Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Dowell, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Dowell and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Dowell
- 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 Dowell:
- 36.476510, -81.717057
- 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 Dowell
- 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 Dowell is near Ashe County and also Watauga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Ashe County
- eBird sighting report for Watauga 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
Communities Also Named Dowell ...
We found three communities that share the name Dowell.
Within Tennessee, the name Dowell is unique.
Beyond Tennessee, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Mississippi
Curious and Interesting Names Near Dowell ...
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.
- Center View
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center View
- Center View is located in Johnson County
- Cold Spring
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cold Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Cold Spring is located in Johnson County
- Crackers Neck
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crackers Neck have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crackers Neck
- Crackers Neck is located in Johnson County
- Eureka
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest) - Fig
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east) - Flatwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast) - Fuller
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- Fuller is located in Johnson County
- Green Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
- Green Valley is located in Ashe County (NC)
- Holy Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Laurel Bloomery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laurel Bloomery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Bloomery
- Laurel Bloomery is located in Johnson County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laurel Bloomery <3>
- Listening Rock
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Listening Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Listening Rock
- Listening Rock is located in Ashe County (NC)
- Mountain City
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain City
- Mountain City is located in Johnson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,444 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mountain City <3>
- Continue List (4 more) ...
- Sandy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Shingletown
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
- Shingletown is located in Johnson County
- Silver Lake
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
- Silver Lake is located in Johnson County
- Walnut Grove
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
- Walnut Grove is located in Johnson County
- Sandy
How Far From Dowell 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 Dowell 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<4> community of Dowell once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in Dowell and extending to:
- Mountain City, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies just to the West.
- Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 282 miles [453.8 km]<1> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Dowell to Nashville, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 305 miles [490.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,201 miles [9,979.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,908 miles [11,117.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,785 miles [7,700.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 from Point A (ie- Dowell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Dowell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4765, Longitude: -81.7171 In this case, the coordinates for Dowell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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 Dowell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <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 Dowell 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 310.733 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.32 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.481 degrees. |