Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Rock City, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rock City and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Rock City
- 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 Rock City:
- 34.532587, -85.950253
- 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 Rock City
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Rock City is near DeKalb County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Rock City ...
We found ten communities that share the name Rock City.
There is one other community in Alabama which is also named Rock City.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Kansas
- New York
- Cattaraugus County
- This Rock City is located in Cattaraugus County and lies 656 miles [1,055.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Rock City that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cattaraugus County community of Rock City.
- Columbia County
- This Rock City is located in Columbia County and lies 860 miles [1,384 km] to the northeast of the Rock City that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Columbia County community of Rock City.
- Dutchess County
- This Rock City is located in Dutchess County and lies 833 miles [1,340.6 km] to the northeast of the Rock City that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Dutchess County community of Rock City.
- Tennessee
- Smith County
- This Rock City is located in Smith County and lies 119 miles [191.5 km]<1> to the north of the Rock City that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Smith County community of Rock City.
- Sullivan County
- This Rock City is located in Sullivan County and lies 242 miles [389.5 km] to the northeast of the Rock City that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Rock City.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Rock City ...
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.
- Crossroad
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Ferncliff ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Hix ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Hodge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north) - Lakeview Shores
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeview Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Shores
- Lakeview Shores is located in Jackson County
- Pope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast) - Rainsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainsville
- Rainsville is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,149 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rainsville <4>
- Section
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Section
- Section is located in Jackson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 743 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Section <4>
- Section Ferry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Section Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Section Ferry
- Section Ferry is located in Jackson County
- Thirtynine ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thirtynine have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thirtynine
- Thirtynine is located in DeKalb County
How Far From Rock City 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 Rock City to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rock City and extending to:
- Scottsboro, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Rock City to Scottsboro, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 150 miles [241.4 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 577 miles [928.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,468 miles [10,409.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,178 miles [11,551.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,054 miles [8,133.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Rock City. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.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 from Point A (ie- Rock City) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rock City. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.5326, Longitude: -85.9503 In this case, the coordinates for Rock City 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Rock City 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> | 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 Rock City 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 313.218 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.899 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.726 degrees. |