Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Rackettown:
  • 36.863457, -80.828964
  • 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 Rackettown

• 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 Wythe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Wythe County
  • Since Rackettown is near Carroll County and also Pulaski County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Pulaski 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 Rackettown

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rackettown ...

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.

• Bethany
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Bethany is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
• Boom Furnace
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Boom Furnace is located in Pulaski County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boom Furnace
• Early
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Early is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Early
• Flatwood
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Flatwood is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
• Galena
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Galena is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
• High Rocks Mill
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • High Rocks Mill is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Rocks Mill
• Jett
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Jett is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jett
• Lone Ash
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Lone Ash is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Ash
• Red Hill
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Red Hill is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
• Sheep Town
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
• Shorts Creek
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Shorts Creek is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shorts Creek
• Star Cave
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Star Cave is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Cave

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

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

• Wytheville, which is the Seat of Wythe County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rackettown to Wytheville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
• Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 192 miles [309 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 249 miles [400.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,146 miles [9,891 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,852 miles [11,027.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,729 miles [7,610.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'