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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Fork Shoals, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Fork Shoals 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 Fork Shoals:
    • 34.622970, -82.306770
    • 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 Fork Shoals
  • 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 Greenville County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Greenville County
    • Since Fork Shoals is near Laurens County and also Anderson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Laurens 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 Fork Shoals

Curious and Interesting Names Near Fork Shoals ...

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.

  • Cherokee Heights
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Cherokee Heights is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Heights
  • Edens ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Edens is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edens
  • Fern Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Fern Creek is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Creek
  • Fountain Inn
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Friendship
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Friendship is located in Anderson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Green Pond
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Hickory Tavern
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Hickory Tavern is located in Laurens County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Tavern
  • Hunters Woods
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hunters Woods is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Woods
  • Idlewild
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Idlewild is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewild
  • Lickville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Moonville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Moonville is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moonville
  • Poinsetta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Poinsetta is located in Greenville County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poinsetta
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Ponderosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Ponderosa is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ponderosa
    • Powderhorn
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Powderhorn is located in Greenville County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powderhorn
    • Powers Shop ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Powers Shop is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powers Shop
    • Reedy River ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Reedy River is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reedy River
    • Tumbling Shoals ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Tumbling Shoals is located in Laurens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tumbling Shoals

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

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

  • Greenville, which is the Seat of Greenville County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<2> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Fork Shoals to Greenville, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 84 miles [135.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 414 miles [666.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 17 days and walking would take 24 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,310 miles [10,155 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,010 miles [11,281.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,889 miles [7,868.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Fork Shoals) 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 Fork Shoals 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 Fork Shoals. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6230, Longitude: -82.3068       In this case, the coordinates for Fork Shoals have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.064 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.433 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.248 degrees.