|
Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Qualla, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Qualla 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 Qualla:
- 35.435376, -83.322930
- 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 Qualla
- 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 Jackson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson County
- Since Qualla is near Swain County and also Macon County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Swain County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Macon 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 Qualla
Curious and Interesting Names Near Qualla ...
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.
- Big Laurel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Big Laurel is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel
- Birdtown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Birdtown is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birdtown
- Cherokee
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Fisher Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Fisher Creek is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher Creek
- Greens Creek
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Greens Creek is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greens Creek
- Indian Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Indian Hills is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
- Jenkins Place
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Jenkins Place is located in Swain County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenkins Place
- Love Field
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Love Field is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Love Field
- Paint Town
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Paint Town is located in Jackson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Town
How Far From Qualla to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Qualla to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Qualla and extending to:
- Sylva, which is the Seat of Jackson County, lies just to the Southeast.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 263 miles [423.3 km]<2> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Qualla to Raleigh, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 420 miles [675.9 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,316 miles [10,164.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,023 miles [11,302.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,899 miles [7,884.2 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Qualla) 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 Qualla 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 Qualla. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4354, Longitude: -83.3229 In this case, the coordinates for Qualla have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.676 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.252 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.432 degrees. |
|
|