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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Shepherds Glen, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Shepherds Glen 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 Shepherds Glen:
    • 39.265383, -76.971922
    • 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 Shepherds Glen
  • 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 Shepherds Glen 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 Shepherds Glen

Curious and Interesting Names Near Shepherds Glen ...

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.

  • Cabin Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cabin Hill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cabin Hill
  • Chapel Woods
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Chapel Woods is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Woods
  • Countryside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Countryside is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Countryside
  • Dill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Dill is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dill
  • Eagles Loft
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Eagles Loft is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagles Loft
  • Farside
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Farside is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farside
  • Gary
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Gary is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gary
  • Green Henge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Green Henge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Henge
  • Green Meadows
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Green Meadows is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Meadows
  • Ivory
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Ivory is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivory
  • Locust Ridge
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Locust Ridge is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Ridge
  • Rover ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Rover is located in Howard County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rover
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Sandy Hill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Sandy Hill is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandy Hill
    • Slacks Corner
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Slacks Corner is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slacks Corner
    • Sycamore Springs
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Sycamore Springs is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sycamore Springs
    • Twelve Hills
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
      • Twelve Hills is located in Howard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twelve Hills

How Far From Shepherds Glen 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 Shepherds Glen to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ellicott City, which is the Seat of Howard County, lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<1> to the east. If you could walk a straight line from Shepherds Glen to Ellicott City, 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 32 miles [51.5 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 over a day and walking would take most of two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 25 miles [40.2 km] to the south (S). The buggy would take most of a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,879 miles [9,461.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,586 miles [10,599.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,462 miles [7,180.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

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- Shepherds Glen) 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 Shepherds Glen 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 Shepherds Glen. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.2654, Longitude: -76.9719       In this case, the coordinates for Shepherds Glen have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.827 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.425 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.544 degrees.