Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Watauga Falls, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Watauga Falls and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Watauga Falls
- 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 Watauga Falls:
- 36.250959, -81.855114
- 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 Watauga Falls
- 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 Watauga County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Watauga County
- Since Watauga Falls is near Avery County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Avery County
- eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Watauga Falls ...
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.
- Battleground
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Battleground have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battleground
- Battleground is located in Avery County
- Casper ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Dark Ridge ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dark Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dark Ridge
- Dark Ridge is located in Avery County
- Dry Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest) - Elk Mills
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Elk Valley
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Valley
- Elk Valley is located in Avery County
- Farmer Mill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Farmer Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer Mill
- Farmer Mill is located in Carter County (TN)
- Flat Springs
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Springs
- Flat Springs is located in Avery County
- Forest Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Grove
- Forest Grove is located in Watauga County
- Grave Yard ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grave Yard have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grave Yard
- Grave Yard is located in Watauga County
- Heaton
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest) - Hounds Ear
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hounds Ear have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hounds Ear
- Hounds Ear is located in Watauga County
- Continue List (7 more) ...
- Mabel
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mabel
- Mabel is located in Watauga County
- Seven Devils
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Devils have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Devils
- Seven Devils is located in Avery County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 203 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seven Devils <2>
- Silverstone
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silverstone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverstone
- Silverstone is located in Watauga County
- Stump Knob ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stump Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stump Knob
- Stump Knob is located in Johnson County (TN)
- Sugar Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Grove
- Sugar Grove is located in Watauga County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar Grove <2>
- Sweetwater
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetwater have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
- Sweetwater is located in Watauga County
- Valley Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valley Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Creek
- Valley Creek is located in Watauga County
- Mabel
How Far From Watauga Falls 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 Watauga Falls to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<3> community of Watauga Falls once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Watauga Falls and extending to:
- Boone, which is the Seat of Watauga County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<4> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Watauga Falls to Boone, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 182 miles [292.9 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 320 miles [515 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,217 miles [10,005.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,923 miles [11,141.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,800 miles [7,724.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Watauga County: www.wataugacounty.org/
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> | 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 Watauga Falls, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Watauga Falls) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Watauga Falls. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2510, Longitude: -81.8551 In this case, the coordinates for Watauga Falls have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Watauga Falls to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.815 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.381 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.605 degrees. |