RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Tuscaloosa County >> Canyon Lakes >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Canyon Lakes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Canyon Lakes 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 Canyon Lakes:
    • 33.192896, -87.429170
    • 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 Canyon Lakes
  • 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 Tuscaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Since Canyon Lakes is near Bibb County and also Hale County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bibb County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hale 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 Canyon Lakes

Curious and Interesting Names Near Canyon Lakes ...

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.

  • Box Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Box Springs is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Box Springs
  • Cherrywood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherrywood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherrywood
  • Cottondale
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Cottonwood Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cottonwood Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood Park
  • Deep Wood
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Deep Wood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deep Wood
  • Eastern Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Eastern Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastern Hills
  • Elm Ridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Elm Ridge is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Ridge
  • Fleetwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fleetwood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleetwood
  • High Point
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • High Point is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High Point
  • Hillswood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Hillswood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillswood
  • Hillview
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hillview is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillview
  • Hurricane Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hurricane Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurricane Hills
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lynn Haven
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Lynn Haven is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynn Haven
    • Old Mill Trace
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Old Mill Trace is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Mill Trace
    • Peach Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Peach Grove is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Grove
    • Woodland Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Woodland Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
    • Woodland Pines
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Woodland Pines is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Pines
    • Woodland Terrace
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Woodland Terrace is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Terrace

How Far From Canyon Lakes 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 Canyon Lakes to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies just to the West.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 86 miles [138.4 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Canyon Lakes to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>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 700 miles [1,126.5 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,593 miles [10,610.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,302 miles [11,751.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,179 miles [8,334.8 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Canyon Lakes) 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 Canyon Lakes 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 Canyon Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1929, Longitude: -87.4292       In this case, the coordinates for Canyon Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.033 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.655 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.616 degrees.