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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Red Hill Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Red Hill Heights 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 Red Hill Heights:
    • 33.349556, -87.024994
    • 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 Red Hill Heights
  • 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 Red Hill Heights is near Tuscaloosa County and also Shelby County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby 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 Red Hill Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Red Hill Heights ...

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.

  • Black Diamond
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Black Diamond is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Diamond
  • Cloverdale
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Cloverdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
  • Flint Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Flint Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
  • Glen Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Glen Hills is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hills
  • Hickory Grove
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Johns
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Johns is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johns
  • Loveless Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Loveless Park is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveless Park
  • Pine Crest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Crest is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
  • Pleasant Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Hill is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
  • Rice
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rice is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
  • Rockdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Rockdale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
  • Shady Brook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Shady Brook is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Skyview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Skyview is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyview
    • Summit Farm
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Summit Farm is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit Farm
    • Valley Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Valley Creek is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Creek
    • Virginia
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Virginia is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia

How Far From Red Hill Heights 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 Red Hill Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Red Hill Heights and extending to:

  • Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Red Hill Heights to Birmingham, 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 five to six hours.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 79 miles [127.1 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 most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 675 miles [1,086.3 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 27 days and walking would take 39 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,569 miles [10,571.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,277 miles [11,711.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,154 miles [8,294.6 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Red Hill Heights) 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 Red Hill Heights 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 Red Hill Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3496, Longitude: -87.0250       In this case, the coordinates for Red Hill Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.80 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.407 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.422 degrees.