Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Raleigh, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Raleigh and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Raleigh
- 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 Raleigh:
- 37.757165, -81.171412
- 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 Raleigh
- 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 Raleigh County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Raleigh County
- Since Raleigh is near Fayette County and also Mercer County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- eBird sighting report for Mercer 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 Raleigh ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Raleigh.
Within West Virginia, the name Raleigh is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, thirteen are located in the United States and two are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- This Raleigh lies 1,557 miles [2,505.7 km]<2> to the northeast of the Raleigh that is located in Raleigh County.
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ontario
- This Raleigh lies 970 miles [1,561.1 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Raleigh that is located in Raleigh County.
- Tennessee
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Raleigh ...
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.
- Affinity
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Beaver
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
- Beaver is located in Raleigh County
- Former name for Beaver:
- Glen Hedrick
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver <4>
- Blue Jay
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Cedar
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Clifftop
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifftop
- Clifftop is located in Raleigh County
- Crab Orchard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crab Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crab Orchard
- Crab Orchard is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crab Orchard <4>
- Cranberry
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Daniels
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Daniels have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daniels
- Daniels is located in Raleigh County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Daniels <4>
- Dry Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Glen View
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Johnstown
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Spangler Factory ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spangler Factory have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spangler Factory
- Spangler Factory is located in Raleigh County
- Woodpeck
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
How Far From Raleigh 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 Raleigh to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Raleigh and extending to:
- Beckley, which is the Seat of Raleigh County, lies just to the North Northwest.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 47 miles [75.6 km]<2> to the north northwest (NNW). If you could walk a straight line from Raleigh to Charleston, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take about three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 237 miles [381.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,121 miles [9,850.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,831 miles [10,993.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,707 miles [7,575.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Raleigh. 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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Raleigh 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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Raleigh) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Raleigh. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7572, Longitude: -81.1714 In this case, the coordinates for Raleigh have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Raleigh to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.394 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.12 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.857 degrees. |