RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Howard County >> River Farms >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in River Farms, we use the following websites to find information relevant to River Farms 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 River Farms:
    • 39.307049, -77.064980
    • 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 River Farms
  • 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 Howard County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard County
    • Since River Farms is near Carroll County and also Montgomery County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Carroll County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery 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 River Farms

Communities Also Named River Farms ...

We found one communities that are also named River Farms.

Within Maryland, the name River Farms is unique.

Beyond Maryland, there is another community also named River Farms in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Georgia
      • Oconee County
      • This River Farms is located in Oconee County and lies 512 miles [824 km]<1> to the southwest of the River Farms that is located in Howard County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Oconee County community of River Farms.

Curious and Interesting Names Near River Farms ...

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.

  • Cooksville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Countryside
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Countryside is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
  • Daisy
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Daisy is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy
  • Daisy Meadows
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Daisy Meadows is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy Meadows
  • Daisy Woods
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Daisy Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisy Woods
  • Florence
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Florence is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence
  • Florence Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Florence Farms is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florence Farms
  • Green Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Green Meadows is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
  • Jaycox
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jaycox is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jaycox
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Justifiable
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Justifiable is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Justifiable
    • Lisbon
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Millys Delight
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Millys Delight is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millys Delight
    • Poplar Springs
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Poplar Springs is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poplar Springs
    • Rover ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Rover is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rover
    • Twin Maples
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Twin Maples is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Maples

How Far From River Farms 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 River Farms to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from River Farms to Ellicott City, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 38 miles [61.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days and walking would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 28 miles [45.1 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,881 miles [9,464.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,588 miles [10,602.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,465 miles [7,185.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- River Farms) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 River Farms 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 River Farms. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3070, Longitude: -77.0650       In this case, the coordinates for River Farms have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.879 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.491 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.567 degrees.