RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Washington County >> Big Pool >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Big Pool, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Big Pool 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 Big Pool:
    • 39.623707, -78.015834
    • 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 Big Pool
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Big Pool is near Morgan County and also Berkeley County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkeley 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 Big Pool

Curious and Interesting Names Near Big Pool ...

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 Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Big Spring is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
  • Cherry Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Cherry Run is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Run
  • Clear Spring
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Ernstville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Ernstville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernstville
  • Four Locks
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Four Locks is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Locks
  • Georgetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Georgetown is located in Berkeley County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Green Spring Furnace
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Green Spring Furnace is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring Furnace
  • Greenspring Hill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Greenspring Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenspring Hill
  • Hedgesville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Indian Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Indian Springs is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Little Georgetown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Little Georgetown is located in Berkeley County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Georgetown
  • Mountain Vistas
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Mountain Vistas is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Vistas
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Park Head
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Park Head is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Head
    • Runners Ferry
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Runners Ferry is located in Berkeley County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runners Ferry
    • Sleepy Creek
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Sleepy Creek is located in Morgan County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Creek
    • Two Locks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Two Locks is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Locks

How Far From Big Pool 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 Big Pool to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Big Pool to Hagerstown, with an average speed<3> 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.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 92 miles [148.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 72 miles [115.9 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,908 miles [9,508 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,618 miles [10,650.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,494 miles [7,232.4 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 from Point A (ie- Big Pool) 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 Big Pool 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 Big Pool. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6237, Longitude: -78.0158       In this case, the coordinates for Big Pool have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.427 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.161 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.854 degrees.