RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Talladega County >> Griffiths Ferry >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Griffiths Ferry, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Griffiths Ferry 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 Griffiths Ferry:
    • 33.511217, -86.276366
    • 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 Griffiths Ferry
  • 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 Talladega County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Talladega County
    • Since Griffiths Ferry is near Saint Clair County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Griffiths Ferry

Curious and Interesting Names Near Griffiths Ferry ...

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.

  • Colony
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Colony is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
  • Dunrowin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dunrowin is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunrowin
  • Eden
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Eden is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Enchanted Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Enchanted Hills is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Hills
  • Fishtrap
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fishtrap is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishtrap
  • Fountainrun ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Fountainrun is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountainrun
  • Glen City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
  • Harrisburg
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Harrisburg is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Hunting Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hunting Ridge is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Ridge
  • Jonesview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jonesview is located in Talladega County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesview
  • Lakeview
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakeview is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Mays Bend
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Mays Bend is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mays Bend
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Park Hill
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Park Hill is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hill
    • Pine Orchard
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Pine Orchard is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Orchard
    • Rocky Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Talladega County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
    • Windsong Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Windsong Island is located in Talladega County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windsong Island

How Far From Griffiths Ferry 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 Griffiths Ferry to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Talladega, which is the Seat of Talladega County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Griffiths Ferry to Talladega, with an average speed<2> 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 78 miles [125.5 km] to the south (S). 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 634 miles [1,020.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,530 miles [10,509 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,237 miles [11,646.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,114 miles [8,230.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Griffiths Ferry) 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 Griffiths Ferry 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 Griffiths Ferry. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.5112, Longitude: -86.2764       In this case, the coordinates for Griffiths Ferry have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.361 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 308.922 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.088 degrees.