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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Flat Shoals, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Flat Shoals 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 Flat Shoals:
    • 36.406247, -80.561450
    • 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 Flat Shoals
  • 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 Surry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Surry County
    • Since Flat Shoals is near Stokes County and also Yadkin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stokes County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yadkin 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 Flat Shoals

Communities Also Named Flat Shoals ...

We found three communities that are also named Flat Shoals.

There is one other community in North Carolina that is also named Flat Shoals.

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

  • Communities Located In North Carolina ...
    • Stokes County
      • This Flat Shoals is located in Stokes County and lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the east of the Flat Shoals that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Stokes County community of Flat Shoals.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Hart County
      • This Flat Shoals is located in Hart County and lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<1> to the southwest of the Flat Shoals that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hart County community of Flat Shoals.
    • South Carolina
      • Oconee County
      • This Flat Shoals is located in Oconee County and lies 174 miles [280 km]<1> to the southwest of the Flat Shoals that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of Flat Shoals.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Flat Shoals ...

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.

  • Cedar Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Combstown
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Combstown is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Combstown
  • Franklin
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Franklin is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Hills Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hills Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Grove
  • Holly Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Holly Springs is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Springs
  • Indian Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Indian Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Grove
  • Level Cross
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Level Cross is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Level Cross
  • Long Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Long Hill is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hill
  • Oak Grove
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Pilot Mountain
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Turkey Ford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Turkey Ford is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Ford

How Far From Flat Shoals 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 Flat Shoals 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<3> community of Flat Shoals once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Flat Shoals and extending to:

  • Dobson, which is the Seat of Surry County, lies just to the West.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 115 miles [185.1 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Flat Shoals 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 258 miles [415.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,155 miles [9,905.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,859 miles [11,038.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,736 miles [7,621.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Flat Shoals) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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 Flat Shoals, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Flat Shoals 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 Flat Shoals. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4062, Longitude: -80.5614       In this case, the coordinates for Flat Shoals have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.052 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.531 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.033 degrees.