Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in North Hickory, we use the following websites to find information relevant to North Hickory and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for North Hickory

• 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 North Hickory:
  • 35.778188, -81.323697
  • 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 North Hickory

• 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 Catawba County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Catawba County
  • Since North Hickory is near Caldwell County and also Alexander County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexander 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 North Hickory

Curious and Interesting Names Near North Hickory ...

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.

• Downsville ‑ Historic
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Downsville is located in Caldwell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
• Fairbrook
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Fairbrook is located in Catawba County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairbrook
• Fairgrove
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fairgrove is located in Catawba County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairgrove
• Grace Chapel
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Grace Chapel is located in Caldwell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Chapel
• Granite Falls
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Granite Falls is located in Caldwell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Falls
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,657 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite Falls <1>
• Hickory
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Hickory is located in Catawba County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,473 people
• Little River
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Little River is located in Alexander County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
• Long View
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Long View is located in Catawba County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
• Mountain View
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Mountain View is located in Catawba County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain View
• Penelope
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Penelope is located in Burke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penelope
• Sweetwater
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Sweetwater is located in Catawba County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater

How Far From North Hickory 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 North Hickory to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in North Hickory and extending to:

• Newton, which is the Seat of Catawba County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<2> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from North Hickory to Newton, with an average speed<3> 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 150 miles [241.4 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 318 miles [511.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 18 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,216 miles [10,003.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,918 miles [11,133.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,796 miles [7,718.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'