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.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sonoma
- 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.
- 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:
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Buncombe County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Sonoma ...
We found five communities that share the name Sonoma.
Within North Carolina, the name Sonoma is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another five communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- California
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Texas
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) - Clyde
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Clyde is located in Haywood County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,308 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <3>
- Crabtree
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north) - Fibreville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fibreville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fibreville
- Fibreville is located in Haywood County
- Iron Duff
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Ivy Hills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Luther
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Retreat
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest) - Silver Bluff
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Bluff
- Silver Bluff is located in Haywood County
- Stony Fork
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stony Fork have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stony Fork
- Stony Fork is located in Buncombe County
- Sunburst
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Turnpike
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
How Far From Sonoma 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 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<4> 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.
- 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<5>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<6> 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).<7>
- 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).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,879 miles [7,852 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Haywood County: www.gov.co.haywood.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sonoma) to Point B.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). |
| <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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.417 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.96 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.245 degrees. |