Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

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

• 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 Watauga Valley:
  • 36.384833, -82.141517
  • 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 Watauga 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 Carter County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Carter County
  • Since Watauga Valley is near Sullivan County and also Johnson County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Sullivan County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson 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 Watauga Valley

Curious and Interesting Names Near Watauga 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.

• Butler
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Butler is located in Johnson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Butler <1>
• Carter
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Carter is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter
• Charity Hill
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Charity Hill is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charity Hill
• Dogtown
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Dogtown is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dogtown
• Fish Springs
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Fish Springs is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fish Springs
• Horseshoe
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Horseshoe is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horseshoe
• Hunter
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Hunter is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
• Pierce
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Pierce is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce
• Range
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Range is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Range
• Sadie
  (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Sadie is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sadie
• Valley Park
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Valley Park is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Park
• Walnut Grove
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Walnut Grove is located in Sullivan County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
• Winner
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Winner is located in Carter County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winner

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Watauga Valley and extending to:

• Elizabethton, which is the Seat of Carter County, lies just to the West Southwest.
• Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 258 miles [415.2 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Watauga Valley to Nashville, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 15 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 10 days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 328 miles [527.9 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,223 miles [10,014.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,930 miles [11,152.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,807 miles [7,736.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'