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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Pilot Mountain, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Pilot Mountain 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 Pilot Mountain:
    • 36.386355, -80.469852
    • 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 Pilot Mountain
  • 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 Surry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Surry County
    • Since Pilot Mountain is near Stokes County and also Yadkin County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Stokes County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yadkin 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 Pilot Mountain

Communities Also Named Pilot Mountain ...

We found one communities that are also named Pilot Mountain.

Within North Carolina, the name Pilot Mountain is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, there is another community also named Pilot Mountain in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Tennessee
      • Morgan County
      • This Pilot Mountain is located in Morgan County and lies 233 miles [375 km]<1> to the west of the Pilot Mountain that is located in Surry County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morgan County community of Pilot Mountain.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pilot Mountain ...

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 Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Hill is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
  • Chestnut Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Chestnut Grove is located in Stokes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Grove
  • Flat Rock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Flat Rock is located in Stokes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
  • Flat Shoals ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Flat Shoals is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Shoals
  • Hills Grove
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hills Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Grove
  • Holly Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Indian Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Grove is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Grove
  • Long Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Long Hill is located in Surry County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hill
  • Pinnacle
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Volunteer
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Volunteer is located in Stokes County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Volunteer

How Far From Pilot Mountain 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 town such as Pilot Mountain to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Dobson, which is the Seat of Surry County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Pilot Mountain to Dobson, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 110 miles [177 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 255 miles [410.4 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 10 days and walking would take 15 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,152 miles [9,900.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,855 miles [11,032.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,733 miles [7,617 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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- Pilot Mountain) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Pilot Mountain 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 Pilot Mountain. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3864, Longitude: -80.4699    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.999 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.467 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.002 degrees.