Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Briar Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Briar Hill and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Briar Hill
- 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 Briar Hill:
- 39.273439, -76.941366
- 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 Briar 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Howard County
- Since Briar Hill is near Carroll County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Carroll County
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Briar Hill ...
We found four communities that share the name Briar Hill.
Within Maryland, the name Briar Hill is unique.
Beyond Maryland, we know of another four communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Pike County
- This Briar Hill is located in Pike County and lies 721 miles [1,160.3 km]<1> to the southwest of the Briar Hill that is located in Howard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Pike County community of Briar Hill.
- Illinois
- Kane County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Briar Hill [Kane County].
- Saint Clair County
- This Briar Hill is located in Saint Clair County and lies 705 miles [1,134.6 km]<1> to the west of the Briar Hill that is located in Howard County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Saint Clair County community of Briar Hill.
- Michigan
- Monroe County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Briar Hill [Monroe County].
- Alabama
Curious and Interesting Names Near Briar 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.
- Alpha
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Chapel Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapel Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Woods
- Chapel Woods is located in Howard County
- Dill
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Eagles Loft
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagles Loft have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Loft
- Eagles Loft is located in Howard County
- Farside
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast) - Gary
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west) - Green Henge
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Green Henge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Henge
- Green Henge is located in Howard County
- Ivory
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Locust Ridge
(Less than 2 miles to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Locust Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Ridge
- Locust Ridge is located in Howard County
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Rover ‑ Historic
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest) - Sandy Hill
(Less than 2 miles to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hill
- Sandy Hill is located in Howard County
- Shepherds Glen
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shepherds Glen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shepherds Glen
- Shepherds Glen is located in Howard County
- Slacks Corner
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Slacks Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slacks Corner
- Slacks Corner is located in Howard County
- Sycamore Springs
(Less than 2 miles to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sycamore Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Springs
- Sycamore Springs is located in Howard County
- Twelve Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twelve Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Hills
- Twelve Hills is located in Howard County
- Rover ‑ Historic
How Far From Briar Hill 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 Briar Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Briar Hill and extending to:
- Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the East.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 31 miles [49.9 km]<1> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Briar Hill to Annapolis, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just over a day.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 26 miles [41.8 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
- The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,877 miles [9,458.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,584 miles [10,595.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,460 miles [7,177.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Briar Hill. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Howard County: www.co.ho.md.us/
The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.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 drawn from Point A (ie- Briar Hill) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Briar Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2734, Longitude: -76.9414 In this case, the coordinates for Briar Hill 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 Briar Hill 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> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Briar Hill to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <6> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.808 degrees. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.405 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.528 degrees. |