RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Buchanan County >> Mount Heron >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Mount Heron, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mount Heron 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 Mount Heron:
    • 37.187889, -82.004573
    • 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 Heron
  • 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 Buchanan County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buchanan County
    • Since Mount Heron is near Russell County and also Tazewell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Russell County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tazewell 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 Heron

Communities Also Named Mount Heron ...

We found one communities that are also named Mount Heron.

Within Virginia, the name Mount Heron is unique.

Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Mount Heron in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Darke County
      • This Mount Heron is located in Darke County and lies 249 miles [400.7 km]<1> to the northwest of the Mount Heron that is located in Buchanan County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Darke County community of Mount Heron.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Mount Heron ...

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.

  • Deel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Deel is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deel
  • Dwight
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Dwight is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dwight
  • Fork Ridge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Fork Ridge is located in Tazewell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fork Ridge
  • Hanger
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Hanger is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanger
  • Horn
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Horn is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horn
  • Janey
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Janey is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Janey
  • Longbottom
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Longbottom is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbottom
  • Lynn Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynn Spring is located in Russell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Spring
  • Marvin
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Marvin is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
  • Page
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Page is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page
  • Royal City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Royal City is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal City
  • Shack Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Shack Mills is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shack Mills
  • Tookland
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Tookland is located in Buchanan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tookland

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Mount Heron and extending to:

  • Grundy, which is the Seat of Buchanan County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 251 miles [403.9 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Mount Heron 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 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 294 miles [473.1 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,181 miles [9,947.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,891 miles [11,090 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,767 miles [7,671.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Mount Heron) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Mount Heron 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 Mount Heron. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.1879, Longitude: -82.0046       In this case, the coordinates for Mount Heron have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.901 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.616 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.385 degrees.