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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Keywood, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Keywood 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 Keywood:
    • 36.824836, -81.790677
    • 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 Keywood
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Keywood is near Smyth County and also Russell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Smyth County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell 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 Keywood

Curious and Interesting Names Near Keywood ...

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.

  • Cedar Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cedar Branch is located in Smyth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Branch
  • Clarksville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Clarksville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville
  • Clinchburg
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Clinchburg is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinchburg
  • Fleet
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Henrytown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Henrytown is located in Smyth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrytown
  • Lick Skillet
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Lick Skillet is located in Smyth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lick Skillet
  • Meadowview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Heights is located in Smyth County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Heights
  • Plum Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Plum Creek is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Creek
  • Price Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Price Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Hill
  • Saltville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Tumbling Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Tumbling Creek is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumbling Creek

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Keywood and extending to:

  • Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Keywood to Abingdon, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 244 miles [392.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 296 miles [476.4 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,189 miles [9,960.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,897 miles [11,099.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,773 miles [7,681.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Keywood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Keywood 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 Keywood. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8248, Longitude: -81.7907       In this case, the coordinates for Keywood have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.775 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.419 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.406 degrees.