RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Highlands County >> Highlands Park Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Highlands Park Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Highlands Park Estates and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
    • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
    • The National Weather Service forecast for Highlands Park Estates
  • 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 Highlands Park Estates:
    • 27.303655, -81.312571
    • 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 Highlands Park Estates
  • 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 Highlands County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Highlands County
    • Since Highlands Park Estates is near Glades County and also Hardee County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Glades County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardee 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 Highlands Park Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Highlands Park Estates ...

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.

  • Bear Hollow
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Bear Hollow is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Hollow
  • Childs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Childs is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Childs
  • Crewsville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Crewsville is located in Hardee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crewsville
  • De Soto City
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • De Soto City is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Soto City
  • Fort Kissimmee
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Kissimmee is located in Okeechobee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Kissimmee
  • Placid Lakes
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Placid Lakes is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Placid Lakes
  • Plains
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Plains is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plains
  • Wild Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Wild Island is located in Highlands County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Island

How Far From Highlands Park Estates 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 Highlands Park Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Highlands Park Estates and extending to:

  • Sebring, which is the Seat of Highlands County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Highlands Park Estates to Sebring, 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 four to five hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 281 miles [452.2 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take four to five hours, a buggy would take 11 days and walking would take 16 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 837 miles [1,347 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 48 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,595 miles [10,613.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,255 miles [11,675.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,161 miles [8,305.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Highlands Park Estates) 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 Highlands Park Estates 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 Highlands Park Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 27.3037, Longitude: -81.3126       In this case, the coordinates for Highlands Park Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.182 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.39 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.668 degrees.