RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Anne Arundel County >> Riva Trace >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Riva Trace, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riva Trace 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 Riva Trace:
    • 38.966501, -76.566629
    • 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 Riva Trace
  • 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 Anne Arundel County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Anne Arundel County
    • Since Riva Trace is near Prince George's County and also Queen Anne's 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 Queen Anne's 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 Riva Trace

Curious and Interesting Names Near Riva Trace ...

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.

  • Bon Haven
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Bon Haven is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Haven
  • Captains Walk
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Captains Walk is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Captains Walk
  • Chestnut Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Chestnut Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chestnut Hills
  • Donovans Pier
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Donovans Pier is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donovans Pier
  • Eagles Passages
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Eagles Passages is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Passages
  • Edgewater
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Edgewater Beach
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Edgewater Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgewater Beach
  • Ginger Cove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Ginger Cove is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ginger Cove
  • Gingerville
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Gingerville is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gingerville
  • Harbor Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Harbor Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbor Hills
  • Heritage
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Heritage is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage
  • Heritage Harbour
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Heritage Harbour is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Harbour
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Hidden Cove
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Hidden Cove is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidden Cove
    • Lincoln Heights
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lincoln Heights is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Heights
    • Londontowne
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Londontowne is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Londontowne
    • Oak Court
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Oak Court is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Court
    • Oakbluff
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Oakbluff is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakbluff
    • Parole
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Parole is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parole
    • Pine Whiff Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Pine Whiff Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Whiff Beach
    • Poplar Point
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Poplar Point is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Point
    • Rolling Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Rolling Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
    • Rolling Knolls
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Rolling Knolls is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Knolls
    • Threemile Oak Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Threemile Oak Corner is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Threemile Oak Corner
    • Twin Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Twin Hills is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Hills
    • Whiskey Bottom
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Whiskey Bottom is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiskey Bottom

How Far From Riva Trace 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 Riva Trace to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Riva Trace and extending to:

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies just to the East.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies just to the east (E).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 25 miles [40.2 km]<2> to the west (W). If you could walk a straight line from Riva Trace to White House, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just about two full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,875 miles [9,454.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,579 miles [10,587.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,456 miles [7,171.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Riva Trace) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Riva Trace 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 Riva Trace. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.9665, Longitude: -76.5666       In this case, the coordinates for Riva Trace have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.608 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.13 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.49 degrees.