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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sonoma, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sonoma 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 Sonoma:
    • 35.470939, -82.884856
    • 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 Sonoma
  • 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 Haywood County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Haywood County
    • Since Sonoma is near Buncombe County and also Jackson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Buncombe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jackson 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 Sonoma

Communities Also Named Sonoma ...

We found five communities that are also named Sonoma.

Within North Carolina, the name Sonoma is unique.

Beyond North Carolina, we know of five communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Etowah County
      • This Sonoma is located in Etowah County and lies 196 miles [315.4 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sonoma that is located in Haywood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Etowah County community of Sonoma.
    • California
      • Sonoma County
      • This Sonoma is located in Sonoma County and lies 2,177 miles [3,503.5 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Sonoma that is located in Haywood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sonoma County community of Sonoma.
    • Maryland
      • Montgomery County
      • This Sonoma is located in Montgomery County and lies 399 miles [642.1 km]<1> to the northeast of the Sonoma that is located in Haywood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Montgomery County community of Sonoma.
    • Michigan
      • Calhoun County
      • This Sonoma is located in Calhoun County and lies 483 miles [777.3 km]<1> to the north northwest of the Sonoma that is located in Haywood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Sonoma.
    • Texas
      • Ellis County
      • This Sonoma is located in Ellis County and lies 814 miles [1,310 km]<1> to the west of the Sonoma that is located in Haywood County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ellis County community of Sonoma.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sonoma ...

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.

  • Cecil ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Cecil is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cecil
  • Clyde
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Clyde is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,308 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <2>
  • Crabtree
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Crabtree is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crabtree
  • Fibreville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fibreville is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fibreville
  • Iron Duff
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Iron Duff is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron Duff
  • Ivy Hills
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Ivy Hills is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Hills
  • Luther
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Luther is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luther
  • Retreat
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Retreat is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retreat
  • Silver Bluff
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Silver Bluff is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Bluff
  • Stony Fork
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Stony Fork is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Fork
  • Sunburst
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Sunburst is located in Haywood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunburst
  • Turnpike
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Turnpike is located in Buncombe County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnpike

How Far From Sonoma to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sonoma to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Sonoma once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Sonoma and extending to:

  • Waynesville, which is the Seat of Haywood County, lies just to the West Northwest.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 239 miles [384.6 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Sonoma to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take nearly four hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 14 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 399 miles [642.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 23 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,296 miles [10,132.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,002 miles [11,268.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,879 miles [7,852 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Sonoma) 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>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Sonoma, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Sonoma 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 Sonoma. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4709, Longitude: -82.8849       In this case, the coordinates for Sonoma have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.417 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.96 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.245 degrees.