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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
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)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Bluff
- Cedar Bluff is located in Washington County
- Creek Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creek Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creek Junction
- Creek Junction is located in Washington County
- Damascus
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Damascus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
- Damascus is located in Washington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 775 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Damascus <2>
- Drowning Ford
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Drowning Ford. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Ford
- Drowning Ford is located in Washington County
- Eureka
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Friendship
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Friendship. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Friendship is located in Washington County
- Greenfield
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenfield
- Greenfield is located in Washington County
- Laurel Bloomery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel Bloomery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Bloomery
- Laurel Bloomery is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laurel Bloomery <2>
- Masada
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Mock Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the north) - Roetown
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Shingletown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
- Shingletown is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Silver Lake
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Sugar Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Sugar Creek is located in Johnson County (TN)
How Far From Vails Mill 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 Vails Mill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Vails Mill and extending to:
- Abingdon, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Vails Mill to Abingdon, with an average speed<5> 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<6> 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).<7>
- 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).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,782 miles [7,695.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Vails Mill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Washington County: www.washcova.com/
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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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- Vails Mill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Vails Mill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6401, Longitude: -81.8110 In this case, the coordinates for Vails Mill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Vails Mill 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 310.788 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.407 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.47 degrees. |