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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sunset Hills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sunset Hills and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Sunset Hills:
    • 36.497360, -79.811426
    • 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 Sunset Hills
  • 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 Rockingham County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Rockingham County
    • Since Sunset Hills is near Henry County and also Pittsylvania County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Henry County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pittsylvania 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 Sunset Hills

Communities Also Named Sunset Hills ...

We found nineteen communities that are also named Sunset Hills.

There are three communities within North Carolina that are also named Sunset Hills.

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

  • Communities Located In North Carolina ...
    • Catawba County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Carolina community of Sunset Hills [Catawba County].
    • Guilford County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Guilford County and lies 29 miles [46.7 km]<2> to the south of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Guilford County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Mecklenburg County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Mecklenburg County and lies 101 miles [162.5 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mecklenburg County community of Sunset Hills.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Maricopa County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Maricopa County and lies 1,823 miles [2,933.8 km]<2> to the west of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Maricopa County community of Sunset Hills.
    • California
      • Los Angeles County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Sunset Hills [Los Angeles County].
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in San Bernardino County and lies 2,094 miles [3,370 km]<2> to the west of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Georgia
      • Clayton County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Clayton County and lies 322 miles [518.2 km]<2> to the southwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Clayton County community of Sunset Hills.
      • Paulding County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Paulding County and lies 333 miles [535.9 km] to the west southwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Paulding County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Sunset Hills [Cook County].
      • Will County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Will County and lies 567 miles [912.5 km]<2> to the northwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Will County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Maryland
      • Frederick County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Maryland community of Sunset Hills [Frederick County].
    • Missouri
      • Saint Louis County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Saint Louis County and lies 596 miles [959.2 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Louis County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Beaver County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<1> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Sunset Hills [Beaver County].
    • Tennessee
      • Hamblen County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Hamblen County and lies 197 miles [317 km]<2> to the west of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hamblen County community of Sunset Hills.
      • Sullivan County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Sullivan County and lies 150 miles [241.4 km] to the west of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Sullivan County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Utah
      • Davis County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Davis County and lies 1,744 miles [2,806.7 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Davis County community of Sunset Hills.
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,752 miles [2,819.6 km] to the west northwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Sunset Hills.
    • Virginia
      • Fairfax County
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Fairfax County and lies 216 miles [347.6 km]<2> to the northeast of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fairfax County community of Sunset Hills.
      • Roanoke City
      • This Sunset Hills is located in Roanoke City and lies 53 miles [85.3 km] to the north northwest of the Sunset Hills that is located in Rockingham County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Roanoke City community of Sunset Hills.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sunset Hills ...

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.

  • Bearslide
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Bearslide is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bearslide
  • Dan River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Dan River is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dan River
  • Eden
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Eden is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,867 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <3>
  • Green Knolls
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Green Knolls is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Knolls
  • Holly Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Holly Hills is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hills
  • Homestead
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Homestead is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homestead
  • Indian Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Hills is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Leaksville ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Leaksville is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leaksville
  • Matrimony
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Matrimony is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matrimony
  • Providence
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Providence is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence
  • Ravenwood
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Ravenwood is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ravenwood
  • Riverbend
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Riverbend is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverbend
  • Spray ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Spray is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spray
  • Whispering Pines
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Whispering Pines is located in Rockingham County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines

How Far From Sunset Hills 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 community such as Sunset Hills to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sunset Hills and extending to:

  • Wentworth, which is the Seat of Rockingham County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 81 miles [130.4 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Sunset Hills to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 224 miles [360.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,119 miles [9,847.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,821 miles [10,977.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,699 miles [7,562.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Sunset Hills 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.
<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- Sunset Hills) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Sunset Hills 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 Sunset Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4974, Longitude: -79.8114       In this case, the coordinates for Sunset Hills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.613 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.041 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.702 degrees.