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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Petra Mills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Petra Mills 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 Petra Mills:
- 35.840687, -81.361755
- 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 Petra Mills
- 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 Caldwell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- Since Petra Mills is near Alexander County and also Catawba 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 Catawba 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 Petra Mills
Curious and Interesting Names Near Petra Mills ...
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.
- Cedar Rock
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Rock is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Rock
- Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
- Cedar Rock has also been known as:
- Cedar Rock village
- Cedar Valley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Cedar Valley is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
- Downsville ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Downsville is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
- Ellendale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Ellendale is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellendale
- Grace Chapel
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Grace Chapel is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace Chapel
- Granite Falls
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hickory
(7 miles [11.3 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
- Laurel Hollow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Laurel Hollow is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hollow
- Little River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Little River is located in Alexander County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River
- Long View
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Long View is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,951 people
- Maple Valley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Maple Valley is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Valley
- Penelope
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Penelope is located in Burke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penelope
- Sawmills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Sawmills is located in Caldwell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawmills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,156 people
- Sweetwater
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Sweetwater is located in Catawba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
How Far From Petra Mills 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 Petra Mills to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Petra Mills and extending to:
- Lenoir, which is the Seat of Caldwell County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Petra Mills to Lenoir, with an average speed<3> 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 152 miles [244.6 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 317 miles [510.2 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 6,215 miles [10,002.1 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>'
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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- Petra Mills) 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 Petra Mills 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 Petra Mills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8407, Longitude: -81.3618 In this case, the coordinates for Petra Mills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.524 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.988 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.527 degrees. |
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