RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Buncombe County >> Biltmore Forest >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Biltmore Forest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Biltmore Forest 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 Biltmore Forest:
    • 35.534547, -82.540213
    • 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 Biltmore Forest
  • 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 Buncombe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buncombe County
    • Since Biltmore Forest is near Henderson County and also Haywood County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henderson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Haywood 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 Biltmore Forest

Curious and Interesting Names Near Biltmore Forest ...

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.

  • Dogwood Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Dogwood Grove is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogwood Grove
  • Echo Hills
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Echo Hills is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
  • Emma
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Emma is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emma
  • Gashes Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gashes Creek is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gashes Creek
  • Happy Valley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Happy Valley is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
  • Haw Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Haw Creek is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haw Creek
  • Hazel Green
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hazel Green is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hazel Green
  • Mountain View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain View is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
  • Mountainbrook
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Mountainbrook is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountainbrook
  • Murphy Junction
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Murphy Junction is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy Junction
  • Rolling Green
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rolling Green is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Green
  • Rosebank Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Rosebank Park is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosebank Park
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Royal Pines
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Royal Pines is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Pines
    • Sand Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Sand Hill is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
    • Skyland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Spring Time
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Spring Time is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Time
    • Sulphur Springs
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Sulphur Springs is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
    • Valley Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Valley Springs is located in Buncombe County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Springs

How Far From Biltmore Forest 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 town such as Biltmore Forest to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Biltmore Forest and extending to:

  • Asheville, which is the Seat of Buncombe County, lies just to the North.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 219 miles [352.4 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Biltmore Forest to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 381 miles [613.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,983 miles [11,238 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,861 miles [7,823 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Biltmore Forest) 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 Biltmore Forest 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 Biltmore Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5345, Longitude: -82.5402       In this case, the coordinates for Biltmore Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.215 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.736 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.088 degrees.