RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of South Carolina >> Oconee County >> Ensenaka >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Ensenaka:
    • 34.680104, -82.854866
    • 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 Ensenaka
  • 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 Oconee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oconee County
    • Since Ensenaka is near Pickens County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Pickens County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anderson 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 Ensenaka

Curious and Interesting Names Near Ensenaka ...

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.

  • Adams Crossing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Adams Crossing is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adams Crossing
  • Camelot
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Camelot is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camelot
  • Cherokee Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherokee Gardens is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Gardens
  • Cherrys Crossing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherrys Crossing is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrys Crossing
  • Doris Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Doris Heights is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doris Heights
  • Enchanted Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Enchanted Hills is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Hills
  • Meadow Brook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Meadow Brook is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Brook
  • Meadow Rose
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Meadow Rose is located in Pickens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Rose
  • Pickens Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Pickens Ferry is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pickens Ferry
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Poplar Cove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Poplar Cove is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Cove
    • Ridgeview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Ridgeview is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
    • Skyview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Skyview is located in Pickens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyview
    • Spring Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Valley is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Valley
    • Stone Haven
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Stone Haven is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Haven
    • Village Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Village Creek is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Village Creek

How Far From Ensenaka 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 Ensenaka 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<1> community of Ensenaka once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Ensenaka and extending to:

  • Walhalla, which is the Seat of Oconee County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Ensenaka to Walhalla, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 113 miles [181.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about two hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 433 miles [696.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 25 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,331 miles [10,188.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,033 miles [11,318.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,911 miles [7,903.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Ensenaka, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Ensenaka) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Ensenaka 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 Ensenaka. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6801, Longitude: -82.8549       In this case, the coordinates for Ensenaka have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.385 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.809 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.448 degrees.