RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Garrett County >> Lake Ford >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Lake Ford, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Lake Ford 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 Lake Ford:
    • 39.526756, -79.480045
    • 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 Lake Ford
  • 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 Garrett County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Garrett County
    • Since Lake Ford is near Preston County and also Fayette County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Preston County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fayette 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 Lake Ford

Communities Also Named Lake Ford ...

We found one communities that are also named Lake Ford.

Within Maryland, the name Lake Ford is unique.

Beyond Maryland, there is another community also named Lake Ford in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Missouri
      • Osage County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Missouri community of Lake Ford [Osage County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Lake Ford ...

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.

  • Accident
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Blooming Rose
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Blooming Rose is located in Garrett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blooming Rose
  • Cranesville
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Cranesville is located in Preston County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranesville
  • Deer Park
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Elder Hill
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Elder Hill is located in Garrett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elder Hill
  • Freeport
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Freeport is located in Preston County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
  • Fricks Crossing
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Fricks Crossing is located in Garrett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fricks Crossing
  • Friendsville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Gravel Hill
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Gravel Hill is located in Garrett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gravel Hill
  • Kingwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Kingwood is located in Preston County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingwood
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,047 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kingwood <2>
  • Little Sandy
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Little Sandy is located in Preston County (WV)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Sandy
  • Locust Grove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Locust Grove is located in Garrett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Salt Lick
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Salt Lick is located in Preston County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Lick
    • Sand Spring
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Sand Spring is located in Garrett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Spring
    • Sugar Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Sugar Valley is located in Preston County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Valley
    • Valley Point
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Valley Point is located in Preston County (WV)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valley Point

How Far From Lake Ford 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 Lake Ford to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<3> beginning in Lake Ford and extending to:

  • Oakland, which is the Seat of Garrett County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Lake Ford to Oakland, with an average speed<4> 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 164 miles [263.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 137 miles [220.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take less than three hours, a buggy would take 6 days and walking would take 8 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,972 miles [9,611 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,686 miles [10,760.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,561 miles [7,340.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Lake Ford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Lake Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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.
<5>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 Lake Ford 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 Lake Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.5268, Longitude: -79.4800       In this case, the coordinates for Lake Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.316 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.157 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 305.527 degrees.