RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of North Carolina >> Wilkes County >> Oakwoods >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Oakwoods:
    • 36.114854, -81.133972
    • 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 Oakwoods
  • 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 Wilkes County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Wilkes County
    • Since Oakwoods is near Alexander County and also Iredell County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alexander County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Iredell 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 Oakwoods

Communities Also Named Oakwoods ...

We found two communities that are also named Oakwoods.

Within North Carolina, the name Oakwoods is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arkansas
      • Drew County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Oakwoods [Drew County].
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Oakwoods is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,680 miles [2,703.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Oakwoods that is located in Wilkes County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Oakwoods.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oakwoods ...

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.

  • Brown ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Brown is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Buck
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Buck is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck
  • Call
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Call is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call
  • Cricket
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cricket is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cricket
  • Cricket Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cricket Park is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cricket Park
  • East Fruitland ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • East Fruitland is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Fruitland
  • Fairplains
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Fairplains is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplains
  • Fishing Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Fishing Creek is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishing Creek
  • Fox Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fox Run is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Run
  • Hunting Creek ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Hunting Creek is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Creek
  • Stokes ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Stokes is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
  • Sunset Falls
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Sunset Falls is located in Wilkes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Falls

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oakwoods and extending to:

  • Wilkesboro, which is the Seat of Wilkes County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 141 miles [226.9 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Oakwoods to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 295 miles [474.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 17 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,193 miles [9,966.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,896 miles [11,098 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,774 miles [7,683 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Oakwoods, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oakwoods) 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 Oakwoods 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 Oakwoods. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1149, Longitude: -81.1340       In this case, the coordinates for Oakwoods have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.39 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.875 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.353 degrees.