RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Unicoi County >> Rocky Fork >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rocky Fork, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rocky Fork 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 Rocky Fork:
    • 36.035107, -82.552084
    • 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 Rocky Fork
  • 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 Rocky Fork 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 Rocky Fork

Communities Also Named Rocky Fork ...

We found three communities that are also named Rocky Fork.

There is one other community in Tennessee that is also named Rocky Fork.

Beyond Tennessee, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Tennessee ...
    • Rutherford County
      • This Rocky Fork is located in Rutherford County and lies 225 miles [362.1 km]<1> to the west of the Rocky Fork that is located in Unicoi County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rutherford County community of Rocky Fork.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Licking County
      • This Rocky Fork is located in Licking County and lies 285 miles [458.7 km]<1> to the north of the Rocky Fork that is located in Unicoi County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Licking County community of Rocky Fork.
    • West Virginia
      • Kanawha County
      • This Rocky Fork is located in Kanawha County and lies 173 miles [278.4 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Rocky Fork that is located in Unicoi County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kanawha County community of Rocky Fork.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rocky Fork ...

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.

  • Clear Branch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Clear Branch is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Branch
    • Former name for Clear Branch:
    • Kittyton
  • Coffee Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Coffee Ridge is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee Ridge
  • English
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • English is located in Madison County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
  • Flag Pond
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Flag Pond is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flag Pond
  • Fordville ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fordville is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fordville
  • Harris Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Harris Mill is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris Mill
  • Indian Creek ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Creek is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
  • Painter Spring
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Painter Spring is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Painter Spring
  • Shallowford
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Shallowford is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shallowford
  • Temple Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Temple Hill is located in Unicoi County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Hill

How Far From Rocky Fork 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 Rocky Fork to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Rocky Fork and extending to:

  • Erwin, which is the Seat of Unicoi County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Rocky Fork to Erwin, 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 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 361 miles [581 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 6,256 miles [10,068.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,963 miles [11,205.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,840 miles [7,789.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rocky Fork) 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 Rocky Fork 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 Rocky Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0351, Longitude: -82.5521       In this case, the coordinates for Rocky Fork have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.227 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.822 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.952 degrees.