Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Houston Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Houston Valley and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Houston Valley

• 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 Houston Valley:
  • 35.968157, -82.919314
  • 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.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Houston Valley

• 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 Greene County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Greene County
  • Since Houston Valley is near Cocke County and also Madison County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Cocke County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison 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:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Houston Valley

Curious and Interesting Names Near Houston Valley ...

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.

• Cedar Creek
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Cedar Creek is located in Greene County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
• French Broad
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • French Broad is located in Cocke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for French Broad
• Harmony Grove
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Harmony Grove is located in Cocke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harmony Grove
• Jonestown ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jonestown is located in Cocke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
• Limestone Springs
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Limestone Springs is located in Greene County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limestone Springs
• Long Creek
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Long Creek is located in Cocke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Creek
• Paint Rock
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Paint Rock is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
• Pine Spring
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Pine Spring is located in Greene County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Spring
• Shaleville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Shaleville is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaleville
• Sirenburg ‑ Historic
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Sirenburg is located in Greene County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sirenburg
• Wolf Creek
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Wolf Creek is located in Cocke County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Creek

How Far From Houston Valley 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 Houston Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Houston Valley and extending to:

• Greeneville, which is the Seat of Greene County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Houston Valley to Greeneville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day 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 215 miles [346 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take nearly four hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 13 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 380 miles [611.6 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,275 miles [10,098.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,982 miles [11,236.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,859 miles [7,819.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'