Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fort Payne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fort Payne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fort Payne
- 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 Fort Payne:
- 34.444207, -85.719554
- 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 Fort Payne
- 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 DeKalb County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- Since Fort Payne is near Cherokee County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Fort Payne ...
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.
- Alpine
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Blake
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Bootsville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bootsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bootsville
- Bootsville is located in DeKalb County
- Dog Town
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - Fisher Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Crossroads
- Fisher Crossroads is located in DeKalb County
- Hughes Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hughes Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes Mill
- Hughes Mill is located in DeKalb County
- Lickskillet
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Lickskillet is located in DeKalb County
- Luna ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west) - Lydia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Pine Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in DeKalb County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Plainview
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Pleasant Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Pleasant Hill is located in DeKalb County
- Pumpkin Center
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in DeKalb County
- Rainsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> 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 <2>
How Far From Fort Payne to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a city such as Fort Payne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Fort Payne and extending to:
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 146 miles [235 km]<3> to the south southwest (SSW). If you could drive a straight line from Fort Payne to Montgomery, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 570 miles [917.3 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,462 miles [10,399.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,172 miles [11,542.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,048 miles [8,124 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Fort Payne: www.fortpayne.org/
The official website for DeKalb County: www.dekalbcountyal.us/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Fort Payne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fort Payne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4442, Longitude: -85.7196 |
| <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 Fort Payne 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 313.075 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.722 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.653 degrees. |