Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Old Zion:
  • 35.972564, -85.563867
  • 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 Old Zion

• 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 White County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for White County
  • Since Old Zion is near DeKalb County and also Putnam County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Putnam 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 Old Zion

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Zion ...

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.

• Black Oak
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Black Oak is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
• Center Point
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Center Point is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
• Dixieland
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Dixieland is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dixieland
• Drop ‑ Historic
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Drop is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drop
• Elijah ‑ Historic
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Elijah is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elijah
• Grace ‑ Historic
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Grace is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grace
• Gum Spring
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Gum Spring is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Spring
• Methodist ‑ Historic
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Methodist is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Methodist
• Oliveville ‑ Historic
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Oliveville is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oliveville
• Peeled Chestnut
  (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Peeled Chestnut is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peeled Chestnut
• Rainbow Hills
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Rainbow Hills is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainbow Hills
• Shady Grove
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Shady Grove is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
• Walnut Grove
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Walnut Grove is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
• Whispering Hills
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Whispering Hills is located in White County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Hills

How Far From Old Zion 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 Old Zion to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• Sparta, which is the Seat of White County, lies just to the East Southeast.
• Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the west northwest (WNW). If you could walk a straight line from Old Zion to Nashville, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full 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 509 miles [819.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,384 miles [10,274.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,099 miles [11,424.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,974 miles [8,004.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'