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Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in West Lake Highlands, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Lake Highlands and the surrounding area.
- 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 West Lake Highlands:
- 33.396777, -86.971382
- 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 West Lake Highlands
- 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 West Lake Highlands is near Shelby County and also Tuscaloosa County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
- Open the eBird sighting report for Tuscaloosa 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 West Lake Highlands
Curious and Interesting Names Near West Lake Highlands ...
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.
- Bush
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Bush is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bush
- Cloverdale
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cloverdale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloverdale
- Crescent Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Crescent Heights is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crescent Heights
- Dolomite
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Flint Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Flint Hill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
- Garywood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Garywood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garywood
- Glen Hills
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Glen Hills is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hills
- Gordon Heights
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Gordon Heights is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon Heights
- Hickory Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Hickory Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
- Hillman
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Hillman is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillman
- Hilltop
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hilltop is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hilltop
- Hopewell
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Hopewell is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Hueytown
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Industrial City
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Industrial City is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industrial City
- Laceys Chapel
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Laceys Chapel is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laceys Chapel
- Pauls Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Pauls Hill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pauls Hill
- Pine Crest
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Pine Crest is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
- Pleasant Hill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Pleasant Hill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hill
- Red Hill Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Red Hill Heights is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill Heights
- Rice
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Rice is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
- Rockdale
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Rockdale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockdale
- Shady Brook
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Shady Brook is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Brook
- Skyview
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Skyview is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyview
- Vineland Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Vineland Park is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineland Park
- Virginia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Virginia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia
- Walnut Grove
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Walnut Grove is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove
How Far From West Lake Highlands 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 West Lake Highlands to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in West Lake Highlands and extending to:
- Birmingham, which is the Seat of Jefferson County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from West Lake Highlands to Birmingham, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Montgomery, which is the State Capital of Alabama, lies 80 miles [128.7 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 671 miles [1,079.9 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<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,564 miles [10,563.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,273 miles [11,704.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,149 miles [8,286.5 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- West Lake Highlands) 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 West Lake Highlands 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 West Lake Highlands. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3968, Longitude: -86.9714 In this case, the coordinates for West Lake Highlands have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <5> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.77 degrees. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.379 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.39 degrees. |
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