Outdoor Activities ...

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

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

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Imperial Forest

• 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 Imperial Forest:
  • 33.428719, -86.827768
  • 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 Imperial Forest

• 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 Imperial Forest 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 Imperial Forest

Curious and Interesting Names Near Imperial Forest ...

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.

• Chapel Hill
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Chapel Hill is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
• Chimney Hills
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Chimney Hills is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Hills
• Crest
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Crest is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crest
• Crossgate
  (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Crossgate is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossgate
• Homewood
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Homewood is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homewood
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,174 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Homewood <1>
• Hoover
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Hoover is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 85,959 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoover <1>
• Ivy Chase
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Ivy Chase is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Chase
• Lakeview Park
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Lakeview Park is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Park
• Mill Run
  (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Mill Run is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Run
• Mountain Oaks
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Mountain Oaks is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Oaks
• Panorama
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Panorama is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama
• Plantation Point
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Plantation Point is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation Point
• Polo Trace
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Polo Trace is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo Trace
• Shades Cliff
  (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Shades Cliff is located in Jefferson County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shades Cliff

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

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

• Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the North.
• Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 78 miles [125.5 km]<2> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Imperial Forest 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 663 miles [1,067 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,265 miles [11,691.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,142 miles [8,275.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'