Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Simmon Tree, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Simmon Tree and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Simmon Tree
- 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 Simmon Tree:
- 34.846522, -81.503985
- 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 Simmon Tree
- 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 Simmon Tree is near York County and also Cherokee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for York County
- eBird sighting report for Cherokee 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 Simmon Tree ...
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.
- Beauty Spot ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beauty Spot have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beauty Spot
- Beauty Spot is located in York County
- Borax ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Bullock Creek
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bullock Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock Creek
- Bullock Creek is located in York County
- Cotton ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Flat Rock ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Hoodtown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Hopewell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Kelly
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest) - No Mans Land ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for No Mans Land have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for No Mans Land
- No Mans Land is located in Union County
- Pine Tree ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Red Hill
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
How Far From Simmon Tree 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 Simmon Tree 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 Simmon Tree once stood, the straight-line distance<4> beginning in Simmon Tree and extending to:
- Union, which is the Seat of Union County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<4> to the southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Simmon Tree to Union, with an average speed<5> 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.
- Columbia, which is the State Capital of South Carolina, lies 64 miles [103 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 372 miles [598.7 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, 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 6,265 miles [10,082.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,964 miles [11,207.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,844 miles [7,795.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
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> | 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. |
| <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 Simmon Tree, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Simmon Tree) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Simmon Tree. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8465, Longitude: -81.5040 In this case, the coordinates for Simmon Tree 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 Simmon Tree 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 310.602 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.934 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.872 degrees. |