Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Gaston Shoals, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gaston Shoals and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Gaston Shoals
- 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 Gaston Shoals:
- 35.139017, -81.595372
- 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 Gaston 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 Cherokee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee County
- Since Gaston Shoals is near Cleveland County and also York County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Cleveland County
- eBird sighting report for York 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 Gaston 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.
- Buffalo
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Cherokee Falls
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Falls
- Cherokee Falls is located in Cherokee County
- Cherokee Ferry
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Ferry
- Cherokee Ferry is located in Cherokee County
- Cherokee Hills
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cherokee Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Hills
- Cherokee Hills is located in Cherokee County
- Earl
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earl
- Earl is located in Cleveland County (NC)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 261 people
- Erwinsville ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erwinsville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erwinsville
- Erwinsville is located in Cleveland County (NC)
- Flint Hill ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flint Hill came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<2>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
- Flint Hill is located in Cleveland County (NC)
- Garden Park
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Park
- Garden Park is located in Cherokee County
- Glenhaven
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Grassy Pond
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grassy Pond have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassy Pond
- Grassy Pond is located in Cherokee County
- Harmony Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harmony Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Hill
- Harmony Hill is located in Cherokee County
- Hillbrook
(5 miles [8 km] to the south) - Continue List (4 more) ...
- Maplewood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Pleasant Meadows
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Meadows
- Pleasant Meadows is located in Cherokee County
- Quail Hollow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Quail Hollow have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hollow
- Quail Hollow is located in Cherokee County
- Rosehill Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rosehill Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosehill Park
- Rosehill Park is located in Cherokee County
- Maplewood
How Far From Gaston Shoals 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 Gaston Shoals 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 Gaston Shoals once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Gaston Shoals and extending to:
- Gaffney, which is the Seat of Cherokee County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 84 miles [135.2 km]<4> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Gaston Shoals to Columbia, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 361 miles [581 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,256 miles [10,068.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,957 miles [11,196.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,836 miles [7,782.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of South Carolina: https://sc.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> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <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 Gaston Shoals, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gaston Shoals) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Gaston Shoals. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.1390, Longitude: -81.5954 In this case, the coordinates for Gaston Shoals 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 Gaston Shoals 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 310.657 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.04 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.825 degrees. |