RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Madison County >> Jones Valley Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Jones Valley Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Jones Valley Estates 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 Jones Valley Estates:
    • 34.683424, -86.557769
    • 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 Jones Valley Estates
  • 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 Madison County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Madison County
    • Since Jones Valley Estates is near Morgan County and also Marshall County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Marshall 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 Jones Valley Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Jones Valley Estates ...

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.

  • Bravo
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Bravo is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bravo
  • Double Tree
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Double Tree is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Tree
  • English Terrace
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • English Terrace is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Terrace
  • English Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • English Village is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English Village
  • Forest Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Forest Park is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Huntsville Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Huntsville Hills is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville Hills
  • Huntsville Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Huntsville Park is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville Park
  • Longwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Longwood is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longwood
  • Mountain Brook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Mountain Brook is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Brook
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Oak Leaf
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Oak Leaf is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Leaf
    • Pea Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Pea Ridge is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pea Ridge
    • Sugar Tree
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sugar Tree is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Tree
    • Sunset Cove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Sunset Cove is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Cove
    • Willow Bend
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Willow Bend is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Bend
    • Willowbrook
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Willowbrook is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook

How Far From Jones Valley Estates 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 Jones Valley Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Huntsville, which is the Seat of Madison County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 159 miles [255.9 km]<1> to the south (S). If you could drive a straight line from Jones Valley Estates to Montgomery, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 9 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 601 miles [967.2 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 24 days and walking would take 35 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,486 miles [10,438.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,198 miles [11,584.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,074 miles [8,165.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Jones Valley Estates) 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 Jones Valley Estates 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 Jones Valley Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.6834, Longitude: -86.5578       In this case, the coordinates for Jones Valley Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.594 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.353 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.941 degrees.