Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Goat Alley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Goat Alley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Goat Alley
- 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 Goat Alley:
- 34.722912, -81.674822
- 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 Goat Alley
- 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 Union County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Union County
- Since Goat Alley is near Spartanburg County and also Chester County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Spartanburg County
- eBird sighting report for Chester 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 Goat Alley ...
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.
- Bishop Town ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bishop Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Town
- Bishop Town is located in Union County
- Black Jack Valley ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Jack Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Jack Valley
- Black Jack Valley is located in Union County
- Buffalo
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Buffalo is located in Union County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buffalo <2>
- Cross Keys
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cross Keys have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Keys
- Cross Keys is located in Union County
- Gregory ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast) - Jonesville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesville
- Jonesville is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 819 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jonesville <2>
- Kelly
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast) - Mean Crossroads
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mean Crossroads have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mean Crossroads
- Mean Crossroads is located in Union County
- Meansville ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meansville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meansville
- Meansville is located in Union County
- Monarch
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Union
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union is located in Union County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,535 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union <2>
How Far From Goat Alley to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Goat Alley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Goat Alley and extending to:
- Union, which is the Seat of Union County, lies just to the East.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 61 miles [98.2 km]<4> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Goat Alley to Columbia, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 385 miles [619.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,278 miles [10,103.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,977 miles [11,228.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,857 miles [7,816.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Goat Alley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Union County: www.countyofunion.com/
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> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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- Goat Alley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Goat Alley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7229, Longitude: -81.6748 In this case, the coordinates for Goat Alley 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 Goat Alley 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 310.699 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.028 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.974 degrees. |