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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Folly Fork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Folly Fork 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 Folly Fork:
    • 36.485153, -76.577450
    • 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 Folly Fork
  • 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 Gates County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Gates County
    • Since Folly Fork is near Suffolk City and also Chowan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk City
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Chowan 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 Folly Fork

Curious and Interesting Names Near Folly Fork ...

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.

  • Drum Hill
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Drum Hill is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drum Hill
  • Flat Branch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Flat Branch is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Branch
  • Greens Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Greens Fork is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Fork
  • Hobbsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Hobbsville is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbsville
  • Holly Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Holly Grove is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Grove
  • Joppa
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Joppa is located in Chowan County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joppa
  • Kellogs Fork
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Kellogs Fork is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellogs Fork
  • Keys Crossroads
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Keys Crossroads is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossroads
  • Lynchs Corner
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Lynchs Corner is located in Pasquotank County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchs Corner
  • Mitchells Fork
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Mitchells Fork is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchells Fork
  • Muddy Cross
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Muddy Cross is located in Gates County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muddy Cross
  • Peach
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Peach is located in Perquimans County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sandy Cross
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Sandy Cross is located in Gates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Cross
    • Savage
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Savage is located in Gates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savage
    • Silver Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Springs is located in Gates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
    • Trotville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Trotville is located in Gates County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trotville

How Far From Folly Fork to ...

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

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

  • Gatesville, which is the Seat of Gates County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Folly Fork to Gatesville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 124 miles [199.6 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 168 miles [270.4 km] to the north (N). Driving would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,980 miles [9,623.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,673 miles [10,739.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,555 miles [7,330.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Folly Fork) 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 Folly Fork 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 Folly Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4852, Longitude: -76.5774       In this case, the coordinates for Folly Fork have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.757 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.919 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.432 degrees.