Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Granite Falls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Granite Falls and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Granite Falls
- 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 Granite Falls:
- 35.796759, -81.423700
- 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 Granite Falls
- 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 Caldwell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- Since Granite Falls is near Burke County and also Catawba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Burke County
- eBird sighting report for Catawba 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 Granite Falls ...
We found five communities that share the name Granite Falls.
Within North Carolina, the name Granite Falls is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these five communities, four are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- British Columbia
- This Granite Falls lies 2,271 miles [3,654.8 km]<1> to the northwest of the Granite Falls that is located in Caldwell County.
- Kansas
- Marshall County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Kansas community of Granite Falls [Marshall County].
- Minnesota
- Yellow Medicine County
- This Granite Falls is located in Yellow Medicine County and lies 967 miles [1,556.2 km]<1> to the northwest of the Granite Falls that is located in Caldwell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Yellow Medicine County community of Granite Falls.
- Washington
- Chelan County
- This Granite Falls is located in Chelan County and lies 2,135 miles [3,435.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Granite Falls that is located in Caldwell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chelan County community of Granite Falls.
- Snohomish County
- This Granite Falls is located in Snohomish County and lies 2,217 miles [3,567.9 km] to the northwest of the Granite Falls that is located in Caldwell County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Snohomish County community of Granite Falls.
- British Columbia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Granite Falls ...
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 Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Cedar Valley is located in Caldwell County
- Downsville ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Downsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
- Downsville is located in Caldwell County
- Drowning Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drowning Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Creek
- Drowning Creek is located in Burke County
- Grace Chapel
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grace Chapel have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Chapel
- Grace Chapel is located in Caldwell County
- Henry River
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henry River have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry River
- Henry River is located in Burke County
- Hickory
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
- Hickory is located in Catawba County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
- Long View
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast) - Maple Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Valley
- Maple Valley is located in Caldwell County
- Penelope
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Sawmills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Granite Falls 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 Granite Falls to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Granite Falls and extending to:
- Lenoir, which is the Seat of Caldwell County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Granite Falls to Lenoir, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 155 miles [249.4 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 9 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 322 miles [518.2 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,219 miles [10,008.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,922 miles [11,139.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,800 miles [7,724.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Granite Falls: www.granitefallsnc.com/
The official website for Caldwell County: www.co.caldwell.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
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- Granite Falls) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Granite Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7968, Longitude: -81.4237 In this case, the coordinates for Granite Falls have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Granite Falls 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Granite Falls 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 310.56 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.024 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.565 degrees. |