Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Fontana Dam, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fontana Dam and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Fontana Dam
- 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 Fontana Dam:
- 35.434021, -83.824993
- 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 Fontana Dam
- 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 Graham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Graham County
- Since Fontana Dam is near Swain County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Swain County
- eBird sighting report for Blount 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Fontana Dam ...
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.
- Chilhowee
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Chilhowey ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Happy Valley
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Valley
- Happy Valley is located in Blount County (TN)
- Hidetown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Jenkins Meadow
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jenkins Meadow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Meadow
- Jenkins Meadow is located in Graham County
- Junction
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest) - Milltown
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south) - Rattler Ford
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rattler Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rattler Ford
- Rattler Ford is located in Graham County
- Red Bank
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north) - Robbinsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robbinsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robbinsville
- Robbinsville is located in Graham County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 716 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Robbinsville <2>
- Sweetgum
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south) - Talc Mountain
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Talc Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talc Mountain
- Talc Mountain is located in Swain County
- Yellow Creek
(Less than 2 miles to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Creek
- Yellow Creek is located in Graham County
How Far From Fontana Dam 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 town such as Fontana Dam to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Fontana Dam and extending to:
- Robbinsville, which is the Seat of Graham County, lies just to the South.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 291 miles [468.3 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Fontana Dam to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 17 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 12 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 443 miles [712.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,337 miles [10,198.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,045 miles [11,337.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,922 miles [7,921.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fontana Dam. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Fontana Dam) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Fontana Dam. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4340, Longitude: -83.8250 |
| <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 Fontana Dam to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.975 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.595 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.636 degrees. |