Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Cowanstown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cowanstown and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Cowanstown
- 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 Cowanstown:
- 36.309011, -81.935951
- 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 Cowanstown
- 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Johnson County
- Since Cowanstown is near Watauga County and also Avery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Watauga County
- eBird sighting report for Avery 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 Cowanstown ...
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.
- Battleground
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Battleground have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Battleground
- Battleground is located in Avery County (NC)
- Casper ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Dry Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest) - Elk Mills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Farthing ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Flat Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flat Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Springs
- Flat Springs is located in Avery County (NC)
- Ironville ‑ Historic
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Lineback ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Little Milligan
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Milligan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Milligan
- Little Milligan is located in Carter County
- Stump Knob ‑ Historic
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stump Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stump Knob
- Stump Knob is located in Johnson County
How Far From Cowanstown 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 Cowanstown 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<2> community of Cowanstown once stood, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Cowanstown and extending to:
- Mountain City, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<3> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Cowanstown to Mountain City, with an average speed<4> 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.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 269 miles [432.9 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 322 miles [518.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,218 miles [10,006.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,924 miles [11,143.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,801 miles [7,726.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.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> | 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 Cowanstown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cowanstown) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cowanstown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.3090, Longitude: -81.9360 In this case, the coordinates for Cowanstown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Cowanstown to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.862 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.444 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.62 degrees. |