Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sky Ranch, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sky Ranch and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sky Ranch
- 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 Sky Ranch:
- 33.390387, -86.780822
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Sky Ranch
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Jefferson County
- Since Sky Ranch is near Shelby County and also Blount County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Sky Ranch ...
We found three communities that share the name Sky Ranch.
There is one other community in Alabama which is also named Sky Ranch.
Beyond Alabama, we know of another two communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Alabama ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- New York
- South Dakota
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sky Ranch ...
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.
- Cedar Crest
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Crest have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Crest
- Cedar Crest is located in Jefferson County
- Chapel Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
- Chapel Hill is located in Jefferson County
- Chestnut Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chestnut Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
- Chestnut Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Crossgate
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Havenview
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Hoover
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoover
- Hoover is located in Jefferson County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 85,959 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hoover <4>
- Indian Springs Village
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Springs Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs Village
- Indian Springs Village is located in Shelby County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,628 people
- Indian Valley
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Valley
- Indian Valley is located in Shelby County
- Ivy Chase
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Ivy Glenn
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Longleaf
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Panorama
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north) - Continue List (6 more) ...
- Plantation Point
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plantation Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation Point
- Plantation Point is located in Jefferson County
- Polo Trace
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Polo Trace have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo Trace
- Polo Trace is located in Jefferson County
- Riverwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Rocky Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ridge
- Rocky Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Timber Ridge
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timber Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Ridge
- Timber Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Wine Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wine Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wine Ridge
- Wine Ridge is located in Jefferson County
- Plantation Point
How Far From Sky Ranch 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 Sky Ranch to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sky Ranch and extending to:
- Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Sky Ranch to Birmingham, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 75 miles [120.7 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 most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 662 miles [1,065.4 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<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,557 miles [10,552.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,265 miles [11,691.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,141 miles [8,273.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sky Ranch. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffcointouch.com/
The official website for State of Alabama: https://www.alabama.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sky Ranch) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sky Ranch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3904, Longitude: -86.7808 In this case, the coordinates for Sky Ranch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Sky Ranch could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Sky Ranch to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.655 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.246 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.315 degrees. |