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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Poplar Branch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Poplar Branch 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 Poplar Branch:
    • 36.280869, -75.893104
    • 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 Poplar Branch
  • 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 Currituck County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Currituck County
    • Since Poplar Branch is near Camden County and also Dare County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Camden County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Dare 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 Poplar Branch

Curious and Interesting Names Near Poplar Branch ...

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.

  • Alder Branch
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Coinjock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Goose Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Goose Creek is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goose Creek
  • Gulls Flight
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Gulls Flight is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulls Flight
  • Ocean Pines
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ocean Pines is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocean Pines
  • Old Trap
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Old Trap is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Trap
  • Olds
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Olds is located in Currituck County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olds
  • Riddle
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Shipswatch
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Shipswatch is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shipswatch
  • Snow Geese Dunes
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Snow Geese Dunes is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Geese Dunes
  • Texas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Texas is located in Camden County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas
  • Walnut Island
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Walnut Island is located in Currituck County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Island
  • Waterlily
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Wild Duck Dunes
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Wild Duck Dunes is located in Dare County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Duck Dunes

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Poplar Branch and extending to:

  • Currituck, which is the Seat of Currituck County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Poplar Branch to Currituck, 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 157 miles [252.7 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 191 miles [307.4 km] to the north northwest (NNW). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,958 miles [9,588.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,648 miles [10,698.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,532 miles [7,293.5 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Poplar Branch) 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 Poplar Branch 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 Poplar Branch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2809, Longitude: -75.8931    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.382 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.46 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.244 degrees.