Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cowen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cowen and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cowen
- 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 Cowen:
- 38.411029, -80.553156
- 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 Cowen
- 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 Webster County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Webster County
- Since Cowen is near Nicholas County and also Braxton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Nicholas County
- eBird sighting report for Braxton 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 Cowen ...
We found two communities that share the name Cowen.
Within West Virginia, the name Cowen is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Cowen ...
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.
- Beaver
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
- Beaver is located in Nicholas County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Beaver
- From Cowen to Beaver
- Boggs
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Cherry Falls
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Falls
- Cherry Falls is located in Webster County
- Craigsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Craigsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craigsville
- Craigsville is located in Nicholas County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Craigsville <3>
- Curtin
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest) - Delphi
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Dyer
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Halo
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Halo. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halo
- Halo is located in Webster County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Halo
- From Cowen to Halo
- Ralph
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ralph. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ralph
- Ralph is located in Webster County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ralph
- From Cowen to Ralph
- Skidmore Crossing
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Skidmore Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skidmore Crossing
- Skidmore Crossing is located in Webster County
- Waggy ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Cowen 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 town such as Cowen to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Cowen and extending to:
- Webster Springs, which is the Seat of Webster County, lies just to the East Northeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 58 miles [93.3 km]<5> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Cowen to Charleston, with an average speed<6> 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 over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 192 miles [309 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,066 miles [9,762.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,778 miles [10,908.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,653 miles [7,488.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Cowen. 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 Cowen 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <5> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Cowen) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cowen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.4110, Longitude: -80.5532 |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Cowen to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.007 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.776 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.38 degrees. |