Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Mount Gate

• 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 Mount Gate:
  • 37.058448, -81.530668
  • 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 Mount Gate

• 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 Tazewell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell County
  • Since Mount Gate is near Smyth County and also Bland 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 Bland 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 Mount Gate

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Gate ...

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.

• Drytown
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Drytown is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drytown
• Five Oaks
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Five Oaks is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Oaks
• Fourway
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Fourway is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourway
• Frog Level
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Frog Level is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Level
• Gap Store
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Gap Store is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gap Store
• Joe Neets
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Joe Neets is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joe Neets
• Liberty
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Liberty is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
• Maxwell
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Maxwell is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
• River Jack
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • River Jack is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Jack
• Tannersville
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Tannersville is located in Tazewell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tannersville

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Mount Gate and extending to:

• Tazewell, which is the Seat of Tazewell County, lies just to the North.
• Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 227 miles [365.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Mount Gate to Richmond, with an average speed<2>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 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 275 miles [442.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,167 miles [9,924.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,876 miles [11,065.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,752 miles [7,647.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'