RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Jefferson County >> Altadena Forest Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Altadena Forest Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Altadena Forest Estates and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Altadena Forest Estates
  • 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 Altadena Forest Estates:
    • 33.440385, -86.752766
    • 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 Altadena Forest Estates
  • 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Altadena Forest Estates is near Shelby County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Blount 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 Altadena Forest Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Altadena Forest Estates ...

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.

  • Camp Horne
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Camp Horne is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Horne
  • Cherokee Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cherokee Forest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Forest
  • Coventry
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Coventry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Havenview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Havenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenview
  • Hidden Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Hidden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Ridge
  • Ivy Glenn
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Ivy Glenn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Glenn
  • Longleaf
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Longleaf is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longleaf
  • Panorama
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Panorama is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama
  • Riverwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Riverwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
  • Rocky Bridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Rocky Bridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Bridge
  • Rocky Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Rocky Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
  • Tangle Creek
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Tangle Creek is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangle Creek
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Tanglewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Tanglewood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Thornhill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Thornhill is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill
    • Timber Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
    • Twin Bridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Twin Bridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Bridge

How Far From Altadena Forest Estates 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 Altadena Forest Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Altadena Forest Estates and extending to:

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 77 miles [123.9 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Altadena Forest Estates to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 659 miles [1,060.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,553 miles [10,546 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,261 miles [11,685.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,138 miles [8,268.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>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 from Point A (ie- Altadena Forest Estates) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Altadena Forest Estates 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 Altadena Forest Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4404, Longitude: -86.7528       In this case, the coordinates for Altadena Forest Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.642 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.237 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.293 degrees.