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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Swiss, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Swiss 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 Swiss:
    • 35.914277, -82.449855
    • 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 Swiss
  • 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 Yancey County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Yancey County
    • Since Swiss is near Madison County and also Unicoi County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Unicoi 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 Swiss

Communities Also Named Swiss ...

We found two communities that are also named Swiss.

Within North Carolina, the name Swiss is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Missouri
      • Gasconade County
      • This Swiss is located in Gasconade County and lies 528 miles [849.7 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Swiss that is located in Yancey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gasconade County community of Swiss.
    • West Virginia
      • Nicholas County
      • This Swiss is located in Nicholas County and lies 175 miles [281.6 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Swiss that is located in Yancey County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Nicholas County community of Swiss.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Swiss ...

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.

  • Bee Log
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Bee Log is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Log
  • California
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • California is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California
  • Cane
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cane is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane
  • Elk Shoal
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Elk Shoal is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Shoal
  • English
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • English is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
  • Hawk Branch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hawk Branch is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Branch
  • Lewisburg
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lewisburg is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisburg
  • Little Creek
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Little Creek is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Creek
  • Paint Fork
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Paint Fork is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Fork
  • Paint Gap
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Paint Gap is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Gap
  • Possumtrot
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Possumtrot is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Possumtrot
  • Price Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Price Creek is located in Yancey County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Price Creek
  • Terry Fork
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Terry Fork is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry Fork

How Far From Swiss 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 Swiss to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Burnsville, which is the Seat of Yancey County, lies just to the East.
  • Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 213 miles [342.8 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Swiss to Raleigh, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 13 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 9 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 361 miles [581 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,257 miles [10,069.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,964 miles [11,207.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,841 miles [7,790.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Swiss) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Swiss 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 Swiss. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.9143, Longitude: -82.4499       In this case, the coordinates for Swiss have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.165 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.734 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.944 degrees.