Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Rice Bend:
  • 35.972330, -82.555693
  • 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 Rice Bend

• 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 Unicoi County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Unicoi County
  • Since Rice Bend is near Madison County and also Yancey County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Yancey 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 Rice Bend

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rice Bend ...

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.

• Big Laurel
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Big Laurel is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Laurel
• California
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • California is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for California
• Clear Branch
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Clear Branch is located in Unicoi County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Branch
  • Former name for Clear Branch:
  • Kittyton
• Coffee Ridge
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Coffee Ridge is located in Unicoi County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Ridge
• Cutshalltown
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Cutshalltown is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cutshalltown
• English
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • English is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
• Flag Pond
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Flag Pond is located in Unicoi County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag Pond
• Harris Mill
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Harris Mill is located in Unicoi County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Mill
• Ivy Ridge
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Ivy Ridge is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Ridge
• Little Creek
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Little Creek is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Creek
• Rice Mill
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Rice Mill is located in Madison County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice Mill
• Rocky Fork
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Rocky Fork is located in Unicoi County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Fork
• Swiss
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Swiss is located in Yancey County (NC)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swiss

How Far From Rice Bend 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 Rice Bend to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

• Erwin, which is the Seat of Unicoi County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rice Bend to Erwin, 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 235 miles [378.2 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 10 days and walking would take 14 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 363 miles [584.2 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,259 miles [10,072.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,966 miles [11,210.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,843 miles [7,794.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'