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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cooktown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cooktown 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 Cooktown:
    • 36.063728, -82.157069
    • 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 Cooktown
  • 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 Mitchell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
    • Since Cooktown is near Carter County and also Avery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carter County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Avery 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 Cooktown

Communities Also Named Cooktown ...

We found six communities that are also named Cooktown.

Within North Carolina, the name Cooktown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Miller County
      • This Cooktown is located in Miller County and lies 362 miles [582.6 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Cooktown that is located in Mitchell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miller County community of Cooktown.
      • Wilkinson County
      • This Cooktown is located in Wilkinson County and lies 243 miles [391.1 km] to the south southwest of the Cooktown that is located in Mitchell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wilkinson County community of Cooktown.
    • Kentucky
      • Barren County
      • This Cooktown is located in Barren County and lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Cooktown that is located in Mitchell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Barren County community of Cooktown.
    • Louisiana
      • Lincoln Parish
      • This Cooktown is located in Lincoln Parish and lies 645 miles [1,038 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Cooktown that is located in Mitchell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Lincoln Parish community of Cooktown.
    • Tennessee
      • Fentress County
      • This Cooktown is located in Fentress County and lies 166 miles [267.2 km]<1> to the west of the Cooktown that is located in Mitchell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fentress County community of Cooktown.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Cooktown is located in Fairfax County and lies 330 miles [531.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Cooktown that is located in Mitchell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Cooktown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cooktown ...

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.

  • Cloudland ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cloudland is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloudland
  • Cove Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Cove Creek is located in Carter County (TN)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove Creek
  • Greene Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Greene Cove is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene Cove
  • Hawk
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hawk is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk
  • Honeycutt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Honeycutt is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Honeycutt
  • Little Rock Creek ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Little Rock Creek is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Rock Creek
  • Loafers Glory
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Loafers Glory is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loafers Glory
  • Peppers
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Peppers is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peppers
  • Red Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Red Hill is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
  • Toecane
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Toecane is located in Mitchell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toecane

How Far From Cooktown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Cooktown to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bakersville, which is the Seat of Mitchell County, lies just to the South.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 197 miles [317 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Cooktown to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>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 341 miles [548.8 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,238 miles [10,039.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,944 miles [11,175.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,821 miles [7,758.6 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 from Point A (ie- Cooktown) 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 Cooktown 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 Cooktown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0637, Longitude: -82.1571       In this case, the coordinates for Cooktown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.993 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.558 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.782 degrees.