RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Shelby County >> Little Oak Ridge Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Little Oak Ridge Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Little Oak Ridge Estates and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Little Oak Ridge Estates
  • 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 Little Oak Ridge Estates:
    • 33.311223, -86.796377
    • 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 Little Oak Ridge 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Little Oak Ridge Estates is near Jefferson County and also Bibb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Bibb 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 Little Oak Ridge Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Little Oak Ridge 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.

  • Dearing Downs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Dearing Downs is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Downs
  • Fungo Hollow
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Fungo Hollow is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fungo Hollow
  • Hardy
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hardy is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
  • Hunters Glen ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hunters Glen is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunters Glen
  • Indian Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Indian Hills is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Indian Springs Ranch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Indian Springs Ranch is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Ranch
  • Keystone
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Keystone is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Kingwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kingwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
  • Mallard Point
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Mallard Point is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallard Point
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mars Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Mars Hill is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mars Hill
    • Paramount
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Paramount is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paramount
    • Quail Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Quail Run is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Roy Ford
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Roy Ford is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roy Ford
    • Royal Oaks
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Royal Oaks is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Oaks
    • Valley Station
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Valley Station is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Station

How Far From Little Oak Ridge Estates 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 Little Oak Ridge 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 Little Oak Ridge Estates and extending to:

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Little Oak Ridge Estates to Columbiana, with an average speed<2> 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 70 miles [112.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 666 miles [1,071.8 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<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,561 miles [10,558.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,269 miles [11,698.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,146 miles [8,281.7 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Little Oak Ridge 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 Little Oak Ridge 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 Little Oak Ridge Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3112, Longitude: -86.7964       In this case, the coordinates for Little Oak Ridge Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.66 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.24 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.338 degrees.