Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Vails Mill:
  • 36.640115, -81.810953
  • 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 Vails Mill

• 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
  • Since Vails Mill is near Johnson County and also Sullivan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Sullivan 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 Vails Mill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Vails Mill ...

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.

• Cedar Bluff
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Cedar Bluff is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
• Creek Junction
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Creek Junction is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek Junction
• Damascus
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Damascus is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 775 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Damascus <1>
• Drowning Ford
  (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Drowning Ford is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Ford
• Eureka
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Eureka is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
• Friendship
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Friendship is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
• Greenfield
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Greenfield is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
• Laurel Bloomery
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Laurel Bloomery is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Bloomery
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laurel Bloomery <1>
• Masada
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Masada is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Masada
• Mock Mill
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Mock Mill is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mock Mill
• Roetown
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Roetown is located in Washington County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roetown
• Shingletown
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Shingletown is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
• Silver Lake
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Silver Lake is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
• Sugar Creek
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Sugar Creek is located in Johnson County (TN)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek

How Far From Vails Mill 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 Vails Mill to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Vails Mill to Abingdon, with an average speed<3> 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 248 miles [399.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 303 miles [487.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,198 miles [9,974.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,905 miles [11,112.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,782 miles [7,695.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'