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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Owltown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Owltown 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 Owltown:
    • 35.600107, -82.723743
    • 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 Owltown
  • 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 Buncombe County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buncombe County
    • Since Owltown is near Haywood County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Haywood County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison 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 Owltown

Communities Also Named Owltown ...

We found two communities that are also named Owltown.

Within North Carolina, the name Owltown is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Union County
      • This Owltown is located in Union County and lies 87 miles [140 km]<1> to the southwest of the Owltown that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Union County community of Owltown.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Venango County
      • This Owltown is located in Venango County and lies 440 miles [708.1 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Owltown that is located in Buncombe County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Venango County community of Owltown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Owltown ...

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.

  • Camelot
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Camelot is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Echo Hills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Echo Hills is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hills
  • Georgetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Georgetown is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Hominy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hominy is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hominy
  • Jugtown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jugtown is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jugtown
  • Juno
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Juno is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Juno
  • Luther
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Luther is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
  • Newfound
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Newfound is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newfound
  • Sand Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Sand Hill is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Hill
  • Sulphur Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Turnpike
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Turnpike is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnpike
  • Woodside Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodside Hills is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodside Hills

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

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

  • Asheville, which is the Seat of Buncombe County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Owltown to Asheville, with an average speed<2> 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 229 miles [368.5 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 386 miles [621.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,283 miles [10,111.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,989 miles [11,247.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,866 miles [7,831.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Owltown) 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 Owltown 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 Owltown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.6001, Longitude: -82.7237       In this case, the coordinates for Owltown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.324 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.871 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.144 degrees.