Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Sylmar, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Sylmar and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Sylmar
- 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 Sylmar:
- 39.719204, -76.034506
- 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.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Sylmar
- 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 Cecil County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Cecil County
- Since Sylmar is near Chester County and also Lancaster County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Chester County
- eBird sighting report for Lancaster 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:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Sylmar ...
We found three communities that share the name Sylmar.
Within Maryland, the name Sylmar is unique.
Beyond Maryland, we know of another three communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these three communities, .
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- California
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Chester County
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chester County community of Sylmar.
Curious and Interesting Names Near Sylmar ...
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.
- Chrome
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east) - Clearview
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest) - Glen Roy
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north) - Hopewell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north) - Kirks Mills
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirks Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirks Mills
- Kirks Mills is located in Lancaster County (PA)
- Lees Mill
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest) - Oak Grove
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west) - Orchard View
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orchard View have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard View
- Orchard View is located in Cecil County
- Richards Oak
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richards Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards Oak
- Richards Oak is located in Cecil County
- Rising Sun
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rising Sun have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rising Sun
- Rising Sun is located in Cecil County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,784 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rising Sun <4>
- Spring Meadow
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spring Meadow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Meadow
- Spring Meadow is located in Cecil County
- Summerhill
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerhill
- Summerhill is located in Lancaster County (PA)
- Continue List (5 more) ...
- Sunset Gardens
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Gardens
- Sunset Gardens is located in Cecil County
- Sunset Knoll
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Knoll have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Knoll
- Sunset Knoll is located in Cecil County
- Sunview
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest) - Sweet Grass Meadow
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweet Grass Meadow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweet Grass Meadow
- Sweet Grass Meadow is located in Cecil County
- Zion
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zion
- Zion is located in Cecil County
- Sunset Gardens
How Far From Sylmar 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 Sylmar to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Sylmar and extending to:
- Elkton, which is the Seat of Cecil County, lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<1> to the southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Sylmar to Elkton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take 6 hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 56 miles [90.1 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take over two days and walking would take most of three days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 77 miles [123.9 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 5 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,820 miles [9,366.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,527 miles [10,504.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,403 miles [7,085.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sylmar. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Cecil County: www.ccgov.org/
The official website for State of Maryland: www.maryland.gov/
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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sylmar) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sylmar. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.7192, Longitude: -76.0345 In this case, the coordinates for Sylmar have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Sylmar could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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 Sylmar to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.238 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 302.827 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 303.963 degrees. |