Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Pickerel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pickerel and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Pickerel
- 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 Pickerel:
- 36.976532, -79.411415
- 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 Pickerel
- 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 Pittsylvania County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Pittsylvania County
- Since Pickerel is near Bedford County and also Campbell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Bedford County
- eBird sighting report for Campbell 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 Pickerel ...
We found three communities that share the name Pickerel.
Within Virginia, the name Pickerel is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Ontario
- This Pickerel lies 624 miles [1,004.2 km]<1> to the north of the Pickerel that is located in Pittsylvania County.
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
- Ontario
Curious and Interesting Names Near Pickerel ...
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.
- Brights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Chalk Level
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Level
- Chalk Level is located in Pittsylvania County
- Climax
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Farmers
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Green Pond
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Pond
- Green Pond is located in Pittsylvania County
- Greenfield
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Greenfield is located in Pittsylvania County
- Motley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Natal
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Redeye
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Smothers
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Whittles
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittles
- Whittles is located in Pittsylvania County
- Whittles has also been known as:
- Whittle's Depot
- Whittle's Station
How Far From Pickerel 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 Pickerel to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Pickerel and extending to:
- Chatham, which is the Seat of Pittsylvania County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Pickerel to Chatham, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 115 miles [185.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 185 miles [297.7 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,081 miles [9,786.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,784 miles [10,917.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,662 miles [7,502.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Pickerel. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Pittsylvania County: www.pittgov.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Pickerel) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pickerel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.9765, Longitude: -79.4114 In this case, the coordinates for Pickerel 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek 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 Pickerel 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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Pickerel to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.368 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.833 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.383 degrees. |