RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Alabama >> Shelby County >> Willow Glen >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Willow Glen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Willow Glen 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 Willow Glen:
    • 33.197616, -86.833322
    • 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 Willow Glen
  • 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 Shelby County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Shelby County
    • Since Willow Glen is near Jefferson County and also Bibb 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 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 Willow Glen

Communities Also Named Willow Glen ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Willow Glen.

Within Alabama, the name Willow Glen is unique.

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

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • Madera County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Willow Glen [Madera County].
      • Santa Clara County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Santa Clara County and lies 1,985 miles [3,194.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Santa Clara County community of Willow Glen.
    • Louisiana
      • De Soto Parish
      • This Willow Glen is located in De Soto Parish and lies 406 miles [653.4 km]<2> to the west of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the De Soto Parish community of Willow Glen.
      • Iberville Parish
      • This Willow Glen is located in Iberville Parish and lies 322 miles [518.2 km] to the southwest of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Iberville Parish community of Willow Glen.
      • Rapides Parish
      • This Willow Glen is located in Rapides Parish and lies 353 miles [568.1 km] to the west southwest of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rapides Parish community of Willow Glen.
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Baltimore County and lies 704 miles [1,133 km]<2> to the northeast of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Baltimore County community of Willow Glen.
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Onondaga County and lies 878 miles [1,413 km]<2> to the northeast of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Willow Glen.
      • Saratoga County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Saratoga County and lies 977 miles [1,572.3 km] to the northeast of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saratoga County community of Willow Glen.
      • Tompkins County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Tompkins County and lies 858 miles [1,380.8 km] to the northeast of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tompkins County community of Willow Glen.
    • Ohio
      • Tuscarawas County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Tuscarawas County and lies 584 miles [939.9 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tuscarawas County community of Willow Glen.
    • Utah
      • Salt Lake County
      • This Willow Glen is located in Salt Lake County and lies 1,463 miles [2,354.5 km]<2> to the west northwest of the Willow Glen that is located in Shelby County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Salt Lake County community of Willow Glen.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Willow Glen ...

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.

  • Alabaster
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Dearing Downs
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Dearing Downs is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dearing Downs
  • Elliotsville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Elliotsville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliotsville
  • Fox Haven
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Fox Haven is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Haven
  • Glen Forest
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Glen Forest is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Forest
  • Hardy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hardy is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardy
  • Ivanhoe
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivanhoe is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
  • Keystone
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Keystone is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keystone
  • Kingwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Kingwood is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Longview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Longview is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longview
    • Meadow Green
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Meadow Green is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Green
    • Mission Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Mission Hills is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Hills
    • Navajo Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Navajo Hills is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Hills
    • Navajo Pines
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Navajo Pines is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navajo Pines
    • Superior
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Superior is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Superior

How Far From Willow Glen 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 Willow Glen to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Willow Glen and extending to:

  • Columbiana, which is the Seat of Shelby County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Willow Glen to Columbiana, with an average speed<4> 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 64 miles [103 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 673 miles [1,083.1 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<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,568 miles [10,570.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,276 miles [11,709.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,152 miles [8,291.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Willow Glen, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Willow Glen) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>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 Willow Glen 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 Willow Glen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1976, Longitude: -86.8333       In this case, the coordinates for Willow Glen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.675 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.241 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 310.377 degrees.