Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Toluca, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Toluca and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Toluca
- 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 Toluca:
- 35.529299, -81.510924
- 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 Toluca
- 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 Cleveland County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cleveland County
- Since Toluca is near Lincoln County and also Burke County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Lincoln County
- eBird sighting report for Burke 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 Toluca ...
We found six communities that share the name Toluca.
Within North Carolina, the name Toluca is unique.
Beyond North Carolina, we know of another six communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Montana
- Texas
Curious and Interesting Names Near Toluca ...
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.
- Cat Square
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cat Square have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cat Square
- Cat Square is located in Lincoln County
- Cooksville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooksville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooksville
- Cooksville is located in Catawba County
- Flay
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Henry
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast) - Hulls Crossroads
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hulls Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulls Crossroads
- Hulls Crossroads is located in Lincoln County
- Knob Creek
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knob Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knob Creek
- Knob Creek is located in Cleveland County
- Olive Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Olive Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olive Grove
- Olive Grove is located in Cleveland County
- Pine Mountain Lakes
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Mountain Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mountain Lakes
- Pine Mountain Lakes is located in Burke County
- Rockdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
How Far From Toluca 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 Toluca to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Toluca and extending to:
- Shelby, which is the Seat of Cleveland County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Toluca to Shelby, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 161 miles [259.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 338 miles [544 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,235 miles [10,034.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,937 miles [11,164 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,815 miles [7,749 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Toluca. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cleveland County: www.clevelandcounty.com/
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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Toluca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Toluca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.5293, Longitude: -81.5109 In this case, the coordinates for Toluca have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek 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 Toluca 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <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 Toluca to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.611 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.043 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.678 degrees. |