RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Anne Arundel County >> Crofton Commons >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Crofton Commons, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Crofton Commons 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 Crofton Commons:
    • 39.011221, -76.676356
    • 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 Crofton Commons
  • 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 Anne Arundel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anne Arundel County
    • Since Crofton Commons is near Prince George's County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Crofton Commons

Curious and Interesting Names Near Crofton Commons ...

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.

  • Brandy Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Brandy Farms is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandy Farms
  • Charing Cross
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Charing Cross is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charing Cross
  • Chestnut Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Chestnut Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Ridge
  • Colony Ridge
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Colony Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony Ridge
  • Cranberry Woods
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cranberry Woods is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Woods
  • Crownsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Eagles Passages
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagles Passages is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Passages
  • Gravely
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Gravely is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravely
  • Harbor Oaks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Harbor Oaks is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Oaks
  • Heather Hills
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Heather Hills is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heather Hills
  • Hermitage Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hermitage Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermitage Hill
  • Hidden Village
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Hidden Village is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Village
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Idlewild
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Idlewild is located in Prince George's County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewild
    • Kings Heights
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Kings Heights is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Heights
    • Kings Ransom
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Kings Ransom is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kings Ransom
    • Mallet Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Mallet Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mallet Hill
    • Maple Ridge
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Maple Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maple Ridge
    • Mistwood
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Mistwood is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mistwood
    • Pigeon House Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Pigeon House Corner is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pigeon House Corner
    • Piney Orchard
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Piney Orchard is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Orchard
    • Rutland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rutland is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutland
    • Saddle Ridge
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Saddle Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Ridge
    • Spring Fields
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Spring Fields is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Fields
    • Stonegate Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Stonegate Village is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonegate Village
    • Tall Timbers
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Tall Timbers is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Timbers
    • Twin Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Twin Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Hills

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

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

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the east southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Crofton Commons to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 10 miles [16.1 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take a little over three hours and walking would take four to five hours.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 20 miles [32.2 km] to the west southwest (WSW). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,582 miles [10,592.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,459 miles [7,176.1 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- Crofton Commons) 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 Crofton Commons 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 Crofton Commons. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0112, Longitude: -76.6764       In this case, the coordinates for Crofton Commons have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.67 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.206 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.519 degrees.