RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Howard County >> Brightfield >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Brightfield, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Brightfield 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 Brightfield:
    • 39.213163, -76.785250
    • 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 Brightfield
  • 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:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since Brightfield is near Baltimore County and also Anne Arundel County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anne Arundel 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 Brightfield

Curious and Interesting Names Near Brightfield ...

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.

  • Bonnie Brae
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Bonnie Brae is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonnie Brae
  • Cedars
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedars is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedars
  • Dasher Green
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Dasher Green is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dasher Green
  • Elkhorn
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Elkhorn is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkhorn
  • Elkridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Elkridge Heights
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Elkridge Heights is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elkridge Heights
  • Frederick Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Frederick Village is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederick Village
  • Gray
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Gray is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray
  • Grays Level
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Grays Level is located in Baltimore County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Level
  • Hopewell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hopewell is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
  • Jonestown
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jonestown is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonestown
  • Lawyers Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lawyers Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawyers Hill
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Locust Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Locust Park is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Park
    • Long Reach
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Long Reach is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Reach
    • Marble Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Marble Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble Hill
    • Mission Heights
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Mission Heights is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mission Heights
    • Orange Grove ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Orange Grove is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orange Grove
    • Phelps Luck
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Phelps Luck is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps Luck
    • Pleasant View
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Pleasant View is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
    • Quail Ridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Quail Ridge is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Ridge
    • Rockburn Commons
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Rockburn Commons is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockburn Commons
    • Springwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Springwood is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood
    • Thistle
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Thistle is located in Baltimore County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thistle
    • Thunder Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Thunder Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thunder Hill
    • Timber Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Timber Run is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timber Run
    • Timberview
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Timberview is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timberview
    • Vantage Point
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Vantage Point is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vantage Point
    • Wheatfield Way
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Wheatfield Way is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wheatfield Way
    • Woodland Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Woodland Village is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Village

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

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies just to the North.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 22 miles [35.4 km]<2> to the southeast (SE). If you could walk a straight line from Brightfield to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 25 miles [40.2 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,873 miles [9,451.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,579 miles [10,587.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,456 miles [7,171.2 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Brightfield) 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 Brightfield 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 Brightfield. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2132, Longitude: -76.7853       In this case, the coordinates for Brightfield have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.72 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.295 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.485 degrees.