RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Harford County >> Madonna Hills >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Madonna Hills, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Madonna Hills 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 Madonna Hills:
    • 39.662049, -76.489965
    • 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 Madonna Hills
  • 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 Harford County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Harford County
    • Since Madonna Hills is near Baltimore County and also York County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for York 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 Madonna Hills

Curious and Interesting Names Near Madonna Hills ...

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.

  • Coldstream
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Coldstream is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldstream
  • Coventry Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Coventry Meadows is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry Meadows
  • Deer Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Deer Meadows is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Meadows
  • Drybranch
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Drybranch is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drybranch
  • Eden Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Eden Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Hills
  • Federal Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Federal Hill is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Federal Hill
  • Indian Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Indian Hills is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Hills
  • Ivory Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Ivory Mill is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory Mill
  • Meadow Stream
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Meadow Stream is located in Harford County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadow Stream
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Midsummer Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Midsummer Hill is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midsummer Hill
    • Quail Hills
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Quail Hills is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Hills
    • Rolling Knolls
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Rolling Knolls is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Knolls
    • Spooners Creek
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Spooners Creek is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spooners Creek
    • Spring Meadows
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Spring Meadows is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Meadows
    • Wilsons Choice
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Wilsons Choice is located in Harford County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilsons Choice

How Far From Madonna Hills to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Madonna Hills to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Bel Air, which is the Seat of Harford County, lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Madonna Hills to Bel Air, with an average speed<2> 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 47 miles [75.6 km] to the south (S). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 60 miles [96.6 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take about three full 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 5,842 miles [9,401.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,549 miles [10,539.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,425 miles [7,121.3 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 from Point A (ie- Madonna Hills) 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 Madonna Hills 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 Madonna Hills. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.6620, Longitude: -76.4900       In this case, the coordinates for Madonna Hills have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.513 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.13 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.181 degrees.