Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Acton Village, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Acton Village and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Acton Village
- 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 Acton Village:
- 38.640674, -76.905250
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Acton Village
- 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 Charles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Charles County
- Since Acton Village is near Prince George's County and also Fairfax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
- eBird sighting report for Fairfax 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:
- Waymark.com
Curious and Interesting Names Near Acton Village ...
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.
- Bannister
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south) - Beantown
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Berry
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Constitution Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Constitution Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Constitution Hills
- Constitution Hills is located in Charles County
- Danville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Deerwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Delight
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast) - Forest Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Forest Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
- Forest Park is located in Charles County
- Fox Run
(Less than 2 miles to the west) - Green Acres
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Acres have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
- Green Acres is located in Prince George's County
- Holly Station
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Station
- Holly Station is located in Charles County
- Lynnbrook
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Pleasant Springs
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Springs
- Pleasant Springs is located in Prince George's County
- Springhaven
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springhaven have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springhaven
- Springhaven is located in Charles County
How Far From Acton Village 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 Acton Village to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Acton Village and extending to:
- La Plata, which is the Seat of Charles County, lies just to the South Southwest.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 32 miles [51.5 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Acton Village to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 19 miles [30.6 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take 6 hours and walking would take just over a day.
- The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,903 miles [9,500 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,606 miles [10,631.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,484 miles [7,216.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Acton Village. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Charles County: www.charlescounty.org/
The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <2> | 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- Acton Village) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Acton Village. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6407, Longitude: -76.9052 In this case, the coordinates for Acton Village have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Acton Village to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.828 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.329 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.758 degrees. |