Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Natural Bridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Natural Bridge and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Natural Bridge
- 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 Natural Bridge:
- 37.630134, -79.543094
- 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 Natural Bridge
- 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 Rockbridge County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rockbridge County
- Since Natural Bridge is near Botetourt County and also Amherst County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Botetourt County
- eBird sighting report for Amherst 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 Natural Bridge ...
We found seven communities that share the name Natural Bridge.
Within Virginia, the name Natural Bridge is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Winston County
- This Natural Bridge is located in Winston County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Natural Bridge that is located in Rockbridge County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Winston County community of Natural Bridge.
- Florida
- Walton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Florida community of Natural Bridge [Walton County].
- Kentucky
- Lee County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Natural Bridge [Lee County].
- Powell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kentucky community of Natural Bridge [Powell County].
- New York
- Jefferson County
- This Natural Bridge is located in Jefferson County and lies 492 miles [791.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Natural Bridge that is located in Rockbridge County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Natural Bridge.
- Tennessee
- Cocke County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Natural Bridge [Cocke County].
- Hamilton County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Tennessee community of Natural Bridge [Hamilton County].
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Natural Bridge ...
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.
- Alpine
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Balcony Falls
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Balcony Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Balcony Falls
- Balcony Falls is located in Rockbridge County
- Fancy Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fancy Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fancy Hill
- Fancy Hill is located in Rockbridge County
- Glasgow
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glasgow
- Glasgow is located in Rockbridge County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,107 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glasgow <4>
- Harvey
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Longwood ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Natural Bridge Station
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Natural Bridge Station have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Natural Bridge Station
- Natural Bridge Station is located in Rockbridge County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Natural Bridge Station <4>
- Red Mills
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Rocky Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Point
- Rocky Point is located in Botetourt County
- Solitude
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Natural Bridge 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 Natural Bridge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Natural Bridge and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Natural Bridge to Richmond, with an average speed<5>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 161 miles [259.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,058 miles [9,749.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,764 miles [10,885.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,641 miles [7,469 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Natural Bridge. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Rockbridge County: www.co.rockbridge.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 '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- Natural Bridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Natural Bridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6301, Longitude: -79.5431 In this case, the coordinates for Natural Bridge 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 Natural Bridge 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 Natural Bridge 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 309.427 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.998 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.218 degrees. |