Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Raketown:
  • 36.820123, -80.959248
  • 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 Raketown

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

Curious and Interesting Names Near Raketown ...

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
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Bethany is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethany
• Buck
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Buck is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
• Eagle ‑ Historic
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Eagle is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
• Eagle Furnace
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Eagle Furnace is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Furnace
• Flatwood
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Flatwood is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
• Fowler Ferry
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Fowler Ferry is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Ferry
• Fries Junction
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Fries Junction is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fries Junction
• Galena
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Galena is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
• Ivanhoe
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Ivanhoe is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ivanhoe <1>
• Oak Grove
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
• Pierce Mill
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Pierce Mill is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Mill
• Porters Crossroads
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Porters Crossroads is located in Wythe County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters Crossroads
• Sheep Town
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town

How Far From Raketown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Raketown to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Raketown and extending to:

• Hillsville, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Raketown to Hillsville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours 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 200 miles [321.9 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 12 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 257 miles [413.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,154 miles [9,903.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,860 miles [11,040.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,737 miles [7,623.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'