Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Berkshire, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Berkshire and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Berkshire
- 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 Berkshire:
- 42.512584, -73.192881
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Berkshire
- 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 Berkshire County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Berkshire County
- Since Berkshire is near Rensselaer County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Rensselaer County
- eBird sighting report for Columbia 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Berkshire ...
We found eleven communities that share the name Berkshire.
Within Massachusetts, the name Berkshire is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another eleven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Anne Arundel County
- This Berkshire is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 303 miles [487.6 km]<1> to the southwest of the Berkshire that is located in Berkshire County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Berkshire.
- Prince George's County
- This Berkshire is located in Prince George's County and lies 318 miles [511.8 km] to the southwest of the Berkshire that is located in Berkshire County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Prince George's County community of Berkshire.
- Michigan
- New York
- Fulton County
- This Berkshire is located in Fulton County and lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<1> to the northwest of the Berkshire that is located in Berkshire County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fulton County community of Berkshire.
- Tioga County
- This Berkshire is located in Tioga County and lies 153 miles [246.2 km] to the west of the Berkshire that is located in Berkshire County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Tioga County community of Berkshire.
- Ohio
- Vermont
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Berkshire ...
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.
- Arnoldville
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnoldville
- Arnoldville is located in Berkshire County
- Coltsville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coltsville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coltsville
- Coltsville is located in Berkshire County
- Green Ridge Park
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Ridge Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Ridge Park
- Green Ridge Park is located in Berkshire County
- Little Egypt
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Egypt have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Egypt
- Little Egypt is located in Berkshire County
- Maple Grove
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maple Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Grove
- Maple Grove is located in Berkshire County
- Peru
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Shaker Village
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shaker Village have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shaker Village
- Shaker Village is located in Berkshire County
- Victory Hill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Victory Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Victory Hill
- Victory Hill is located in Berkshire County
- Yankee Orchards
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yankee Orchards have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yankee Orchards
- Yankee Orchards is located in Berkshire County
How Far From Berkshire 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 Berkshire to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Berkshire and extending to:
- Pittsfield, which is the Seat of Berkshire County, lies just to the Southwest.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 109 miles [175.4 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could drive a straight line from Berkshire to Boston, with an average speed<5>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take about two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 7 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 5 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 320 miles [515 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 13 days and walking would take 19 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,587 miles [8,991.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,299 miles [10,137.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,175 miles [6,719 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Berkshire. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of Massachusetts: https://www.mass.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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- Berkshire) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Berkshire. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.5126, Longitude: -73.1929 In this case, the coordinates for Berkshire have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Berkshire, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Berkshire could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Berkshire to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 305.241 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 301.02 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.463 degrees. |