Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in College Downs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to College Downs and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for College Downs
- 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 College Downs:
- 35.299586, -80.728681
- 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 College Downs
- 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 Mecklenburg County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg County
- Since College Downs is near Cabarrus County and also Union County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cabarrus County
- eBird sighting report for Union 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near College Downs ...
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.
- Embassy East
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Embassy East have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Embassy East
- Embassy East is located in Mecklenburg County
- Evergreen Park
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Evergreen Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen Park
- Evergreen Park is located in Mecklenburg County
- Green Meadows
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
- Green Meadows is located in Mecklenburg County
- Grove Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grove Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
- Grove Park is located in Mecklenburg County
- Harrisburg
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
- Harrisburg is located in Cabarrus County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,852 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harrisburg <2>
- Hickory Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hickory Grove is located in Mecklenburg County
- Holiday Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holiday Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holiday Park
- Holiday Park is located in Mecklenburg County
- Hope Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Junker
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Lynn Lee
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west) - Pine Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
- Pine Ridge is located in Mecklenburg County
- Poplar Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
- Poplar Springs is located in Mecklenburg County
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Ravenwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Ridgeview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Sugar Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
- Sugar Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
- University Place
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for University Place have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Place
- University Place is located in Mecklenburg County
- Whispering Oaks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whispering Oaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Oaks
- Whispering Oaks is located in Mecklenburg County
- Ravenwood
How Far From College Downs 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 community such as College Downs to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in College Downs and extending to:
- Charlotte, which is the Seat of Mecklenburg County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 121 miles [194.7 km]<3> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from College Downs to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 320 miles [515 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,212 miles [9,997.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,911 miles [11,122.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,790 miles [7,708.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for College Downs. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Mecklenburg County: www.charmeck.org
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- College Downs) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in College Downs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2996, Longitude: -80.7287 In this case, the coordinates for College Downs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 College Downs to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.156 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.488 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.438 degrees. |