RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Tuscaloosa County >> Sky Ranch >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

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 ...
  • 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:
    • 33.154842, -87.510561
    • 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 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 Tuscaloosa County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa County
    • Since Sky Ranch is near Hale County and also Bibb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hale 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 Sky Ranch

Communities Also Named Sky Ranch ...

We found three communities that are also named Sky Ranch.

There is one other community in Alabama that is also named Sky Ranch.

Beyond Alabama, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In Alabama ...
    • Jefferson County
      • This Sky Ranch is located in Jefferson County and lies 45 miles [72.4 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Sky Ranch that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of Sky Ranch.
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • New York
      • Saratoga County
      • This Sky Ranch is located in Saratoga County and lies 1,008 miles [1,622.2 km]<1> to the northeast of the Sky Ranch that is located in Tuscaloosa County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saratoga County community of Sky Ranch.
    • South Dakota
      • Harding County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the South Dakota community of Sky Ranch [Harding County].

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 Knoll
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Cedar Knoll is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Knoll
  • Cherokee Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Cherokee Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Hills
  • Cherry Dale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cherry Dale is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Dale
  • Coventry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Coventry is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Echo Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Echo Hill is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo Hill
  • Fairway Drive
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Fairway Drive is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairway Drive
  • Hickory Forest
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Forest is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Forest
  • Hillswood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hillswood is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillswood
  • Jerusalem Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jerusalem Heights is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem Heights
  • Lake Shore
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Lake Shore is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore
  • Meadowbrook
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadowbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
  • Mimosa Highlands
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Mimosa Highlands is located in Tuscaloosa County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mimosa Highlands
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Peach Grove
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Peach Grove is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Grove
    • Running Brook
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Running Brook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Running Brook
    • Skyland Park
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Skyland Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyland Park
    • South Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • South Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Park
    • Springbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Springbrook is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook
    • Stokes
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stokes is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stokes
    • University Lane
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • University Lane is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Lane
    • Whispering Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Whispering Hills is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Hills
    • Woodland Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodland Park is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
    • Woodland Pines
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodland Pines is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Pines
    • Woodland Terrace
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodland Terrace is located in Tuscaloosa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Terrace

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:

  • Tuscaloosa, which is the Seat of Tuscaloosa County, lies just to the Northwest.
  • Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 88 miles [141.6 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could drive a straight line from Sky Ranch to Montgomery, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 705 miles [1,134.6 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 28 days and walking would take 40 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,598 miles [10,618.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,308 miles [11,761.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,184 miles [8,342.8 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- Sky Ranch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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>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 Sky Ranch 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 Sky Ranch. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1548, Longitude: -87.5106       In this case, the coordinates for Sky Ranch have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 314.079 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.703 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.657 degrees.