Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sparta, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sparta and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sparta
- 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 Sparta:
- 36.503545, -81.121805
- 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 Sparta
- 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 Alleghany County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Alleghany County
- Since Sparta is near Grayson County and also Wilkes County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Grayson County
- eBird sighting report for Wilkes 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 Sparta ...
We found 25 communities that share the name Sparta.
Within North Carolina, the name Sparta is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another 25 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 25 communities, 24 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Buchanan County
- This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Sparta [Buchanan County].
- Christian County
- This Sparta is located in Christian County and lies 662 miles [1,065.4 km]<2> to the west of the Sparta that is located in Alleghany County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Christian County community of Sparta.
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Athens County
- This community is historic<1> and although located in Athens County, we don't know where within the county.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Athens County community of Sparta.
- Morrow County
- This Sparta is located in Morrow County and lies 281 miles [452.2 km]<2> to the north northwest of the Sparta that is located in Alleghany County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Morrow County community of Sparta.
- Stark County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Ohio community of Sparta [Stark County].
- Ontario
- This Sparta lies 428 miles [688.8 km]<2> to the north of the Sparta that is located in Alleghany County.
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sparta ...
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.
- Cherry Lane
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherry Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Lane
- Cherry Lane is located in Alleghany County
- Chestnut Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Grove
- Chestnut Grove is located in Alleghany County
- Edwards Crossroads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edwards Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edwards Crossroads
- Edwards Crossroads is located in Alleghany County
- Hare
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Hooker
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hooker
- Hooker is located in Alleghany County
- Independence
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Independence have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Independence
- Independence is located in Grayson County (VA)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 887 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Independence <5>
- Peach Bottom
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Peach Bottom have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Bottom
- Peach Bottom is located in Grayson County (VA)
- Pine Fork
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Pine Swamp
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Swamp have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Swamp
- Pine Swamp is located in Alleghany County
- Pleasant Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Alleghany County
- Rich Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Twin Oaks
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
How Far From Sparta 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 town such as Sparta to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sparta and extending to:
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 147 miles [236.6 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Sparta to Raleigh, with an average speed<6>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 277 miles [445.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,175 miles [9,937.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,880 miles [11,072.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,757 miles [7,655.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sparta. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Sparta, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sparta) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sparta. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5035, Longitude: -81.1218 In this case, the coordinates for Sparta have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Sparta could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Sparta to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.38 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.921 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.23 degrees. |