RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> Shel-Mar Heights >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shel-Mar Heights, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shel-Mar Heights 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 Shel-Mar Heights:
    • 39.287048, -77.321374
    • 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 Shel-Mar Heights
  • 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 Shel-Mar Heights is near Montgomery County and also Carroll 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 Carroll 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 Shel-Mar Heights

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shel-Mar Heights ...

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 northwest)
    • Burnt Hickory is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Hickory
  • Green Hills
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hills
  • Green Valley
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Valley is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Valley
  • Heritage Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • 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
  • 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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Lewisdale is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewisdale
  • Meadowbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Meadowbrook is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meadowbrook
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Miles Corner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Miles Corner is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles Corner
    • Pleasant Grove
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Pleasant Grove is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
    • Quail Run
      (3 miles [4.8 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 east)
      • Rangers Woods is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangers Woods
    • Rolling Green
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Rolling Green is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Green
    • Sugarloaf Vista
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Sugarloaf Vista is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Vista

How Far From Shel-Mar Heights to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Shel-Mar Heights to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Shel-Mar Heights 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 Shel-Mar Heights 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 30 miles [48.3 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The 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 5,893 miles [9,483.9 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 4,477 miles [7,205 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- Shel-Mar Heights) 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 Shel-Mar Heights 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 Shel-Mar Heights. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2870, Longitude: -77.3214       In this case, the coordinates for Shel-Mar Heights have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.033 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.662 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.684 degrees.