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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McKoy, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McKoy and the surrounding area.
- 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 McKoy:
- 35.263378, -78.487979
- 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 McKoy
- 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 Johnston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Johnston County
- Since McKoy is near Sampson County and also Harnett County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Sampson County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Harnett 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 McKoy
Curious and Interesting Names Near McKoy ...
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.
- Five Points
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Five Points is located in Johnston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Grove Park
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Grove Park is located in Harnett County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grove Park
- Lees Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Lees Mill is located in Johnston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lees Mill
- Mingo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Mingo is located in Sampson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingo
- Overshot
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Overshot is located in Johnston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overshot
- Peacocks Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Plain View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Timothy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Timothy is located in Sampson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timothy
- Woods Crossroads
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Woods Crossroads is located in Johnston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods Crossroads
How Far From McKoy 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 McKoy to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in McKoy and extending to:
- Smithfield, which is the Seat of Johnston County, lies 18 miles [29 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from McKoy to Smithfield, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 36 miles [57.9 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 263 miles [423.3 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 15 days.
- The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,116 miles [9,842.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,808 miles [10,956.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,691 miles [7,549.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- McKoy) 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 McKoy 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 McKoy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.2634, Longitude: -78.4880 In this case, the coordinates for McKoy have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.877 degrees. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.017 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.585 degrees. |
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