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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Avalon Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Avalon Park 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 Avalon Park:
    • 33.430665, -86.990271
    • 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 Avalon Park
  • 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 Avalon Park is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa 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 Avalon Park

Communities Also Named Avalon Park ...

We found four communities that are also named Avalon Park.

Within Alabama, the name Avalon Park is unique.

Beyond Alabama, we know of four communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these four communities, three are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Avalon Park is located in Cook County and lies 575 miles [925.4 km]<1> to the north of the Avalon Park that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Avalon Park.
    • Maryland
      • Wicomico County
      • This Avalon Park is located in Wicomico County and lies 725 miles [1,166.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Avalon Park that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wicomico County community of Avalon Park.
    • Missouri
      • Greene County
      • This Avalon Park is located in Greene County and lies 443 miles [712.9 km]<1> to the northwest of the Avalon Park that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Greene County community of Avalon Park.
    • Ontario
      • This Avalon Park lies 740 miles [1,190.9 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Avalon Park that is located in Jefferson County.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Avalon Park ...

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.

  • Bush
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bush is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
  • Cloverdale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Cloverdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Cottage Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Cottage Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottage Hill
  • Crescent Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Crescent Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
  • Dolomite
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Garywood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Garywood is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garywood
  • Glen Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Glen Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hills
  • Gordon Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Gordon Heights is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
  • Hillman
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Hillman is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
  • Hueytown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Industrial City
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Industrial City is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial City
  • Pauls Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Pauls Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Hill
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Pine Crest
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Pine Crest is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
    • Pleasant Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Rice
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Rice is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
    • Shady Brook
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Shady Brook is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
    • Skyview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Skyview is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyview
    • Vineland Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Vineland Park is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland Park
    • Virginia
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Virginia is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia
    • Walnut Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Walnut Grove is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove

How Far From Avalon Park 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 Avalon Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Avalon Park to Birmingham, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 83 miles [133.6 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 670 miles [1,078.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 38 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,563 miles [10,562.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,272 miles [11,703.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,149 miles [8,286.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Avalon Park) 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 Avalon Park 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 Avalon Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4307, Longitude: -86.9903       In this case, the coordinates for Avalon Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.784 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.40 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.391 degrees.