RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Virginia >> Scott County >> Valaho >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Valaho:
    • 36.820933, -82.576267
    • 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 Valaho
  • 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 Scott County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Scott County
    • Since Valaho is near Wise County and also Norton City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wise County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norton City
  • 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 Valaho

Curious and Interesting Names Near Valaho ...

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.

  • Bush Mill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bush Mill is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush Mill
  • Clear Creek ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Clear Creek is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Creek
  • Clinch
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Clinch is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clinch
  • Cracker Neck
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cracker Neck is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cracker Neck
  • Crackers Neck
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Crackers Neck is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crackers Neck
  • Craft Mill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Craft Mill is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craft Mill
  • Grays
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Grays is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays
  • Grays Ford
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Grays Ford is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Ford
  • Josephine
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Josephine is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Roundstone
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Roundstone is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roundstone
    • Stanleytown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Stanleytown is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanleytown
    • Stony
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Stony is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony
    • Stringtown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Stringtown is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Three Forks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Three Forks is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
    • Twin Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Twin Springs is located in Scott County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Springs

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Valaho once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Valaho and extending to:

  • Gate City, which is the Seat of Scott County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Valaho to Gate City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Richmond, which is the State Capital of Virginia, lies 287 miles [461.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 334 miles [537.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,221 miles [10,011.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,932 miles [11,156 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,808 miles [7,737.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 Valaho, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Valaho) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Valaho to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Valaho. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.8209, Longitude: -82.5763       In this case, the coordinates for Valaho have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.245 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.957 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.734 degrees.