RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Saint Clair County >> Odenville >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Odenville, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Odenville 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 Odenville:
    • 33.680281, -86.396360
    • 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 Odenville
  • 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 Saint Clair County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Saint Clair County
    • Since Odenville is near Jefferson County and also Talladega 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 Talladega 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 Odenville

Curious and Interesting Names Near Odenville ...

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.

  • Braggsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Braggsville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braggsville
  • Branchville
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Branchville is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
  • Coal City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Cool Springs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Cool Springs is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Springs
  • Copper Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Copper Springs is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copper Springs
  • Cotton Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Cotton Ridge is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Ridge
  • Eden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Eden is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
  • Glen City
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen City is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen City
  • Harrisburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Harrisburg is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrisburg
  • Heritage Park
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Heritage Park is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Park
  • Hundred Oaks
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Hundred Oaks is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hundred Oaks
  • Lakeview
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lakeview is located in Saint Clair County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Margaret
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Misty Pines
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Misty Pines is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Misty Pines
    • Moody
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Park Hill
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Park Hill is located in Saint Clair County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Hill
    • Parsons
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)

How Far From Odenville 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 town such as Odenville to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ashville, which is the Seat of Saint Clair County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the north northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Odenville to Ashville, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 90 miles [144.8 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 632 miles [1,017.1 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 25 days and walking would take 36 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 7,235 miles [11,643.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,111 miles [8,225.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Odenville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Odenville 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 Odenville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.6803, Longitude: -86.3964    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.442 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.039 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.099 degrees.