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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Riverdale Forest, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riverdale Forest 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 Riverdale Forest:
    • 39.098721, -76.545519
    • 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 Riverdale Forest
  • 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 Riverdale Forest is near Baltimore County and also Baltimore City, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Baltimore City
  • 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 Riverdale Forest

Curious and Interesting Names Near Riverdale Forest ...

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.

  • Captains Cove
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Captains Cove is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Captains Cove
  • Clearview Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Clearview Village is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clearview Village
  • Cool Pond
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Cool Pond is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool Pond
  • Crystal Beach
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Crystal Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Beach
  • Cypress Creek
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Cypress Creek is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cypress Creek
  • Fair Winds
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Fair Winds is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fair Winds
  • Fairoaks
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Fairoaks is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairoaks
  • Frost
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Frost is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frost
  • Green Haven
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Green Haven is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Haven
  • Holly Point
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Holly Point is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Point
  • Indian Village
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Indian Village is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Village
  • Jacobsville
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jacobsville is located in Anne Arundel County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobsville
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...
    • Jennings
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Jennings is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jennings
    • Long Hill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Long Hill is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Hill
    • Longmeadow
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Longmeadow is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longmeadow
    • Maceys Corner
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Maceys Corner is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maceys Corner
    • Oak Grove
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Grove is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
    • Oak Hollow
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Oak Hollow is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hollow
    • Oak Landing
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Oak Landing is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Landing
    • Pack Town
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
      • Pack Town is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pack Town
    • Pine Crest
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Pine Crest is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Crest
    • Rivendell
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Rivendell is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rivendell
    • Rock Creek Landing
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Rock Creek Landing is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Creek Landing
    • Round Bay
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Round Bay is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Bay
    • Royal Beach
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Royal Beach is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royal Beach
    • Sandy Oaks
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Sandy Oaks is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Oaks
    • Smugglers Cove
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Smugglers Cove is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smugglers Cove
    • Sunset Knoll
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sunset Knoll is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Knoll
    • Trinity Farms
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Trinity Farms is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Farms
    • Willowbrook
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Willowbrook is located in Anne Arundel County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowbrook

How Far From Riverdale Forest 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 Riverdale Forest to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Annapolis, which is the Seat of Anne Arundel County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies just to the south southeast (SSE).
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 29 miles [46.7 km]<1> to the west southwest (WSW). If you could walk a straight line from Riverdale Forest to White House, with an average speed<2> 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 just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,868 miles [9,443.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,573 miles [10,578.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,450 miles [7,161.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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 from Point A (ie- Riverdale Forest) 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 Riverdale Forest 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 Riverdale Forest. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.0987, Longitude: -76.5455       In this case, the coordinates for Riverdale Forest have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.587 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.126 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.429 degrees.