RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Charles County >> Sun Valley Estates >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Sun Valley Estates, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sun Valley Estates 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 Sun Valley Estates:
    • 38.637896, -76.934140
    • 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 Sun Valley Estates
  • 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 Charles County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Charles County
    • Since Sun Valley Estates is near Prince George's County and also Fairfax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Prince George's County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fairfax 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 Sun Valley Estates

Communities Also Named Sun Valley Estates ...

We found two communities that are also named Sun Valley Estates.

Within Maryland, the name Sun Valley Estates is unique.

Beyond Maryland, we know of two communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Texas
      • Hidalgo County
      • This Sun Valley Estates is located in Hidalgo County and lies 1,502 miles [2,417.2 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Sun Valley Estates that is located in Charles County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hidalgo County community of Sun Valley Estates.
    • West Virginia
      • Putnam County
      • This Sun Valley Estates is located in Putnam County and lies 268 miles [431.3 km]<1> to the west of the Sun Valley Estates that is located in Charles County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Putnam County community of Sun Valley Estates.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Sun Valley Estates ...

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.

  • Beantown
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Beantown is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beantown
  • Berry
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Berry is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berry
  • Bolton
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Bolton is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolton
  • Constitution Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Constitution Hills is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Constitution Hills
  • Deerwood
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Deerwood is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deerwood
  • Delight
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Delight is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delight
  • Fox Run
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Fox Run is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Run
  • Green Acres
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Green Acres is located in Prince George's County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Acres
  • Holly Station
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Holly Station is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Station
  • Lynnbrook
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Lynnbrook is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynnbrook
  • Springhaven
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Springhaven is located in Charles County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springhaven

How Far From Sun Valley Estates to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sun Valley Estates to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sun Valley Estates and extending to:

  • La Plata, which is the Seat of Charles County, lies just to the South Southwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 33 miles [53.1 km]<1> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Sun Valley Estates to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two 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 White House (Washington, DC) is 18 miles [29 km] to the north northwest (NNW). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,904 miles [9,501.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,608 miles [10,634.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,485 miles [7,217.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Sun Valley Estates) 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 Sun Valley Estates 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 Sun Valley Estates. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.6379, Longitude: -76.9341       In this case, the coordinates for Sun Valley Estates have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.845 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.349 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.771 degrees.