Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Council Oaks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Council Oaks and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Council Oaks

• 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 Council Oaks:
  • 34.972094, -80.521455
  • 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 Council Oaks

• 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Union County
  • Since Council Oaks is near Chesterfield County and also Mecklenburg County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Chesterfield County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg 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 Council Oaks

Curious and Interesting Names Near Council Oaks ...

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.

• Bramblewood
  (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Bramblewood is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bramblewood
• Camelot
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Camelot is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
• Fowler Crossroads
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Fowler Crossroads is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fowler Crossroads
• Helms Park
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Helms Park is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helms Park
• Hillcrest
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hillcrest is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
• Kingswood
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Kingswood is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
• Lee Wood
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Lee Wood is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Wood
• Rock Rest
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Rock Rest is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Rest
• Rolling Hills
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Rolling Hills is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
• Timber Lake
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Timber Lake is located in Union County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Lake

How Far From Council Oaks 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 Council Oaks to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Council Oaks and extending to:

• Monroe, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the Northwest.
• Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 119 miles [191.5 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Council Oaks to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>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 332 miles [534.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,217 miles [10,005.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,914 miles [11,127 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,794 miles [7,715.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'