Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Skyland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Skyland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Skyland
- 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 Skyland:
- 38.593733, -78.381950
- 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 Skyland
- 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 Page County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Page County
- Since Skyland is near Madison County and also Rappahannock County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Madison County
- eBird sighting report for Rappahannock 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 Skyland ...
We found seven communities that share the name Skyland.
Within Virginia, the name Skyland is unique.
Beyond Virginia, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- South Carolina
Curious and Interesting Names Near Skyland ...
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.
- Big Meadows
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Meadows
- Big Meadows is located in Madison County
- Cavetown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Ida
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Marksville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
- Marksville is located in Page County
- Nethers
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Oldrag ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Panorama
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Spring View
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring View
- Spring View is located in Page County
- Stanley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
- Stanley is located in Page County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,676 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stanley <4>
- Stony Man
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Woodland Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodland Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
- Woodland Park is located in Page County
How Far From Skyland 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 Skyland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Skyland and extending to:
- Luray, which is the Seat of Page County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 89 miles [143.2 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Skyland to Richmond, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 75 miles [120.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,967 miles [9,603 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,674 miles [10,740.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,551 miles [7,324.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Skyland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Page County: www.co.page.va.us/
The official website for State of Virginia: https://www.virginia.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Skyland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Skyland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.5937, Longitude: -78.3820 In this case, the coordinates for Skyland 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 Skyland 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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Skyland to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.702 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.316 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.394 degrees. |