RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Colbert County >> Muscle Shoals >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Muscle Shoals, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Muscle Shoals 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 Muscle Shoals:
    • 34.743467, -87.633674
    • 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 Muscle Shoals
  • 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 Colbert County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Colbert County
    • Since Muscle Shoals is near Lauderdale County and also Lawrence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lauderdale County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lawrence 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 Muscle Shoals

Communities Also Named Muscle Shoals ...

We found one communities that are also named Muscle Shoals.

Within Alabama, the name Muscle Shoals is unique.

Beyond Alabama, there is another community also named Muscle Shoals in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Ventura County
      • This Muscle Shoals is located in Ventura County and lies 1,801 miles [2,898.4 km]<1> to the west of the Muscle Shoals that is located in Colbert County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ventura County community of Muscle Shoals.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Muscle Shoals ...

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.

  • Cave Spring
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Cave Spring is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Spring
  • Florence
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Florence Ferry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Florence Ferry is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Ferry
  • Furnace Hill ‑ Historic
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Furnace Hill is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Furnace Hill
  • Hobgood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Hobgood is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobgood
  • Houston Corner
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Houston Corner is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Houston Corner
  • James
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • James is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for James
  • Lakeview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lakeview is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Lakeview Highlands
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lakeview Highlands is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Highlands
  • Listerhill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Listerhill is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Listerhill
  • Manor Haven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Manor Haven is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor Haven
  • Mount Pleasant ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mount Pleasant is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
  • Valley Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Valley Grove is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Grove
  • Woodlawn Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Woodlawn Heights is located in Colbert County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn Heights

How Far From Muscle Shoals 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 city such as Muscle Shoals to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Tuscumbia, which is the Seat of Colbert County, lies just to the West Southwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 180 miles [289.7 km]<1> to the south southeast (SSE). If you could drive a straight line from Muscle Shoals to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take a little over three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 11 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 7 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 651 miles [1,047.7 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 6,527 miles [10,504.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,243 miles [11,656.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,118 miles [8,236.6 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Muscle Shoals) 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 Muscle Shoals 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 Muscle Shoals. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7435, Longitude: -87.6337       In this case, the coordinates for Muscle Shoals have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.255 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 310.125 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.374 degrees.