Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Skyland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Skyland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Skyland
- 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 Skyland:
- 42.071482, -73.047050
- 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 Skyland
- 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 Hampden County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hampden County
- Since Skyland is near Berkshire County and also Litchfield County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Berkshire County
- eBird sighting report for Litchfield 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 Skyland ...
We found seven communities that share the name Skyland.
Within Massachusetts, the name Skyland is unique.
Beyond Massachusetts, we know of another seven communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Georgia
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Virginia
Curious and Interesting Names Near Skyland ...
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.
- Cold Spring
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cold Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cold Spring
- Cold Spring is located in Berkshire County
- Five Points
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Five Points have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Points
- Five Points is located in Hartford County (CT)
- Grantville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Grantville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grantville
- Grantville is located in Litchfield County (CT)
- Hartland
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast) - Hartsville
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartsville
- Hartsville is located in Berkshire County
- Nelsons Corner
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nelsons Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nelsons Corner
- Nelsons Corner is located in Litchfield County (CT)
- Robertsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Robertsville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robertsville
- Robertsville is located in Litchfield County (CT)
- Roosterville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roosterville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roosterville
- Roosterville is located in Berkshire County
- Sodom
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Turkey Cobble
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Turkey Cobble have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turkey Cobble
- Turkey Cobble is located in Litchfield County (CT)
How Far From Skyland 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 community such as Skyland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Skyland and extending to:
- Springfield, which is the Seat of Hampden County, lies 23 miles [37 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Skyland to Springfield, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
- Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 103 miles [165.8 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take 4 days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 303 miles [487.6 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 12 days and walking would take 18 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,599 miles [9,010.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,308 miles [10,151.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,184 miles [6,733.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Skyland. 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 'straight-line' (or 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- Skyland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Skyland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0715, Longitude: -73.0470 In this case, the coordinates for Skyland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | 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 Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock 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 Skyland 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. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <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 Skyland 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 305.21 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.912 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.609 degrees. |