Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Horseshoe Bend, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Horseshoe Bend and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Horseshoe Bend
- 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 Horseshoe Bend:
- 36.777616, -81.573450
- 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 Horseshoe Bend
- 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 Smyth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Smyth County
- Since Horseshoe Bend is near Washington County and also Grayson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Washington County
- eBird sighting report for Grayson 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 Horseshoe Bend ...
We found seven communities that share the name Horseshoe Bend.
Within Virginia, the name Horseshoe Bend is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Izard County
- This Horseshoe Bend is located in Izard County and lies 565 miles [909.3 km]<1> to the west of the Horseshoe Bend that is located in Smyth County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Izard County community of Horseshoe Bend.
- Georgia
- Bulloch County
- This Horseshoe Bend is located in Bulloch County and lies 301 miles [484.4 km]<1> to the south of the Horseshoe Bend that is located in Smyth County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bulloch County community of Horseshoe Bend.
- Floyd County
- This Horseshoe Bend is located in Floyd County and lies 270 miles [434.5 km] to the southwest of the Horseshoe Bend that is located in Smyth County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Floyd County community of Horseshoe Bend.
- Fulton County
- This Horseshoe Bend is located in Fulton County and lies 245 miles [394.3 km] to the southwest of the Horseshoe Bend that is located in Smyth County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Horseshoe Bend.
- Heard 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 Georgia community of Horseshoe Bend [Heard County].
- Idaho
- Boise County
- This Horseshoe Bend is located in Boise County and lies 1,872 miles [3,012.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Horseshoe Bend that is located in Smyth County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boise County community of Horseshoe Bend.
- Nevada
- Lincoln County
- This Horseshoe Bend is located in Lincoln County and lies 1,781 miles [2,866.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Horseshoe Bend that is located in Smyth County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln County community of Horseshoe Bend.
- Arkansas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Horseshoe Bend ...
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.
- Chilhowie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chilhowie have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowie
- Chilhowie is located in Smyth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,698 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chilhowie <4>
- Dry Fork
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Furnace Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Furnace Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Furnace Hill is located in Smyth County
- Loves Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loves Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loves Mill
- Loves Mill is located in Washington County
- Marion
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marion have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Smyth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,555 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <4>
- Roberts Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roberts Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Mill
- Roberts Mill is located in Smyth County
- Seven Mile Ford
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Mile Ford
- Seven Mile Ford is located in Smyth County
- Slabtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Stony Battery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stony Battery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Battery
- Stony Battery is located in Smyth County
How Far From Horseshoe Bend 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 Horseshoe Bend to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Horseshoe Bend and extending to:
- Marion, which is the Seat of Smyth County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 233 miles [375 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Horseshoe Bend to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 287 miles [461.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,182 miles [9,949 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,889 miles [11,086.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,766 miles [7,670.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Horseshoe Bend. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Smyth County: www.smythcounty.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Horseshoe Bend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Horseshoe Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7776, Longitude: -81.5734 In this case, the coordinates for Horseshoe Bend 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 Horseshoe Bend 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 Horseshoe Bend 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 310.646 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.265 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.331 degrees. |