Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Potomac, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Potomac and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Potomac
- 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 Potomac:
- 39.018165, -77.208591
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Potomac
- 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:
- eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
- Since Potomac is near Fairfax County and also Arlington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Fairfax County
- eBird sighting report for Arlington 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Potomac ...
We found ten communities that share the name Potomac.
There is one other community in Maryland which is also named Potomac.
Beyond Maryland, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States.
- Communities Located In Maryland ...
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Montana
- Nevada
- Virginia
- Alexandria City
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Potomac [Alexandria City].
- Prince William County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Virginia community of Potomac [Prince William County].
- Stafford 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 Virginia community of Potomac [Stafford County].
- West Virginia
- Mineral County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the West Virginia community of Potomac [Mineral County].
- Ohio County
- This Potomac is located in Ohio County and lies 193 miles [310.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Potomac that is located in Montgomery County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ohio County community of Potomac.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Potomac ...
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 Pines
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Cabin John
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cabin John have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin John
- Cabin John is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cabin John <5>
- Cabin John Park
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cabin John Park have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin John Park
- Cabin John Park is located in Montgomery County
- Falls Orchard
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falls Orchard have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Orchard
- Falls Orchard is located in Montgomery County
- Fox Hills
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast) - Glen
(Less than 2 miles to the north) - Glen Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Hills
- Glen Hills is located in Montgomery County
- Great Falls
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Great Falls have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Great Falls
- Great Falls is located in Montgomery County
- Heritage Walk
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Heritage Walk have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Walk
- Heritage Walk is located in Montgomery County
- Hickory Run
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Run have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Run
- Hickory Run is located in Fairfax County (VA)
- Holly Hill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holly Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Hill
- Holly Hill is located in Montgomery County
- Lake Potomac
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Potomac have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Potomac
- Lake Potomac is located in Montgomery County
- Continue List (8 more) ...
- Lone Oak
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
- Lone Oak is located in Montgomery County
- Longwood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east) - Marymount
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east) - Peacock
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Scotland
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Swinks Mill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swinks Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swinks Mill
- Swinks Mill is located in Fairfax County (VA)
- Walnut Woods
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walnut Woods have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Woods
- Walnut Woods is located in Montgomery County
- Wildwood Hills
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Hills
- Wildwood Hills is located in Montgomery County
- Lone Oak
How Far From Potomac 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 Potomac to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Potomac and extending to:
- Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Potomac to Annapolis, with an average speed<6> 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 12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast (SE). The buggy would take nearly four hours and walking would take five to six hours.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,900 miles [9,495.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,606 miles [10,631.3 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,482 miles [7,213.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Potomac. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Montgomery County: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/
The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Potomac) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Potomac. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0182, Longitude: -77.2086 In this case, the coordinates for Potomac have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <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 Potomac, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Potomac could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | 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 Potomac to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.983 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.564 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.74 degrees. |