Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Lofton, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lofton and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Lofton
- 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 Lofton:
- 37.955134, -79.164475
- 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 Lofton
- 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 Augusta County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Augusta County
- Since Lofton is near Rockbridge County and also Nelson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rockbridge County
- eBird sighting report for Nelson 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 Lofton ...
We found four communities that share the name Lofton.
Within Virginia, the name Lofton is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Louisiana
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Lofton ...
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.
- Cold Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cold Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Cold Spring is located in Augusta County
- Greenville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
- Greenville is located in Augusta County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <4>
- Irish Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Irish Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irish Creek
- Irish Creek is located in Rockbridge County
- Jonestown
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - McNutt ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Mint Spring
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mint Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mint Spring
- Mint Spring is located in Augusta County
- Spottswood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spottswood
- Spottswood is located in Augusta County
- Stony Run
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Stuarts Draft
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stuarts Draft
- Stuarts Draft is located in Augusta County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stuarts Draft <4>
- Vesuvius
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vesuvius have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vesuvius
- Vesuvius is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vesuvius <4>
How Far From Lofton 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 Lofton to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Lofton and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 98 miles [157.7 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Lofton to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 132 miles [212.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,028 miles [9,701.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,734 miles [10,837.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,611 miles [7,420.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Lofton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Augusta County: www.co.augusta.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 '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- Lofton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lofton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9551, Longitude: -79.1645 In this case, the coordinates for Lofton 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Lofton 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 Lofton 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 309.193 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.779 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.949 degrees. |