RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Macon County >> Sycamore Valley >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sycamore Valley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sycamore Valley 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 Sycamore Valley:
    • 36.517276, -85.928038
    • 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 Sycamore Valley
  • 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 Macon County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Macon County
    • Since Sycamore Valley is near Clay County and also Monroe County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clay County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Monroe 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 Sycamore Valley

Communities Also Named Sycamore Valley ...

We found two communities that are also named Sycamore Valley.

Within Tennessee, the name Sycamore Valley is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Ohio
      • Monroe County
      • This Sycamore Valley is located in Monroe County and lies 334 miles [537.5 km]<1> to the northeast of the Sycamore Valley that is located in Macon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Sycamore Valley.
    • Virginia
      • Rockbridge County
      • This Sycamore Valley is located in Rockbridge County and lies 365 miles [587.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sycamore Valley that is located in Macon County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rockbridge County community of Sycamore Valley.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sycamore Valley ...

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.

  • Beech Bottom
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Beech Bottom is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Bottom
  • Days Crossroads
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Days Crossroads is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Days Crossroads
  • Frog Pond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Frog Pond is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Pond
  • Greenwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Greenwood is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Gum Springs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Gum Springs is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Kirby
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Kirby is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirby
  • Mill Town
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Mill Town is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
  • Prosperity
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Prosperity is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prosperity
  • Pumpkintown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Pumpkintown is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkintown
  • Red Boiling Springs
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Sunrise
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunrise is located in Macon County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise

How Far From Sycamore Valley 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 Sycamore Valley to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Lafayette, which is the Seat of Macon County, lies just to the West.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 53 miles [85.3 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Sycamore Valley to Nashville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 512 miles [824 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,373 miles [10,256.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,091 miles [11,411.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,966 miles [7,992 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sycamore Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Sycamore Valley 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 Sycamore Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.5173, Longitude: -85.9280       In this case, the coordinates for Sycamore Valley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.28 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.249 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.236 degrees.