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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Wythe County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
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) - Buck
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast) - Eagle ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Eagle Furnace
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Furnace have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Furnace
- Eagle Furnace is located in Wythe County
- Flatwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Fowler Ferry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fowler Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Ferry
- Fowler Ferry is located in Carroll County
- Fries Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fries Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fries Junction
- Fries Junction is located in Carroll County
- Galena
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Ivanhoe
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
- Ivanhoe is located in Wythe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ivanhoe <2>
- Oak Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Oak Grove is located in Carroll County
- Pierce Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pierce Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Mill
- Pierce Mill is located in Wythe County
- Porters Crossroads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Porters Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porters Crossroads
- Porters Crossroads is located in Wythe County
- Sheep Town
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sheep Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheep Town
- Sheep Town is located in Carroll County
How Far From Raketown 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 Raketown to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Raketown and extending to:
- Hillsville, which is the Seat of Carroll County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Raketown to Hillsville, with an average speed<4> 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<5> 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).<6>
- 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).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,737 miles [7,623.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Raketown. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Carroll County: www.co.carroll.va.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Raketown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Raketown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8201, Longitude: -80.9592 In this case, the coordinates for Raketown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Raketown 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 310.281 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.854 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.065 degrees. |