RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Tennessee >> Johnson County >> Willen Gap >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Willen Gap, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willen Gap 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 Willen Gap:
    • 36.467343, -81.705390
    • 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 Willen Gap
  • 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 Johnson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Johnson County
    • Since Willen Gap is near Ashe County and also Watauga County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ashe County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Watauga 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 Willen Gap

Curious and Interesting Names Near Willen Gap ...

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.

  • Apple Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Apple Grove is located in Ashe County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Grove
  • Center View
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Center View is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center View
  • Cold Spring
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cold Spring is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
  • Dowell ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Dowell is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dowell
    • Estimated population in 2014: 364 people
  • Eureka
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Eureka is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Fig
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Fig is located in Ashe County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fig
  • Flatwood
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Flatwood is located in Ashe County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwood
  • Fuller
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Fuller is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
  • Green Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Green Valley is located in Ashe County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Holy Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Holy Hill is located in Johnson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holy Hill
  • Laurel Bloomery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Listening Rock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Listening Rock is located in Ashe County (NC)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Listening Rock
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mountain City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Sandy
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Sandy is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy
    • Shingletown
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Shingletown is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shingletown
    • Silver Lake
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Silver Lake is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Lake
    • Trout
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Trout is located in Ashe County (NC)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout
    • Walnut Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

How Far From Willen Gap to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Willen Gap to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Mountain City, which is the Seat of Johnson County, lies just to the West.
  • Nashville, which is the State Capital of Tennessee, lies 282 miles [453.8 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could drive a straight line from Willen Gap 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 16 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 11 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 305 miles [490.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,201 miles [9,979.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,908 miles [11,117.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,784 miles [7,699.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Willen Gap) 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 Willen Gap 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 Willen Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.4673, Longitude: -81.7054       In this case, the coordinates for Willen Gap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.726 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 306.311 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 307.479 degrees.