RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Florida >> Broward County >> Southwest Ranches >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Southwest Ranches, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Southwest Ranches 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 Southwest Ranches:
    • 26.062694, -80.353932
    • 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 Southwest Ranches
  • 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 Broward County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Broward County
    • Since Southwest Ranches is near Miami-Dade County and also Palm Beach County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Miami-Dade County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Palm Beach 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 Southwest Ranches

Curious and Interesting Names Near Southwest Ranches ...

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.

  • Andytown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Andytown is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Andytown
  • Davie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Edgewater
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Edgewater is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater
  • Fern Crest Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Fern Crest Village is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fern Crest Village
  • Green Meadow
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Green Meadow is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadow
  • Pine Island Ridge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Pine Island Ridge is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island Ridge
  • Plantation
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Plantation Isles
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Plantation Isles is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation Isles
  • Plantation Park
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Plantation Park is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plantation Park
  • Playland Isles
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Playland Isles is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Playland Isles
  • Playland Village
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Playland Village is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Playland Village
  • Rolling Oaks
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rolling Oaks is located in Broward County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Oaks
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Royal Country
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Royal Country is located in Miami-Dade County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Country
    • Royal Palm Ranches
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Royal Palm Ranches is located in Broward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Palm Ranches
    • Sunrise
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sunrise Heights
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunrise Heights is located in Broward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunrise Heights
    • Sunshine Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Sunshine Park is located in Broward County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine Park

How Far From Southwest Ranches 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 town such as Southwest Ranches to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Southwest Ranches and extending to:

  • Fort Lauderdale, which is the Seat of Broward County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Southwest Ranches to Fort Lauderdale, 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 four to five hours.
  • Tallahassee, which is the State Capital of Florida, lies 385 miles [619.6 km] to the northwest (NW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 22 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 906 miles [1,458.1 km] to the north (N). Driving would take most of two days, a buggy would take 36 days and walking would take 52 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,604 miles [10,628.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,254 miles [11,674.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,171 miles [8,321.9 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Southwest Ranches) 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 Southwest Ranches 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 Southwest Ranches. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 26.0627, Longitude: -80.3539    
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.605 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.553 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.645 degrees.