RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Washington County >> Four Locks >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Four Locks, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Four Locks 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 Four Locks:
    • 39.615652, -77.947221
    • 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 Four Locks
  • 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 Washington County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington County
    • Since Four Locks is near Berkeley County and also Morgan County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Berkeley County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Morgan 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 Four Locks

Curious and Interesting Names Near Four Locks ...

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.

  • Big Pool
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Big Spring
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Big Spring is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Spring
  • Cherry Run
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Cherry Run is located in Morgan County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Run
  • Clear Spring
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Ernstville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Ernstville is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ernstville
  • Falling Waters
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Georgetown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Georgetown is located in Berkeley County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
  • Green Spring Furnace
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Green Spring Furnace is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Spring Furnace
  • Greenspring Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Greenspring Hill is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenspring Hill
  • Hedgesville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Springs
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian Springs is located in Washington County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
  • Little Georgetown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Little Georgetown is located in Berkeley County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Georgetown
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Mountain Vistas
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Mountain Vistas is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain Vistas
    • Runners Ferry
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Runners Ferry is located in Berkeley County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Runners Ferry
    • Shady Bower
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Shady Bower is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Bower
    • Spring Mills
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Spring Mills is located in Berkeley County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Mills
    • Two Locks
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Two Locks is located in Washington County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Two Locks

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

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

  • Hagerstown, which is the Seat of Washington County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Four Locks to Hagerstown, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 89 miles [143.2 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 69 miles [111 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,905 miles [9,503.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,615 miles [10,645.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,491 miles [7,227.6 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' (or 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- Four Locks) 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 Four Locks 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 Four Locks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6157, Longitude: -77.9472       In this case, the coordinates for Four Locks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.386 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 304.114 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.827 degrees.