RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Prince George's County >> Cactus Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Cactus Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Cactus Hill 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 Cactus Hill:
    • 38.685950, -77.064977
    • 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 Cactus 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 Prince George's County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
    • Since Cactus Hill is near Fairfax County and also Charles County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles 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 Cactus Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Cactus 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.

  • Bryans Road
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Cedar Lawn
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cedar Lawn is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lawn
  • Fort Hunt
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fort Hunt is located in Fairfax County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Hunt
  • Green Meadows
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Green Meadows is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
  • Gum Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Gum Springs is located in Fairfax County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Holly Hill
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Holly Hill is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hill
  • Hunter
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Hunter is located in Fairfax County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunter
  • Pomonkey Landing
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Pomonkey Landing is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pomonkey Landing
  • Riverside Gardens
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Riverside Gardens is located in Fairfax County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside Gardens
  • Riverview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Riverview is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverview
  • Riverwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Riverwood is located in Fairfax County (VA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
  • Sharperville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Sharperville is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharperville
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sunnyview
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Sunnyview is located in Fairfax County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnyview
    • Woodland Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodland Park is located in Fairfax County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Park
    • Woodlawn
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodlawn is located in Fairfax County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlawn
    • Yacht Haven
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Yacht Haven is located in Fairfax County (VA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yacht Haven

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

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

  • Upper Marlboro, which is the Seat of Prince George's County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<2> to the east northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Cactus Hill to Upper Marlboro, 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 6 hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 36 miles [57.9 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 just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 14 miles [22.5 km] to the north (N). The buggy would take four to five hours and walking would take most of a day.
  • 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 6,612 miles [10,641 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,489 miles [7,224.3 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cactus Hill) 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 Cactus Hill 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 Cactus Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6859, Longitude: -77.0650       In this case, the coordinates for Cactus Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.919 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.44 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.807 degrees.