RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> Distant View >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Distant View, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Distant View 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 Distant View:
    • 39.661209, -77.391376
    • 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 Distant View
  • 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since Distant View is near Adams County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Distant View

Curious and Interesting Names Near Distant View ...

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.

  • Altogether
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Altogether is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altogether
  • Blackberry Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Blackberry Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry Hills
  • Flint
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Flint is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint
  • Fourpoints
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Fourpoints is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourpoints
  • Free Farms
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Free Farms is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Free Farms
  • Friends Creek
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Friends Creek is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friends Creek
  • Graceham
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Graceham is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceham
  • Jimtown
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jimtown is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jimtown
  • Jones
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jones is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones
  • Longs ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Longs is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longs
  • Lost Valley
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Lost Valley is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Valley
  • Poplar Knob
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Poplar Knob is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Knob
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Ridgeview
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Ridgeview is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgeview
    • Shanks Mill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Shanks Mill is located in Adams County (PA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanks Mill
    • Silo Hill
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Silo Hill is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silo Hill
    • Thornbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Thornbrook is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornbrook
    • Whispering Pines
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Whispering Pines is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whispering Pines

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

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Distant View and extending to:

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the south. If you could walk a straight line from Distant View to Frederick, with an average speed<2> 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 five to six hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 67 miles [107.8 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 56 miles [90.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,880 miles [9,462.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,589 miles [10,604 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,465 miles [7,185.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Distant View) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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.
<3>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 Distant View 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 Distant View. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6612, Longitude: -77.3914       In this case, the coordinates for Distant View have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.05 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.739 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.569 degrees.