RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Kentucky >> Grayson County >> Tar Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Tar Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Tar Hill 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 Tar Hill:
    • 37.565613, -86.218305
    • 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 Tar Hill
  • 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 Grayson County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Grayson County
    • Since Tar Hill is near Hardin County and also Breckinridge County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hardin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Breckinridge 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 Tar Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Tar Hill ...

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.

  • Big Clifty
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Big Clifty is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Clifty
  • Centerview
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerview is located in Breckinridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
  • Fisher
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Fisher is located in Breckinridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
  • Fragrant
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Fragrant is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fragrant
  • Hanging Rock
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Hanging Rock is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanging Rock
  • Horntown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Horntown is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horntown
  • Lilac
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Lilac is located in Grayson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilac
  • Limp
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Limp is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Limp
  • Madrid
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Madrid is located in Breckinridge County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madrid
  • Pierce Mill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Pierce Mill is located in Hardin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pierce Mill

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

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

  • Leitchfield, which is the Seat of Grayson County, lies just to the Southwest.
  • Frankfort, which is the State Capital of Kentucky, lies 85 miles [136.8 km]<1> to the east northeast (ENE). If you could drive a straight line from Tar Hill to Frankfort, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 5 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 506 miles [814.3 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 20 days and walking would take 29 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,335 miles [10,195.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,057 miles [11,357.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,933 miles [7,938.9 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- Tar Hill) 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 Tar Hill 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 Tar Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.5656, Longitude: -86.2183       In this case, the coordinates for Tar Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 313.488 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 309.635 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 309.093 degrees.