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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Laurel Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Laurel 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 Laurel Estates:
    • 33.407886, -86.771100
    • 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 Laurel 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 Jefferson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Since Laurel Estates 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 Laurel Estates

Communities Also Named Laurel Estates ...

We found one communities that are also named Laurel Estates.

Within Alabama, the name Laurel Estates is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Laurel Estates in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Laurel Estates is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,464 miles [2,356.1 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Laurel Estates that is located in Jefferson County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Laurel Estates.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Laurel 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.

  • Camp Horne
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Camp Horne is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Horne
  • Cedar Crest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cedar Crest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
  • Chapel Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Chapel Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Chimney Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Chimney Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chimney Hills
  • Coventry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Coventry is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Crossgate
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Crossgate is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossgate
  • Havenview
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Havenview is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenview
  • Hidden Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Hidden Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Ridge
  • Hoover
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • 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 <2>
  • Indian Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Valley is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Valley
  • Ivy Glenn
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ivy Glenn is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy Glenn
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Longleaf
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Longleaf is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longleaf
    • Panorama
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Panorama is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama
    • Polo Trace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Polo Trace is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo Trace
    • Riverwood
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Riverwood is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Rocky Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Rocky Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
    • Sky Ranch
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Sky Ranch is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sky Ranch
    • Tangle Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Tangle Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tangle Creek
    • Tanglewood
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Tanglewood is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Thornhill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Thornhill is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornhill
    • Timber Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Timber Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
    • Wine Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Wine Ridge is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wine Ridge

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

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

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 76 miles [122.3 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Laurel Estates 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 661 miles [1,063.8 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 6,555 miles [10,549.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,264 miles [11,690.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,140 miles [8,272 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Laurel Estates) 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 Laurel 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 Laurel Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.4079, Longitude: -86.7711       In this case, the coordinates for Laurel Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.651 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.243 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.308 degrees.