Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Wildacres

• 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 Wildacres:
  • 35.824288, -82.105949
  • 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 Wildacres

• 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 McDowell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for McDowell County
  • Since Wildacres is near Mitchell County and also Yancey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Mitchell County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Yancey 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 Wildacres

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wildacres ...

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.

• Blue Rock
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Blue Rock is located in Yancey County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blue Rock
• Cattail Creek Community
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Cattail Creek Community is located in Yancey County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cattail Creek Community
• Garden Creek
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Garden Creek is located in McDowell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Creek
• Grassy Creek
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Grassy Creek is located in Mitchell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Creek
• Ledger
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Ledger is located in Mitchell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledger
• Little Switzerland
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Little Switzerland is located in McDowell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Switzerland
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Little Switzerland <1>
• Normanville
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Normanville is located in Mitchell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normanville
• Pleasant Gardens
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Pleasant Gardens is located in McDowell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Gardens
• Spruce Pine
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Spruce Pine is located in Mitchell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,126 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spruce Pine <1>
• Strawberry Ridge
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Strawberry Ridge is located in Mitchell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strawberry Ridge
• Toms Creek
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Toms Creek is located in McDowell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toms Creek
• Wing
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Wing is located in Mitchell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wing
• Woodlawn
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Woodlawn is located in McDowell County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Wildacres and extending to:

• Marion, which is the Seat of McDowell County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Wildacres to Marion, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
• Raleigh, which is the State Capital of North Carolina, lies 194 miles [312.2 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 349 miles [561.7 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,247 miles [10,053.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,952 miles [11,188.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,829 miles [7,771.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'