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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Rocky Summit, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Rocky Summit 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 Summit:
    • 36.288980, -83.306284
    • 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 Summit
  • 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 Grainger County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grainger County
    • Since Rocky Summit is near Hamblen County and also Jefferson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hamblen County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson 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 Summit

Curious and Interesting Names Near Rocky Summit ...

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.

  • Beans
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Beans is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beans
    • Estimated population in 2014: 3,084 people
  • Bright Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Bright Ferry is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bright Ferry
  • Casablanca
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Casablanca is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Casablanca
    • Estimated population in 2014: 2,223 people
  • Cherokee Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Cherokee Park is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Park
  • Crockett Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Crockett Ridge is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett Ridge
  • Gaby Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Gaby Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaby Hills
  • Indian Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Indian Hills is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Jaybird
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jaybird is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaybird
  • Kentucky Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Kentucky Heights is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentucky Heights
  • Liberty Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Liberty Heights is located in Hamblen County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Heights
  • Long Ferry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Long Ferry is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Ferry
  • Marshalls Ferry
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Marshalls Ferry is located in Grainger County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marshalls Ferry
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mary Chapel
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Mary Chapel is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mary Chapel
    • Meadow Branch
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Meadow Branch is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Branch
    • Mountain View Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Riverview is located in Grainger County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
    • Vantage View
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Vantage View is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vantage View
    • Wildwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Wildwood is located in Hamblen County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<1> community of Rocky Summit once stood, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Rocky Summit and extending to:

  • Rutledge, which is the Seat of Grainger County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<2> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Rocky Summit to Rutledge, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 193 miles [310.6 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 387 miles [622.8 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take most of a day, a buggy would take 16 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,276 miles [10,100.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,986 miles [11,242.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,862 miles [7,824.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Rocky Summit, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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- Rocky Summit) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Summit 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 Summit. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.2890, Longitude: -83.3063       In this case, the coordinates for Rocky Summit have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.68 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.378 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.19 degrees.