Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Soda Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Soda Hill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Soda Hill
- 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 Soda Hill:
- 36.276238, -81.637607
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Soda Hill
- 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 Watauga County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Watauga County
- Since Soda Hill is near Ashe County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ashe County
- eBird sighting report for Johnson 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Soda Hill ...
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.
- Bamboo
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bamboo
- Bamboo is located in Watauga County
- Deep Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Gap
- Deep Gap is located in Watauga County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deep Gap <1>
- Fleetwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fleetwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleetwood
- Fleetwood is located in Ashe County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fleetwood <1>
- Grave Yard ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grave Yard have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grave Yard
- Grave Yard is located in Watauga County
- Hillcrest
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Mabel
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
- Mabel is located in Watauga County
- Meat Camp
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Oak Grove
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - Poplar Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poplar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Grove
- Poplar Grove is located in Watauga County
- Pottertown
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottertown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottertown
- Pottertown is located in Watauga County
- Silverstone
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverstone have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverstone
- Silverstone is located in Watauga County
- Solo
(Less than 2 miles to the east) - Zionville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zionville
- Zionville is located in Watauga County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Zionville <1>
How Far From Soda Hill 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 Soda Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Soda Hill and extending to:
- Boone, which is the Seat of Watauga County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 170 miles [273.6 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Soda Hill to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 310 miles [498.9 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,207 miles [9,989.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,912 miles [11,123.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,789 miles [7,707.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Soda Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Watauga County: www.wataugacounty.org/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
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> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Soda Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Soda Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2762, Longitude: -81.6376 In this case, the coordinates for Soda Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Soda Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.686 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.237 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.508 degrees. |