Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Straight Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Straight Mountain and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Straight Mountain
- 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 Straight Mountain:
- 33.876488, -86.394427
- 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 Straight Mountain
- 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 Blount County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Blount County
- Since Straight Mountain is near Saint Clair County and also Coosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
- eBird sighting report for Coosa 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 Straight Mountain ...
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.
- Allgood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Champion
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest) - Cool Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cool Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
- Cool Springs is located in Saint Clair County
- Graystone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Holly Springs
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
- Holly Springs is located in Blount County
- Hoods Crossroads
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hoods Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoods Crossroads
- Hoods Crossroads is located in Blount County
- Maudlin ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Mill ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Mountain View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain View have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
- Mountain View is located in Blount County
How Far From Straight Mountain 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 community such as Straight Mountain to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Straight Mountain and extending to:
- Oneonta, which is the Seat of Blount County, lies just to the Northwest.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 103 miles [165.8 km]<2> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Straight Mountain to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 4 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 624 miles [1,004.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,517 miles [10,488.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,226 miles [11,629.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,103 miles [8,212.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Straight Mountain. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Blount County: www.co.blount.al.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> | 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- Straight Mountain) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Straight Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8765, Longitude: -86.3944 In this case, the coordinates for Straight Mountain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Straight Mountain to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.452 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.078 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.055 degrees. |