RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Georgia >> Oconee County >> Briar Lakes >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Briar Lakes, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Briar Lakes 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 Briar Lakes:
    • 33.907617, -83.487940
    • 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 Briar Lakes
  • 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 Oconee County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Oconee County
    • Since Briar Lakes is near Clarke County and also Walton County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Clarke County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walton 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 Briar Lakes

Curious and Interesting Names Near Briar Lakes ...

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.

  • Allen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Allen is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
  • Bogart
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Crystal Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Crystal Hills is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Hills
  • Deerbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Deerbrook is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerbrook
  • Elder Heights
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Elder Heights is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder Heights
  • Elder Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Elder Ridge is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder Ridge
  • Fieldstone
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fieldstone is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fieldstone
  • Greene
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Greene is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greene
  • Hillcrest
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillcrest is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
  • Holly Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Holly Hills is located in Clarke County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hills
  • Indian Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Indian Hills is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Jennings Mill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jennings Mill is located in Oconee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings Mill
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Kingswood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Kingswood is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingswood
    • Laurel Chase
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
      • Laurel Chase is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Chase
    • McNutt Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • McNutt Creek is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNutt Creek
    • Oak Grove
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Oak Grove is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Overlook Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Overlook Village is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Overlook Village
    • Pine Ridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Pine Ridge is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Ridge
    • Pleasant Hills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant Hills is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Hills
    • Skyline Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Skyline Park is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Park
    • Stonebridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Stonebridge is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonebridge
    • Tanglebrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Tanglebrook is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglebrook
    • Tanglewood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Tanglewood is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood
    • Windy Creek
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Windy Creek is located in Oconee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Creek
    • Windy Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Windy Hill is located in Clarke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windy Hill

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

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

  • Watkinsville, which is the Seat of Oconee County, lies just to the Southeast.
  • Atlanta, which is the State Capital of Georgia, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Briar Lakes to Atlanta, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 497 miles [799.8 km] to the northeast (NE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take most of a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,393 miles [10,288.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,094 miles [11,416.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,973 miles [8,003.3 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 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Briar Lakes) 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 Briar Lakes 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 Briar Lakes. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.9076, Longitude: -83.4879       In this case, the coordinates for Briar Lakes have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 311.733 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 307.10 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.896 degrees.