Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Grandfather, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Grandfather and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Grandfather
- 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 Grandfather:
- 36.099409, -81.848076
- 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 Grandfather
- 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 Grandfather is near Caldwell County and also Watauga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- eBird sighting report for Watauga 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 Grandfather ...
We found one communities that share the name Grandfather.
There is one other community in North Carolina which is also named Grandfather.
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 Grandfather [Watauga County].
- Watauga County
Curious and Interesting Names Near Grandfather ...
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.
- Cherokee Woods
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Woods
- Cherokee Woods is located in Caldwell County
- Chestnut Dale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Dale
- Chestnut Dale is located in Avery County
- Cranberry
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Cranberry Gap
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cranberry Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Gap
- Cranberry Gap is located in Avery County
- Elk Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- 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
- Heaton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Hemlock Ridge
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hemlock Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemlock Ridge
- Hemlock Ridge is located in Watauga County
- Hounds Ear
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hounds Ear have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hounds Ear
- Hounds Ear is located in Watauga County
- Hughes
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Montezuma
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Mount Pleasant
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
- Mount Pleasant is located in Avery County
- Newland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newland
- Newland is located in Avery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 694 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newland <3>
- Seven Devils
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Devils have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Devils
- Seven Devils is located in Avery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seven Devils <3>
- Sugar Mountain
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Mountain
- Sugar Mountain is located in Avery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197 people
- Valley Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Creek
- Valley Creek is located in Watauga County
- Montezuma
How Far From Grandfather 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 village such as Grandfather to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Grandfather and extending to:
- Newland, which is the Seat of Avery County, lies just to the West.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 180 miles [289.7 km]<4> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Grandfather to Raleigh, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 326 miles [524.6 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,224 miles [10,016.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,929 miles [11,151.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,806 miles [7,734.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Grandfather. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
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 Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's 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 Grandfather 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> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Grandfather) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Grandfather. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0994, Longitude: -81.8481 |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Grandfather to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.81 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.354 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.646 degrees. |