Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Valdese, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Valdese and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Valdese
- 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 Valdese:
- 35.753690, -81.572237
- 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 Valdese
- 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 Burke County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Burke County
- Since Valdese is near Caldwell County and also Catawba County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Caldwell County
- eBird sighting report for Catawba 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
Curious and Interesting Names Near Valdese ...
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.
- Cloverdale
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloverdale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Cloverdale is located in Caldwell County
- Copenhagen ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Copenhagen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copenhagen
- Copenhagen is located in Caldwell County
- Drowning Creek ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drowning Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drowning Creek
- Drowning Creek is located in Burke County
- Enola
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Flat Gap
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south) - Gamewell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gamewell
- Gamewell is located in Caldwell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,993 people
- Gamewell Heights
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gamewell Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gamewell Heights
- Gamewell Heights is located in Caldwell County
- Granite Falls
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite Falls
- Granite Falls is located in Caldwell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,657 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite Falls <2>
- Hartland
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest) - Henry River
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Henry River have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henry River
- Henry River is located in Burke County
- Hickory Grove ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hickory Grove is located in Burke County
- Lovelady ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Continue List (8 more) ...
- Magnolia
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Pineburr
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Pleasant Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Burke County
- Pumpkin Center
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pumpkin Center have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
- Pumpkin Center is located in Burke County
- Sawmills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Smokey Creek
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smokey Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smokey Creek
- Smokey Creek is located in Caldwell County
- Sunnyside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Yellow Gap
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yellow Gap
- Yellow Gap is located in Burke County
- Magnolia
How Far From Valdese 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 town such as Valdese to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Valdese and extending to:
- Morganton, which is the Seat of Burke County, lies just to the West.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 164 miles [263.9 km]<3> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Valdese to Raleigh, with an average speed<4>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 10 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 330 miles [531.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,228 miles [10,023 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,931 miles [11,154.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,809 miles [7,739.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Valdese: www.ci.valdese.nc.us/
The official website for Burke County: www.co.burke.nc.us/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Valdese) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Valdese. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.7537, Longitude: -81.5722 In this case, the coordinates for Valdese have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Valdese 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 310.647 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.117 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.637 degrees. |