Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Niagara, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Niagara and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Niagara
- 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 Niagara:
- 37.255138, -79.872536
- 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 Niagara
- 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 Roanoke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Roanoke County
- Since Niagara is near Roanoke City and also Franklin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Roanoke City
- eBird sighting report for Franklin 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 Niagara ...
We found ten communities that share the name Niagara.
Within Virginia, the name Niagara is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, eight are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Niagara lies 2,080 miles [3,347.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Niagara that is located in Roanoke County.
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Clark County
- Although located in Clark County, we don't know the location within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clark County community of Niagara.
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ontario
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Niagara ...
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.
- Cedar Bluff
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Cedar Bluff is located in Roanoke City
- Dundee
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Falling Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falling Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falling Creek
- Falling Creek is located in Roanoke County
- Foxfire
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Garden City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Roanoke City
- Hardy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hardy have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
- Hardy is located in Bedford County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hardy <5>
- Hickory Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Woods
- Hickory Woods is located in Roanoke City
- Homeland Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Homeland Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland Hills
- Homeland Hills is located in Roanoke County
- Jamestown Place
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jamestown Place have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown Place
- Jamestown Place is located in Roanoke City
- Leslie
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Lilly View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lilly View have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly View
- Lilly View is located in Roanoke City
- Lynn Haven
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lynn Haven have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Haven
- Lynn Haven is located in Roanoke County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Mayflower Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mayflower Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mayflower Hills
- Mayflower Hills is located in Roanoke County
- Mount Pleasant
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Roanoke County
- Muse
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - River Edge
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for River Edge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for River Edge
- River Edge is located in Roanoke County
- Spring Grove
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Grove
- Spring Grove is located in Roanoke County
- Springtree
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springtree have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springtree
- Springtree is located in Roanoke City
- Mayflower Hills
How Far From Niagara 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 Niagara to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Niagara and extending to:
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 135 miles [217.3 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Niagara to Richmond, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 191 miles [307.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,089 miles [9,799.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,794 miles [10,933.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,671 miles [7,517.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Niagara. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Roanoke County: www.roanokecountyva.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Niagara) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Niagara. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2551, Longitude: -79.8725 In this case, the coordinates for Niagara 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 Niagara 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 Niagara, 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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Niagara 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 309.632 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.176 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.479 degrees. |