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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Gaithersburg, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Gaithersburg 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 Gaithersburg:
    • 39.141327, -77.199039
    • 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 Gaithersburg
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Gaithersburg is near Fairfax County and also Loudoun 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 Loudoun 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 Gaithersburg

Curious and Interesting Names Near Gaithersburg ...

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.

  • Brown
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Brown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Charlene
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Charlene is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlene
  • Clopper
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Clopper is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopper
  • Coventry
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Coventry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Diamond Farms
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Diamond Farms is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Farms
  • Flower Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Flower Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flower Hill
  • Log Town ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Log Town is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
  • Londonderry
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Londonderry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Londonderry
  • Longdraft
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Longdraft is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdraft
  • Nathans Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Nathans Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nathans Hill
  • Observatory Heights
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Observatory Heights is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Observatory Heights
  • Orchard Place
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Orchard Place is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Place
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Orchard Pond
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Orchard Pond is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Pond
    • Parkridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Parkridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkridge
    • Pleasant Run
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
    • Quail Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Quail Valley is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Valley
    • Stewart Town
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Stewart Town is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
    • Walnut Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Whetstone
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Whetstone is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whetstone

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

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

  • Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 39 miles [62.8 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Gaithersburg to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 18 miles [29 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,894 miles [9,485.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,600 miles [10,621.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,477 miles [7,205 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gaithersburg) 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 Gaithersburg 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 Gaithersburg. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1413, Longitude: -77.1990    
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.97 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.568 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.689 degrees.