Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rocky Gap, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rocky Gap and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rocky Gap
- 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 Rocky Gap:
- 37.241521, -81.107485
- 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 Rocky Gap
- 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 Bland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Bland County
- Since Rocky Gap is near Mercer County and also Giles County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- eBird sighting report for Giles 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 Rocky Gap ...
We found one communities that share the name Rocky Gap.
Within Virginia, the name Rocky Gap is unique.
Beyond Virginia, there is another community also named Rocky Gap in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rocky Gap ...
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.
- Billie ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Blake ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Edison
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edison
- Edison is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Green Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Hardy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Hicksville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicksville
- Hicksville is located in Bland County
- Maple View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple View
- Maple View is located in Mercer County (WV)
- Pumpkin Center
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in Bland County
- Round Bottom
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bottom
- Round Bottom is located in Bland County
How Far From Rocky Gap 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 Rocky Gap to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Rocky Gap and extending to:
- Bland, which is the Seat of Bland County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Rocky Gap to Bland, 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 202 miles [325.1 km] to the east (E). 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 249 miles [400.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four 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 6,141 miles [9,883 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,849 miles [11,022.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,726 miles [7,605.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rocky Gap. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Bland County: www.bland.org/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rocky Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rocky Gap) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rocky Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.2415, Longitude: -81.1075 |
| <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 Rocky Gap 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 310.364 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.01 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.994 degrees. |