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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Loudoun County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
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) - Egypt
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Halltown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Harmony ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the south) - Harpers Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harpers Ferry
- Harpers Ferry is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 285 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harpers Ferry <2>
- Keys Gap
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Leetown
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Mechanicstown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mechanicstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicstown
- Mechanicstown is located in Jefferson County
- Mountain Mission
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain Mission have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Mission
- Mountain Mission is located in Jefferson County
- Silver Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Grove
- Silver Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Summit Point
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit Point have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Point
- Summit Point is located in Jefferson County
- Wheatland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
How Far From Charles Town 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 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<3> beginning in Charles Town and extending to:
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 212 miles [341.2 km]<3> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could drive a straight line from Charles Town to Charleston, with an average speed<4>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<5> 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).<6>
- 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).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,500 miles [7,242 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Charles Town. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffersoncountywv.org/
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Charles Town) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Charles Town. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2891, Longitude: -77.8599 |
| <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 Charles Town 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 308.354 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.027 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.914 degrees. |