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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pensacola, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pensacola 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 Pensacola:
    • 35.847875, -82.307516
    • 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 Pensacola
  • 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 Yancey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yancey County
    • Since Pensacola is near Madison County and also Buncombe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buncombe 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 Pensacola

Communities Also Named Pensacola ...

We found two communities that are also named Pensacola.

Within North Carolina, the name Pensacola is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Florida
      • Escambia County
      • This Pensacola is located in Escambia County and lies 469 miles [754.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Pensacola that is located in Yancey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Escambia County community of Pensacola.
    • Oklahoma
      • Mayes County
      • This Pensacola is located in Mayes County and lies 715 miles [1,150.7 km]<1> to the west of the Pensacola that is located in Yancey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mayes County community of Pensacola.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pensacola ...

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.

  • Blue Rock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Blue Rock is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Rock
  • Cane
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cane is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane
  • Cattail Creek Community
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Elk Shoal
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Elk Shoal is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Shoal
  • Hawk Branch
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Hawk Branch is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Branch
  • Lincoln Park
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Lincoln Park is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
  • Low Gap
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Paint Fork
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Paint Fork is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Fork
  • Paint Gap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Paint Gap is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Gap
  • Possumtrot
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Possumtrot is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumtrot
  • Price Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Price Creek is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Creek
  • Rockview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Rockview is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockview
  • Terry Fork
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Terry Fork is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry Fork

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

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

  • Burnsville, which is the Seat of Yancey County, lies just to the North.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 205 miles [329.9 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Pensacola to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 12 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 357 miles [574.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,254 miles [10,064.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,960 miles [11,201 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,837 miles [7,784.4 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Pensacola) 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 Pensacola 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 Pensacola. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8479, Longitude: -82.3075       In this case, the coordinates for Pensacola have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.08 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.627 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.906 degrees.