RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Lake County >> Skytop >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Skytop, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Skytop 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 Skytop:
    • 28.567222, -81.716465
    • 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 Skytop
  • 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 Lake County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Lake County
    • Since Skytop is near Orange County and also Sumter County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Orange County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Sumter 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 Skytop

Communities Also Named Skytop ...

We found three communities that are also named Skytop.

Within Florida, the name Skytop is unique.

Beyond Florida, we know of three communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • California
      • San Bernardino County
      • This Skytop is located in San Bernardino County and lies 2,136 miles [3,437.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Skytop that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Bernardino County community of Skytop.
    • New York
      • Onondaga County
      • This Skytop is located in Onondaga County and lies 1,045 miles [1,681.8 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Skytop that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Onondaga County community of Skytop.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Monroe County
      • This Skytop is located in Monroe County and lies 947 miles [1,524 km]<1> to the north northeast of the Skytop that is located in Lake County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Monroe County community of Skytop.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Skytop ...

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.

  • Castle Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Castle Hill is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castle Hill
  • Clay Island
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Clay Island is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clay Island
  • Ferndale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Groveland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Minneola
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Mohawk
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Mohawk is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk
  • Orange Mountain
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Orange Mountain is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Mountain
  • Waits Junction
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Waits Junction is located in Lake County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waits Junction
  • Winter Garden
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Tavares, which is the Seat of Lake County, lies 16 miles [25.7 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Skytop to Tavares, with an average speed<3> 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 five to six hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 201 miles [323.5 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 761 miles [1,224.7 km] to the north northeast (NNE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,226 miles [11,629.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,125 miles [8,247.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

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 drawn from Point A (ie- Skytop) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Skytop 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 Skytop. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.5672, Longitude: -81.7165       In this case, the coordinates for Skytop have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 310.481 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.909 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.524 degrees.