Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Charles Town

• 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 Charles Town:
  • 39.289123, -77.859939
  • 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 Charles Town

• 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
  • Since Charles Town is near Loudoun County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Charles Town

Curious and Interesting Names Near Charles Town ...

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.

• Blair
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Blair is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair
• Egypt
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Egypt is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
• Halltown
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Halltown is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halltown
• Harmony ‑ Historic
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Harmony is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony
• Harpers Ferry
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Harpers Ferry is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Ferry
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harpers Ferry <1>
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Harpers Ferry
  • From Charles Town to Harpers Ferry
• Keys Gap
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Keys Gap is located in Loudoun County (VA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Gap
• Leetown
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Leetown is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leetown
• Mechanicstown
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Mechanicstown is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicstown
• Mountain Mission
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Mountain Mission is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Mission
• Silver Grove
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Silver Grove is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Grove
• Summit Point
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Summit Point is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Point
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Summit Point
  • From Charles Town to Summit Point
• Wheatland
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Wheatland is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatland

How Far From Charles Town 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 city such as Charles Town to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Charles Town and extending to:

• Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 212 miles [341.2 km]<2> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Charles Town to Charleston, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 51 miles [82.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take most of three days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,915 miles [9,519.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,624 miles [10,660.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,500 miles [7,242 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'