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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 Mountain Island, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Mountain Island 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 Mountain Island:
- 35.333471, -80.999519
- 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 Mountain Island
- 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 Gaston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Gaston County
- Since Mountain Island is near Mecklenburg County and also Lincoln County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Mecklenburg County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Lincoln 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 Mountain Island
Curious and Interesting Names Near Mountain Island ...
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.
- Cottage Home ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Cottage Home is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Home
- Craig Heights
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Craig Heights is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Craig Heights
- Deerwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Deerwood is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
- Homestead
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Homestead is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
- Hope Farm
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Hope Farm is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Farm
- Kellyville ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Kellyville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kellyville
- Lewis
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lewis is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
- Mineral Spring ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Mineral Spring is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Spring
- Mount Holly
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Paw Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Paw Creek is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paw Creek
- Pine Island
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pine Island is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island
- Springwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Springwood is located in Gaston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Stanley
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Toddville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Toddville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toddville
- Town Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Town Park is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Park
- Wildwood
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Wildwood is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood
How Far From Mountain Island to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Mountain Island to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Mountain Island and extending to:
- Gastonia, which is the Seat of Gaston County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Mountain Island to Gastonia, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 135 miles [217.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). 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 8 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 328 miles [527.9 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,222 miles [10,013.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- 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).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,801 miles [7,726.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Mountain Island) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Mountain Island 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 Mountain Island. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3335, Longitude: -80.9995 In this case, the coordinates for Mountain Island have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.312 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.672 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.534 degrees. |
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