Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Island Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Island Ford and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Island Ford
- 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 Island Ford:
- 35.230655, -83.040416
- 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 Island Ford
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Island Ford is near Transylvania County and also Macon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Transylvania County
- eBird sighting report for Macon 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 Island Ford ...
We found two communities that share the name Island Ford.
There is one other community in North Carolina which is also named Island Ford.
Beyond North Carolina, there is another community also named Island Ford in the United States.
- Communities Located In North Carolina ...
- Rutherford 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 Island Ford [Rutherford County].
- Rutherford County
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Virginia
- Rockingham County
- This Island Ford is located in Rockingham County and lies 322 miles [518.2 km]<2> to the northeast of the Island Ford that is located in Jackson County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockingham County community of Island Ford.
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Island Ford ...
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.
- Bear Wallow Hollow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Wallow Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Wallow Hollow
- Bear Wallow Hollow is located in Transylvania County
- Cashiers
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cashiers have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashiers
- Cashiers is located in Jackson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cashiers <4>
- Fallcliff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west) - Fox Ridge
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Glenville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenville
- Glenville is located in Jackson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenville <4>
- Indian Place
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Place have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Place
- Indian Place is located in Jackson County
- Rich Mountain
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rich Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rich Mountain
- Rich Mountain is located in Jackson County
- Sapphire
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sapphire have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sapphire
- Sapphire is located in Transylvania County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sapphire <4>
- Speedwell
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest) - Wolf Mountain
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Mountain
- Wolf Mountain is located in Jackson County
- Wolf Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wolf Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Ridge
- Wolf Ridge is located in Transylvania County
How Far From Island Ford to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Island Ford to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Island Ford and extending to:
- Sylva, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Island Ford to Sylva, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 250 miles [402.3 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 416 miles [669.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,313 miles [10,159.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,019 miles [11,296 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,896 miles [7,879.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Island Ford. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jackson County: www.jacksonnc.org/
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 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 Island Ford 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> | 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- Island Ford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Island Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2307, Longitude: -83.0404 In this case, the coordinates for Island Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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 Island Ford 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 311.505 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.026 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.373 degrees. |