RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Roane County >> Pawpaw Plains >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • Weather ...
  • 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 Pawpaw Plains:
    • 35.869799, -84.337424
    • 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 Pawpaw Plains
  • 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 Roane County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Roane County
    • Since Pawpaw Plains is near Loudon County and also Knox County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Loudon County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox 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 Pawpaw Plains

Curious and Interesting Names Near Pawpaw Plains ...

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.

  • Bear ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Bear is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear
  • Buttermilk Shores
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Buttermilk Shores is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buttermilk Shores
  • Cave Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Cave Creek is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Creek
  • Chestnut Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Ford
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Ford is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ford
  • Gallagher Ferry
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gallagher Ferry is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gallagher Ferry
  • Oak Grove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Oak Grove is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
  • Oral
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Oral is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral
  • Pleasant View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant View is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
  • Poplar Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Poplar Springs is located in Roane County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
  • Silver Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Silver Ridge is located in Loudon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Ridge
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Union
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Union is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
    • Wheat ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wheat is located in Roane County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheat
    • Williams Ferry
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Williams Ferry is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ferry
    • Woodlawn
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Woodlawn is located in Loudon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn

How Far From Pawpaw Plains 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 Pawpaw Plains to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Kingston, which is the Seat of Roane County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Pawpaw Plains to Kingston, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 137 miles [220.5 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 451 miles [725.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 18 days and walking would take 26 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,338 miles [10,200 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,049 miles [11,344.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,925 miles [7,926 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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- Pawpaw Plains) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Pawpaw Plains to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Pawpaw Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8698, Longitude: -84.3374       In this case, the coordinates for Pawpaw Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 312.293 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.022 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.732 degrees.