Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Alaska, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Alaska and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Alaska
- 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 Alaska:
- 37.914558, -81.039264
- 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 Alaska
- 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 Fayette County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Alaska is near Raleigh County and also Summers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
- eBird sighting report for Summers 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 Alaska ...
We found ten communities that share the name Alaska.
There is one other community in West Virginia which is also named Alaska.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, nine are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In West Virginia ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Michigan
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Jefferson County
- This Alaska is located in Jefferson County and lies 247 miles [397.5 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Alaska that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Alaska.
- Northumberland County
- This Alaska is located in Northumberland County and lies 315 miles [506.9 km] to the northeast of the Alaska that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Northumberland County community of Alaska.
- Prince Edward Island
- This Alaska lies 1,049 miles [1,688.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Alaska that is located in Fayette County.
- Wisconsin
- Kewaunee County
- This Alaska is located in Kewaunee County and lies 566 miles [910.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Alaska that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kewaunee County community of Alaska.
- Waukesha County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Alaska [Waukesha County].
Curious and Interesting Names Near Alaska ...
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.
- Chestnut Knob
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Knob
- Chestnut Knob is located in Fayette County
- Export ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Fire Creek ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fire Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fire Creek
- Fire Creek is located in Fayette County
- Greenwood ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Harvey
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
- Harvey is located in Fayette County
- Hemlock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Kathryn
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Layland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Layland Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Layland Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layland Heights
- Layland Heights is located in Fayette County
- Maplewood
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Meadow Fork
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meadow Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Fork
- Meadow Fork is located in Fayette County
- Prince
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prince
- Prince is located in Fayette County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Prince <4>
- Continue List (7 more) ...
- Prudence
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Red Ash ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Rocklick
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Royal ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Rush Run ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Terry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Terry is located in Raleigh County
- Terry Junction
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terry Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry Junction
- Terry Junction is located in Raleigh County
- Prudence
How Far From Alaska 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 Alaska 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<5> community of Alaska once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Alaska and extending to:
- Fayetteville, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Alaska to Fayetteville, with an average speed<6> 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.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 43 miles [69.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 226 miles [363.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,108 miles [9,829.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,819 miles [10,974.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,695 miles [7,555.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Alaska 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. |
| <2> | 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- Alaska) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alaska. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.9146, Longitude: -81.0393 In this case, the coordinates for Alaska have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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> | 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 Alaska, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Alaska to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.312 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.05 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.75 degrees. |