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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Oak Springs, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Oak Springs 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 Oak Springs:
    • 39.079300, -76.981600
    • 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 Oak Springs
  • 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 Oak Springs is near Prince George's County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Oak Springs

Communities Also Named Oak Springs ...

We found four communities that are also named Oak Springs.

Within Maryland, the name Oak Springs is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of four communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Arizona
      • Apache County
      • This Oak Springs is located in Apache County and lies 1,774 miles [2,855 km]<1> to the west of the Oak Springs that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Apache County community of Oak Springs.
    • Florida
      • Hillsborough County
      • This Oak Springs is located in Hillsborough County and lies 824 miles [1,326.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Oak Springs that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hillsborough County community of Oak Springs.
    • Nevada
      • Nye County
      • This community is historic<2> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Nevada community of Oak Springs [Nye County].
    • Oregon
      • Wasco County
      • This Oak Springs is located in Wasco County and lies 2,268 miles [3,650 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Oak Springs that is located in Montgomery County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wasco County community of Oak Springs.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Oak Springs ...

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.

  • Burnt Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Burnt Mills is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Mills
  • Burnt Mills Village
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Burnt Mills Village is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Mills Village
  • Castlegate
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Castlegate is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Castlegate
  • Cresthaven
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cresthaven is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cresthaven
  • Deer Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Deer Park is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
  • Fairknoll
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Fairknoll is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairknoll
  • Gayfields
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Gayfields is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayfields
  • Glenallen
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Glenallen is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenallen
  • Good Hope
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Good Hope is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Good Hope
  • Green Castle Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Green Castle Woods is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Castle Woods
  • Gum Springs
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Gum Springs is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
  • Hillandale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Hillandale is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillandale
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Hillandale Forest
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Hillandale Forest is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillandale Forest
    • Knightsbridge
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Knightsbridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knightsbridge
    • Lutes
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Lutes is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lutes
    • Maydale
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Maydale is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maydale
    • Quaint Acres
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Quaint Acres is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quaint Acres
    • Rocky Brook Park
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Rocky Brook Park is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Brook Park
    • Saddle Creek
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Saddle Creek is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saddle Creek
    • Springbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Springbrook is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springbrook
    • Springwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Springwood is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood

How Far From Oak Springs 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 Oak Springs to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Oak Springs and extending to:

  • Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the west. If you could walk a straight line from Oak Springs to Rockville, with an average speed<3> 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 27 miles [43.5 km] to the east southeast (ESE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 12 miles [19.3 km] to the south southwest (SSW). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,887 miles [9,474.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,593 miles [10,610.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,470 miles [7,193.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>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 Oak Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 Oak Springs 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 Oak Springs. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0793, Longitude: -76.9816       In this case, the coordinates for Oak Springs have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.845 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.416 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.621 degrees.