RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> Old Orchard Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Old Orchard Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Old Orchard Estates 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 Old Orchard Estates:
    • 39.297048, -77.314985
    • 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 Old Orchard Estates
  • 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 Frederick County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Frederick County
    • Since Old Orchard Estates is near Montgomery County and also Howard County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 Old Orchard Estates

Curious and Interesting Names Near Old Orchard Estates ...

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 Woods Estates
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Big Woods Estates is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods Estates
  • Burnt Hickory
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Burnt Hickory is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Hickory
  • Fountain Mills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fountain Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Mills
  • Friendship
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Friendship is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
  • Gently Savage
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Gently Savage is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gently Savage
  • Green Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hills
  • Green Valley
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Green Valley is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Heritage Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Heritage Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
  • Hickory Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Hickory Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Hill
  • Highview
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Highview is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highview
  • Land of Promise
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Land of Promise is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Land of Promise
  • Lewisdale
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Lewisdale is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisdale
  • Continue List   (8 more) ...
    • Meadowbrook
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Meadowbrook is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
    • Miles Corner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Miles Corner is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles Corner
    • Pleasant Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • Quail Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Quail Run is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Run
    • Rangers Woods
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Rangers Woods is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangers Woods
    • Rolling Green
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Rolling Green is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Green
    • Sugarloaf Vista
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Sugarloaf Vista is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Vista
    • Sunnybrook Farms
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sunnybrook Farms is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnybrook Farms

How Far From Old Orchard Estates 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 Old Orchard Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the north northwest. If you could walk a straight line from Old Orchard Estates to Frederick, with an average speed<2> 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 49 miles [78.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). 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 31 miles [49.9 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,892 miles [9,482.3 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 4,476 miles [7,203.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Old Orchard Estates) 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 Old Orchard Estates 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 Old Orchard Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2970, Longitude: -77.3150       In this case, the coordinates for Old Orchard Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.029 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.658 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.678 degrees.