RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Worcester County >> Wawela Park >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Wawela Park, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Wawela Park 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 Wawela Park:
    • 42.043986, -71.837016
    • 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 Wawela Park
  • 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 Worcester County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Since Wawela Park is near Windham County and also Providence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Windham County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Providence 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 Wawela Park

Curious and Interesting Names Near Wawela Park ...

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.

  • Chaseville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Chaseville is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaseville
  • Clarkville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Clarkville is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarkville
  • Dodge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Dodge is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge
  • Graniteville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Graniteville is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graniteville
  • Halfway House
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Halfway House is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halfway House
  • Huntsville ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Huntsville is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huntsville
  • Lakeview Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Lakeview Heights is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Heights
  • Loveland
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Loveland is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loveland
  • Marions Camp
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Marions Camp is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marions Camp
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Mechanicsville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Mechanicsville is located in Windham County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsville
    • Roseland Park
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Roseland Park is located in Windham County (CT)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roseland Park
    • Round Top
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Round Top is located in Providence County (RI)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Top
    • Sunnyside
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sunnyside is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyside
    • Texas
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Texas is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texas
    • Tufts Village ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Tufts Village is located in Worcester County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tufts Village

How Far From Wawela Park 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 Wawela Park to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Worcester, which is the Seat of Worcester County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Wawela Park to Worcester, with an average speed<2> 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.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 45 miles [72.4 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 348 miles [560.1 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take five to six hours, a buggy would take 14 days and walking would take 20 days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,549 miles [8,930.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,256 miles [10,068.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,132 miles [6,649.8 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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 from Point A (ie- Wawela Park) 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 Wawela Park 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 Wawela Park. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0440, Longitude: -71.8370       In this case, the coordinates for Wawela Park have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.487 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 300.093 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 301.079 degrees.