RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Caldwell County >> Apple Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Apple Ridge:
    • 36.110129, -81.642604
    • 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 Apple Ridge
  • 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 Caldwell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
    • Since Apple Ridge is near Watauga County and also Avery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Watauga County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Avery 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 Apple Ridge

Communities Also Named Apple Ridge ...

We found two communities that are also named Apple Ridge.

Within North Carolina, the name Apple Ridge is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Apple Ridge is located in Baltimore County and lies 359 miles [577.8 km]<1> to the northeast of the Apple Ridge that is located in Caldwell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Apple Ridge.
    • Mississippi
      • Hinds 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 Mississippi community of Apple Ridge [Hinds County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Apple Ridge ...

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.

  • Bamboo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Bamboo is located in Watauga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamboo
  • Buffalo Cove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Buffalo Cove is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Cove
  • Cherokee Woods
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Cherokee Woods is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Woods
  • Echo Park
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Echo Park is located in Watauga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Park
  • Falcon Crest
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Falcon Crest is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon Crest
  • Globe
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Globe is located in Caldwell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Green Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Green Hill is located in Watauga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
  • Hemlock Ridge
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hemlock Ridge is located in Watauga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Ridge
  • Hillcrest
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Hillcrest is located in Watauga County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Hounds Ear
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Hounds Ear is located in Watauga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hounds Ear
    • Laurel Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Laurel Park is located in Watauga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Park
    • Mulberry
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Mulberry is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
    • Poplar Grove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Poplar Grove is located in Watauga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
    • Rufus
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Rufus is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rufus
    • Ski Mountain
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Ski Mountain is located in Watauga County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ski Mountain

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Apple Ridge and extending to:

  • Lenoir, which is the Seat of Caldwell County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Apple Ridge to Lenoir, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 169 miles [272 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 317 miles [510.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,214 miles [10,000.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • 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).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,797 miles [7,720 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Apple Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Apple Ridge 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>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 Apple Ridge to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Apple Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1101, Longitude: -81.6426       In this case, the coordinates for Apple Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.689 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.217 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.56 degrees.