RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Grayson County >> McKnights Mill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in McKnights Mill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McKnights Mill and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 McKnights Mill:
    • 36.609018, -80.902577
    • 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 McKnights Mill
  • 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 Grayson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grayson County
    • Since McKnights Mill is near Surry County and also Galax City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Surry County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Galax City
  • 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 McKnights Mill

Curious and Interesting Names Near McKnights Mill ...

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.

  • Cliffview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cliffview is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cliffview
  • Crooked Oak
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Crooked Oak is located in Surry County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooked Oak
  • Fries
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Hare
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hare is located in Alleghany County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hare
  • Hebron
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Hebron is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Hickory Flat
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Flat is located in Carroll County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Flat
  • Hilltown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Hilltown is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltown
  • Hooker
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hooker is located in Alleghany County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
  • Lambsburg
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Low Gap
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Low Gap is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
  • Moore Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Moore Ferry is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Ferry
  • Peach Bottom
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Peach Bottom is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Bottom
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Pipers Gap
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Pipers Gap is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pipers Gap
    • Providence
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Providence is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
    • Round Peak
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Round Peak is located in Surry County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Peak
    • Saddle Mountain
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Saddle Mountain is located in Alleghany County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Mountain
    • Wolf Glade
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Wolf Glade is located in Carroll County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Glade
    • Woodlawn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Independence, which is the Seat of Grayson County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from McKnights Mill to Independence, 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 201 miles [323.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 263 miles [423.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,161 miles [9,915.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,866 miles [11,049.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,743 miles [7,633.1 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' (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- McKnights Mill) 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 McKnights Mill 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 McKnights Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6090, Longitude: -80.9026       In this case, the coordinates for McKnights Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.25 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.787 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.108 degrees.