RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Winston County >> Helicon >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

  • 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 Helicon:
    • 34.126214, -87.138343
    • 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 Helicon
  • 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 Winston County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Winston County
    • Since Helicon is near Cullman County and also Walker County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Cullman County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walker 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 Helicon

Communities Also Named Helicon ...

We found one communities that are also named Helicon.

There is one other community in Alabama that is also named Helicon.

Beyond Alabama.

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Crenshaw County
      • This Helicon is located in Crenshaw County and lies 161 miles [259.1 km]<1> to the south southeast of the Helicon that is located in Winston County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Crenshaw County community of Helicon.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Helicon ...

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.

  • Central
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Central is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central
  • Chances Crossroad
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chances Crossroad is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chances Crossroad
  • Cold Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Cold Springs is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Springs
  • Crane Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Dripping Springs
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Dripping Springs is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dripping Springs
  • Eagle
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Eagle is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle
  • Falls City ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Falls City is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls City
  • Jones' Chapel
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jones' Chapel is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones' Chapel
  • Maple Forks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Maple Forks is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Forks
  • Marylee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Marylee is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marylee
  • Slick Ford
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Slick Ford is located in Winston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slick Ford
  • Sulphur Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sulphur Springs is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
  • Trimble
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Trimble is located in Cullman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trimble

How Far From Helicon to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Helicon to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Double Springs, which is the Seat of Winston County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Helicon to Double Springs, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 130 miles [209.2 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 5 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 649 miles [1,044.5 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,536 miles [10,518.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,248 miles [11,664.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,124 miles [8,246.3 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Helicon) 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 Helicon 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 Helicon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1262, Longitude: -87.1383       In this case, the coordinates for Helicon have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.916 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.649 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.303 degrees.