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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Backus, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Backus 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 Backus:
- 37.854283, -80.974816
- 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 Backus
- 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:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- Since Backus is near Raleigh County and also Summers County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
- Open the 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:
- Open the Waymark.com report for Backus
Communities Also Named Backus ...
We found three communities that are also named Backus.
Within West Virginia, the name Backus is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Minnesota
- Cass County
- This Backus is located in Cass County and lies 925 miles [1,488.6 km]<1> to the northwest of the Backus that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cass County community of Backus.
- New York
- Saint Lawrence County
- This Backus is located in Saint Lawrence County and lies 527 miles [848.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Backus that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Lawrence County community of Backus.
- Pennsylvania
- McKean County
- This Backus is located in McKean County and lies 301 miles [484.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Backus that is located in Fayette County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the McKean County community of Backus.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Backus ...
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
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Chestnut Knob is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Knob
- Export ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Export is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Export
- Greenwood ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Greenwood is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Hamlet ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hamlet is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
- Hemlock
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Hemlock is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
- Kathryn
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Kathryn is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kathryn
- Layland
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Layland is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layland
- Layland Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Layland Heights is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Layland Heights
- Meadow Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Meadow Creek is located in Summers County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Creek
- Pear ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Pear is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pear
- Prince
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Red Spring
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Red Spring is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Spring
- Royal ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Royal is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal
How Far From Backus 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 Backus to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Backus and extending to:
- Fayetteville, which is the Seat of Fayette County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Backus to Fayetteville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 49 miles [78.9 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 most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 225 miles [362.1 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<4> 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).<5>
- 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).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,695 miles [7,555.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Backus) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Backus 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 Backus. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.8543, Longitude: -80.9748 In this case, the coordinates for Backus have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.274 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.998 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.743 degrees. |
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