Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Esmeralda, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Esmeralda and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Esmeralda
- 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 Esmeralda:
- 35.442897, -82.263725
- 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 Esmeralda
- 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 Rutherford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Rutherford County
- Since Esmeralda is near Henderson County and also Buncombe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Henderson County
- eBird sighting report for Buncombe 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 Esmeralda ...
We found three communities that share the name Esmeralda.
Within North Carolina, the name Esmeralda is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Nevada
- New Mexico
Curious and Interesting Names Near Esmeralda ...
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.
- Bat Cave
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bat Cave
- Bat Cave is located in Henderson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bat Cave <3>
- Bearwallow
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bearwallow have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearwallow
- Bearwallow is located in Henderson County
- Bob ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast) - Chestnut Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hill
- Chestnut Hill is located in Henderson County
- Chimney Rock
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Rock
- Chimney Rock is located in Rutherford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chimney Rock <3>
- Lake Lure
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Lure have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Lure
- Lake Lure is located in Rutherford County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,153 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Lure <3>
- Maxwell Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwell Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell Mill
- Maxwell Mill is located in Henderson County
- Quail Ridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Ridge
- Quail Ridge is located in Rutherford County
- Riverbend
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Village of Chimney Rock Village
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Village of Chimney Rock Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village of Chimney Rock Village
- Village of Chimney Rock Village is located in Rutherford County
- Estimated population in 2015: 108 people
How Far From Esmeralda 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 Esmeralda 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 community of Esmeralda once stood, the straight-line distance<5> beginning in Esmeralda and extending to:
- Rutherfordton, which is the Seat of Rutherford County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<5> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Esmeralda to Rutherfordton, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 204 miles [328.3 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 12 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 373 miles [600.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,271 miles [10,092.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,975 miles [11,225.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,852 miles [7,808.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Rutherford County: www.rutherfordcountync.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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Esmeralda 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> | 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 Esmeralda, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Esmeralda) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Esmeralda. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4429, Longitude: -82.2637 In this case, the coordinates for Esmeralda 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 Esmeralda 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 311.051 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.535 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.003 degrees. |