Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Blue Rock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Blue Rock and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Blue Rock
- 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 Blue Rock:
- 35.890674, -82.179566
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Blue Rock
- 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 Yancey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Yancey County
- Since Blue Rock is near Mitchell County and also McDowell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
- eBird sighting report for McDowell 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Blue Rock ...
We found six communities that share the name Blue Rock.
Within North Carolina, the name Blue Rock is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Chester County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Blue Rock [Chester County].
- Jefferson County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Blue Rock [Jefferson County].
- Texas
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Blue Rock ...
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.
- Cattail Creek Community
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cattail Creek Community have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattail Creek Community
- Cattail Creek Community is located in Yancey County
- Double Island
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Island
- Double Island is located in Yancey County
- Grassy Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grassy Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Creek
- Grassy Creek is located in Mitchell County
- Ledger
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Lincoln Park
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lincoln Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
- Lincoln Park is located in Yancey County
- Little Switzerland
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Switzerland have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Switzerland
- Little Switzerland is located in McDowell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Switzerland <4>
- Low Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Low Gap
- Low Gap is located in Yancey County
- Normanville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Normanville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normanville
- Normanville is located in Mitchell County
- Spruce Pine
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
- Spruce Pine is located in Mitchell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,126 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spruce Pine <4>
- Strawberry Ridge
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strawberry Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Ridge
- Strawberry Ridge is located in Mitchell County
- Wing
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Blue Rock 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 Blue Rock to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Blue Rock and extending to:
- Burnsville, which is the Seat of Yancey County, lies just to the West Northwest.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 198 miles [318.7 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Blue Rock to Raleigh, with an average speed<5>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 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 350 miles [563.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,953 miles [11,189.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,830 miles [7,773.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Blue Rock. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Blue Rock 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. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Blue Rock) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Blue Rock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8907, Longitude: -82.1796 In this case, the coordinates for Blue Rock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Blue Rock to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.005 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.547 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.842 degrees. |