Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Northfork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Northfork and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Northfork
- 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 Northfork:
- 37.419579, -81.427443
- 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 Northfork
- 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McDowell County
- Since Northfork is near Mercer County and also Wyoming County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mercer County
- eBird sighting report for Wyoming 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 Northfork ...
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.
- Big Four
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Four
- Big Four is located in McDowell County
- Black Wolf
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Wolf have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Wolf
- Black Wolf is located in McDowell County
- Bottom Creek
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bottom Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bottom Creek
- Bottom Creek is located in McDowell County
- Cherokee
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Clark ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Coaldale
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Crumpler
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Elkhorn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
- Elkhorn is located in McDowell County
- Keystone
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keystone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
- Keystone is located in McDowell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keystone <2>
- Superior
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Switchback
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Switchback have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Switchback
- Switchback is located in McDowell County
- Worth
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
How Far From Northfork 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 town such as Northfork to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Northfork and extending to:
- Welch, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies just to the West.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 65 miles [104.6 km]<3> to the north (N). If you could walk a straight line from Northfork to Charleston, with an average speed<4> 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 about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 259 miles [416.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,147 miles [9,892.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,856 miles [11,033.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,732 miles [7,615.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Northfork. 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> | 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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Northfork) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Northfork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.4196, Longitude: -81.4274 In this case, the coordinates for Northfork have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Northfork 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 310.553 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.252 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.072 degrees. |