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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Beech Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Beech Mountain and the surrounding area.
- 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 Beech Mountain:
- 36.210754, -81.888373
- 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 Beech 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 Avery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Avery County
- Since Beech Mountain is near Watauga County and also Carter 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 Carter 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 Beech Mountain
Curious and Interesting Names Near Beech 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.
- Battleground
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Battleground is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battleground
- Cranberry
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cranberry is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry
- Dark Ridge ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Dark Ridge is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dark Ridge
- Elk Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Elk Valley
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elk Valley is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Valley
- Farmer Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Farmer Mill is located in Carter County (TN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer Mill
- Flat Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Flat Springs is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Springs
- Heaton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Heaton is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heaton
- Seven Devils
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sugar Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sugar Mountain
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Sugar Mountain is located in Avery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Mountain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Sweetwater
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sweetwater is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Valley Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Valley Creek is located in Watauga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Creek
How Far From Beech Mountain 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 town such as Beech 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 Beech Mountain and extending to:
- Newland, which is the Seat of Avery County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 183 miles [294.5 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Beech Mountain to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 323 miles [519.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,220 miles [10,010.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,926 miles [11,146.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,803 miles [7,729.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Beech Mountain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Beech Mountain 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 Beech Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2108, Longitude: -81.8884 In this case, the coordinates for Beech Mountain have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.834 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.398 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.63 degrees. |
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