, the coordinates for Gilley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.304 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.065 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.693 degrees.