RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Madison County >> Big Laurel >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Laurel, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Laurel 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 Big Laurel:
    • 35.927884, -82.675973
    • 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 Big Laurel
  • 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Since Big Laurel is near Unicoi County and also Greene County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Unicoi County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene 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 Big Laurel

Communities Also Named Big Laurel ...

We found three communities that are also named Big Laurel.

There is one other community in North Carolina that is also named Big Laurel.

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

  • Communities Located In North Carolina ...
    • Swain County
      • This Big Laurel is located in Swain County and lies 55 miles [88.5 km]<1> to the southwest of the Big Laurel that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Swain County community of Big Laurel.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Kentucky
      • Harlan County
      • This Big Laurel is located in Harlan County and lies 78 miles [125.5 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Big Laurel that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Harlan County community of Big Laurel.
    • Virginia
      • Wise County
      • This Big Laurel is located in Wise County and lies 74 miles [119.1 km]<1> to the north of the Big Laurel that is located in Madison County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wise County community of Big Laurel.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Laurel ...

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.

  • Chapel Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Cutshalltown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cutshalltown is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshalltown
  • Hurricane
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Hurricane is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane
  • Ivy Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Ivy Ridge is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Ridge
  • Little Creek
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Little Creek is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Creek
  • Lumptown
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Lumptown is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumptown
  • Rice Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Rice Mill is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Mill
  • Sandy Bottom
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sandy Bottom is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Bottom
  • Stackhouse
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Stackhouse is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stackhouse
  • Walnut
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut
  • Walnut Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Walnut Creek is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Creek

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

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

  • Marshall, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Big Laurel to Marshall, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 225 miles [362.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 370 miles [595.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,266 miles [10,084.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,973 miles [11,222 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,850 miles [7,805.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Big Laurel) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Big Laurel 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 Big Laurel. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9279, Longitude: -82.6760       In this case, the coordinates for Big Laurel have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.299 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.89 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.033 degrees.