Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Stony Battery, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Stony Battery and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Stony Battery
- 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 Stony Battery:
- 36.744838, -81.565116
- 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 Stony Battery
- 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 Smyth County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Smyth County
- Since Stony Battery is near Grayson County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grayson County
- eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Stony Battery ...
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 Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Chilhowie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chilhowie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chilhowie
- Chilhowie is located in Smyth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,698 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chilhowie <2>
- Dry Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Furnace Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Furnace Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
- Furnace Hill is located in Smyth County
- Horseshoe Bend
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horseshoe Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe Bend
- Horseshoe Bend is located in Smyth County
- Loves Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loves Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loves Mill
- Loves Mill is located in Washington County
- Marion
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marion have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marion
- Marion is located in Smyth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,555 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marion <2>
- Roberts Mill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roberts Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts Mill
- Roberts Mill is located in Smyth County
- Seven Mile Ford
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Mile Ford
- Seven Mile Ford is located in Smyth County
- Slabtown
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Sugar Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Smyth County
- Trout Dale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout Dale
- Trout Dale is located in Grayson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 165 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trout Dale <2>
How Far From Stony Battery 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 Stony Battery to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Stony Battery and extending to:
- Marion, which is the Seat of Smyth County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 233 miles [375 km]<3> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Stony Battery to Richmond, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 288 miles [463.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,183 miles [9,950.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,890 miles [11,088.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,767 miles [7,671.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Stony Battery. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Smyth County: www.smythcounty.org/
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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Stony Battery) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Stony Battery. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.7448, Longitude: -81.5651 In this case, the coordinates for Stony Battery 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 Stony Battery 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 310.641 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.254 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.337 degrees. |