Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Big Sandy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Sandy and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Big Sandy
- 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 Big Sandy:
- 37.463831, -81.69835
- 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 Big Sandy
- 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDowell County
- Since Big Sandy is near Wyoming County and also Mingo County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Wyoming County
- eBird sighting report for Mingo 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 Big Sandy ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Big Sandy.
There is one other community in West Virginia which is also named Big Sandy.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these ten communities, ten are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Located In West Virginia ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Boyd County
- This Big Sandy is located in Boyd County and lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<2> to the northwest of the Big Sandy that is located in McDowell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Boyd County community of Big Sandy.
- Lawrence 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 Kentucky community of Big Sandy [Lawrence County].
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Ontario
- This Big Sandy lies 502 miles [807.9 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Big Sandy that is located in McDowell County.
- Tennessee
- Benton County
- This Big Sandy is located in Benton County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<2> to the west of the Big Sandy that is located in McDowell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Benton County community of Big Sandy.
- Washington County
- This Big Sandy is located in Washington County and lies 93 miles [149.7 km] to the south southwest of the Big Sandy that is located in McDowell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Big Sandy.
- Texas
- Wyoming
Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Sandy ...
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.
- Antler
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Davy
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Erin
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Hemphill
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Marine
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Marytown
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Premier
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Sandy Huff
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sandy Huff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Huff
- Sandy Huff is located in McDowell County
- Twin Branch
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Branch
- Twin Branch is located in McDowell County
- Union City
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union City
- Union City is located in McDowell County
How Far From Big Sandy 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 Big Sandy to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Big Sandy and extending to:
- Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies just to the East Southeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 61 miles [98.2 km]<2> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Big Sandy to Charleston, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 271 miles [436.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,156 miles [9,907.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,866 miles [11,049.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,742 miles [7,631.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Sandy. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Big Sandy 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Big Sandy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Sandy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4638, Longitude: -81.6984 |
| <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 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. |
| <5> | 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 Big Sandy to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.715 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.444 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.172 degrees. |