Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dark Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dark Ridge and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dark Ridge
- 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 Dark Ridge:
- 36.224013, -81.939283
- 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 Dark Ridge
- 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 Avery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Avery County
- Since Dark Ridge is near Carter County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Carter County
- eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Dark Ridge ...
We found one communities that share the name Dark Ridge.
There is one other community in North Carolina which is also named Dark Ridge.
Beyond North Carolina.
- Communities Located In North Carolina ...
- Watauga 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 North Carolina community of Dark Ridge [Watauga County].
- Watauga County
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dark Ridge ...
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.
- Battleground
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Battleground have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battleground
- Battleground is located in Avery County
- Bitter End
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bitter End have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bitter End
- Bitter End is located in Carter County (TN)
- Cranberry
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Elk Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest) - Elk Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Park
- Elk Park is located in Avery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 450 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk Park <3>
- Elk Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Valley
- Elk Valley is located in Avery County
- Evergreen
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Farmer Mill
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmer Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer Mill
- Farmer Mill is located in Carter County (TN)
- Flat Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Springs
- Flat Springs is located in Avery County
- Heaton
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Lineback ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Shell Creek
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shell Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shell Creek
- Shell Creek is located in Carter County (TN)
- Estimated population in 2014: 21,037 people
- Stump Knob ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stump Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stump Knob
- Stump Knob is located in Johnson County (TN)
How Far From Dark Ridge 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 Dark Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of Dark Ridge once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Dark Ridge and extending to:
- Newland, which is the Seat of Avery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<5> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Dark Ridge to Newland, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 186 miles [299.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 325 miles [523 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<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,222 miles [10,013.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,928 miles [11,149.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,805 miles [7,732.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Avery County: www.averyco.com/gov/
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 Dark Ridge 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> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Dark Ridge, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | 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- Dark Ridge) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dark Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2240, Longitude: -81.9393 In this case, the coordinates for Dark Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Dark Ridge to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.864 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.434 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.647 degrees. |