Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McDowell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McDowell and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McDowell
- 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 McDowell:
- 38.335511, -79.490879
- 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 McDowell
- 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 Highland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Highland County
- Since McDowell is near Augusta County and also Bath County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Augusta County
- eBird sighting report for Bath 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 McDowell ...
We found eight communities that share the name McDowell.
Within Virginia, the name McDowell is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another eight communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Tennessee
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near McDowell ...
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.
- Blue Grass
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blue Grass have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Grass
- Blue Grass is located in Highland County
- Clover Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Clover Creek. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clover Creek
- Clover Creek is located in Highland County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Clover Creek
- From McDowell to Clover Creek
- Doe Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Harper
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harper
- Harper is located in Pendleton County (WV)
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Harper
- From McDowell to Harper
- Hightown
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hightown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hightown
- Hightown is located in Highland County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hightown
- From McDowell to Hightown
- Liberty
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Little Baltimore
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Baltimore have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Baltimore
- Little Baltimore is located in Augusta County
- Meadowdale
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadowdale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowdale
- Meadowdale is located in Highland County
- Mill Gap
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Naples ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west) - Possum Trot
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possum Trot
- Possum Trot is located in Highland County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Possum Trot
- From McDowell to Possum Trot
- Trimble
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
How Far From McDowell to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as McDowell to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in McDowell and extending to:
- Monterey, which is the Seat of Highland County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 124 miles [199.6 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from McDowell to Richmond, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 137 miles [220.5 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,025 miles [9,696.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- 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).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,610 miles [7,419.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for McDowell. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Highland County: www.highlandcova.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' (or 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- McDowell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McDowell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.3355, Longitude: -79.4909 |
| <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 McDowell 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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about McDowell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 McDowell to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.373 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.041 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.954 degrees. |