RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of West Virginia >> Monongalia County >> Cheat Lake >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Cheat Lake:
    • 39.672024, -79.853391
    • 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 Cheat Lake
  • 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 Monongalia County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monongalia County
    • Since Cheat Lake is near Fayette County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Cheat Lake

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cheat Lake ...

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.

  • Canyon
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Canyon is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon
  • Cheat Neck
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Cheat Neck is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheat Neck
  • Crystal
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Crystal is located in Fayette County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal
  • Fieldcrest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Fieldcrest is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldcrest
  • Greystone
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Greystone is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greystone
  • Hoard
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hoard is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoard
  • Ices Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Ices Ferry is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ices Ferry
  • Jerome Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jerome Park is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome Park
  • Locust Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Locust Hill is located in Fayette County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Hill
  • Park Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Park Hills is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hills
  • Pioneer Rocks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Pioneer Rocks is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer Rocks
  • Richard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Richard is located in Monongalia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richard
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Rock Forge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Rock Forge is located in Monongalia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Forge
    • Stewartstown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Stewartstown is located in Monongalia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewartstown
    • Sunnyside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sunnyside is located in Monongalia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Sunset Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Sunset Beach is located in Monongalia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Beach
    • Tanglewood
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Tanglewood is located in Monongalia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Walnut Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Greene County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill

How Far From Cheat Lake 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 Cheat Lake to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Cheat Lake and extending to:

  • Morgantown, which is the Seat of Monongalia County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 132 miles [212.4 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from Cheat Lake to Charleston, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 159 miles [255.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,981 miles [9,625.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,696 miles [10,776.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,572 miles [7,357.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Cheat Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Cheat Lake 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 Cheat Lake. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6720, Longitude: -79.8534       In this case, the coordinates for Cheat Lake have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.536 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.429 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.639 degrees.