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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 Blue Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Rock 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 Blue Rock:
- 38.724829, -80.090907
- 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 Blue Rock
- 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 Randolph County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Randolph County
- Since Blue Rock is near Upshur County and also Webster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Upshur County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Webster 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 Blue Rock
Communities Also Named Blue Rock ...
We found six communities that are also named Blue Rock.
Within West Virginia, the name Blue Rock is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of six communities that are located in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Marshall 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 Alabama community of Blue Rock [Marshall County].
- North Carolina
- Yancey County
- This Blue Rock is located in Yancey County and lies 226 miles [363.7 km]<2> to the south southwest of the Blue Rock that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yancey County community of Blue Rock.
- Ohio
- Muskingum County
- This Blue Rock is located in Muskingum County and lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<2> to the northwest of the Blue Rock that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Muskingum County community of Blue Rock.
- Pennsylvania
- Chester 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 Pennsylvania community of Blue Rock [Chester County].
- Jefferson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Blue Rock [Jefferson County].
- Texas
- Hidalgo County
- This Blue Rock is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,361 miles [2,190.3 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Blue Rock that is located in Randolph County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Blue Rock.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Rock ...
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.
- Chemical ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Chemical is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chemical
- Czar
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Czar is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Czar
- Elkwater
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Elkwater is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkwater
- Florence ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Florence is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
- Hemlock
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Hemlock is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock
- Huff ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Huff is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huff
- Lee Bell
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Lee Bell is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Bell
- Palace Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Palace Valley is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palace Valley
- Pickens
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Queens
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Queens is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queens
- Silica
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Silica is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silica
- Spangler
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Spangler is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler
- Zion
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Zion is located in Upshur County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion
How Far From Blue Rock 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 Blue Rock to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blue Rock and extending to:
- Elkins, which is the Seat of Randolph County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Blue Rock to Elkins, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 87 miles [140 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 164 miles [263.9 km] to the east (E). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,033 miles [9,709.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,745 miles [10,855 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,620 miles [7,435.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Blue Rock 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blue Rock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Blue Rock 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 Blue Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.7248, Longitude: -80.0909 In this case, the coordinates for Blue Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.718 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.494 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.075 degrees. |
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