Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sparks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sparks and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sparks
- 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 Sparks:
- 38.235665, -80.902599
- 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 Sparks
- 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 Nicholas County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Nicholas County
- Since Sparks is near Fayette County and also Greenbrier County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fayette County
- eBird sighting report for Greenbrier 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 Sparks ...
We found fifteen communities that share the name Sparks.
Within West Virginia, the name Sparks is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another fifteen communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Colorado
- Georgia
- Berrien County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Georgia community of Sparks [Berrien County].
- Cook County
- This Sparks is located in Cook County and lies 508 miles [817.5 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Sparks that is located in Nicholas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Sparks.
- Washington County
- This Sparks is located in Washington County and lies 370 miles [595.5 km] to the south southwest of the Sparks that is located in Nicholas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Washington County community of Sparks.
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Estill County
- This Sparks is located in Estill County and lies 160 miles [257.5 km]<1> to the west of the Sparks that is located in Nicholas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Estill County community of Sparks.
- Jackson County
- This Sparks is located in Jackson County and lies 175 miles [281.6 km] to the west southwest of the Sparks that is located in Nicholas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jackson County community of Sparks.
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Texas
- Bell County
- This Sparks is located in Bell County and lies 1,060 miles [1,705.9 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sparks that is located in Nicholas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Bell County community of Sparks.
- El Paso County
- This Sparks is located in El Paso County and lies 1,498 miles [2,410.8 km] to the west of the Sparks that is located in Nicholas County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the El Paso County community of Sparks.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sparks ...
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.
- Burl
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Canvas
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Deepwell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Elliot ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Fowler Knob
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fowler Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Knob
- Fowler Knob is located in Nicholas County
- Jenky
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Mount Lookout
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Lookout have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Lookout
- Mount Lookout is located in Nicholas County
- Peters Junction
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peters Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peters Junction
- Peters Junction is located in Nicholas County
- Poe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Pool
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Summersville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summersville
- Summersville is located in Nicholas County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,225 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summersville <4>
- Woods Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woods Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Ferry
- Woods Ferry is located in Fayette County
How Far From Sparks 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 community such as Sparks to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<5> community of Sparks once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sparks and extending to:
- Summersville, which is the Seat of Nicholas County, lies just to the Northeast.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 40 miles [64.4 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Sparks to Charleston, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 213 miles [342.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,088 miles [9,797.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,800 miles [10,943.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,676 miles [7,525.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sparks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sparks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.2357, Longitude: -80.9026 In this case, the coordinates for Sparks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Sparks 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. |
| <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> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Sparks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Sparks 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 310.222 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.995 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.587 degrees. |