RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Frederick County >> Silo Hill >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Silo Hill, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Silo Hill 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 Silo Hill:
    • 39.704264, -77.317486
    • 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 Silo Hill
  • 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 Silo Hill is near Adams County and also Carroll County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Adams 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 Silo Hill

Curious and Interesting Names Near Silo Hill ...

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.

  • Blackberry Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Blackberry Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackberry Hills
  • Bullock
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Bullock is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bullock
  • Distant View
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Distant View is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Distant View
  • Fairplay
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairplay is located in Adams County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairplay
  • Fourpoints
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Fourpoints is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fourpoints
  • Friends Creek
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Friends Creek is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friends Creek
  • Glass
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Glass is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass
  • Greenmount
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Greenmount is located in Adams County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenmount
  • Jones
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jones is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones
  • Longs ‑ Historic
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Longs is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longs
  • Lost Valley
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Lost Valley is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Valley
  • Shanks Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Shanks Mill is located in Adams County (PA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanks Mill
  • Thornbrook
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Thornbrook is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornbrook

How Far From Silo Hill 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 Silo Hill to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 20 miles [32.2 km]<1> to the south southwest. If you could walk a straight line from Silo Hill to Frederick, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 66 miles [106.2 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 57 miles [91.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
  • The shortest distance<3> 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).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,584 miles [10,595.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,460 miles [7,177.7 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Silo Hill) 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 Silo Hill 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 Silo Hill. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7043, Longitude: -77.3175       In this case, the coordinates for Silo Hill have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.003 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.693 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.52 degrees.