Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Altan, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altan and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Altan

• 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 Altan:
  • 34.881187, -80.541690
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Altan

• 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
  • Since Altan is near Chesterfield County and also Lancaster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lancaster 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Altan

Curious and Interesting Names Near Altan ...

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.

• Bramblewood
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Bramblewood is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramblewood
• Council Oaks
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Council Oaks is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Council Oaks
• Doctor Sapps Crossroads
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Doctor Sapps Crossroads is located in Lancaster County (SC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doctor Sapps Crossroads
• Hillcrest
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Hillcrest is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
• Kingswood
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Kingswood is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
• Lee Wood
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Lee Wood is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Wood
• Rock Rest
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Rock Rest is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Rest
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Rock Rest
  • From Altan to Rock Rest
• Roughedge
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Roughedge is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roughedge
• Timber Lake
  (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Timber Lake is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Lake
• Tradesville
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Tradesville is located in Lancaster County (SC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tradesville
• Trinity
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Trinity is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity
• Walkersville ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Walkersville is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkersville
• Wolf Pond Cross Roads
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Wolf Pond Cross Roads is located in Chesterfield County (SC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Pond Cross Roads

How Far From Altan 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 Altan to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Altan and extending to:

• Monroe, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the North.
• Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 123 miles [197.9 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Altan to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 338 miles [544 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,222 miles [10,013.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,919 miles [11,135.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,799 miles [7,723.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'