Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Orlando, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Orlando and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Orlando
- 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 Orlando:
- 35.003424, -83.379322
- 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 Orlando
- 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 Macon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Macon County
- Since Orlando is near Rabun County and also Towns County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rabun County
- eBird sighting report for Towns 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 Orlando ...
We found ten communities that share the name Orlando.
Within North Carolina, the name Orlando is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another ten communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Virginia
- Prince William County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Orlando [Prince William County].
- Suffolk City
- This Orlando is located in Suffolk City and lies 398 miles [640.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Orlando that is located in Macon County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk City community of Orlando.
- West Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Orlando ...
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.
- Germany
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Lickskillet
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lickskillet. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lickskillet
- Lickskillet is located in Macon County
- Mountain City
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain City
- Mountain City is located in Rabun County (GA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,113 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mountain City <5>
- Otto
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otto
- Otto is located in Macon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Otto <5>
- Scaly Mountain
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scaly Mountain
- Scaly Mountain is located in Macon County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scaly Mountain <5>
- Sky Valley
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sky Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Valley
- Sky Valley is located in Rabun County (GA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sky Valley <5>
- Three Forks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Three Forks have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Forks
- Three Forks is located in Rabun County (GA)
- Tumblerville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tumblerville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumblerville
- Tumblerville is located in Macon County
- Union
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
How Far From Orlando 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 Orlando to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Orlando and extending to:
- Franklin, which is the Seat of Macon County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Orlando to Franklin, with an average speed<6> 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 271 miles [436.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 441 miles [709.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 25 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,338 miles [10,200 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,043 miles [11,334.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,921 miles [7,919.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Orlando. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Macon County: www.maconnc.org/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Orlando) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Orlando. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0034, Longitude: -83.3793 In this case, the coordinates for Orlando have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird 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 Orlando 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. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Orlando to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.701 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.218 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.57 degrees. |