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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Urbana Overlook, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Urbana Overlook 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 Urbana Overlook:
    • 39.321492, -77.370541
    • 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 Urbana Overlook
  • 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 Urbana Overlook is near Montgomery County and also Loudoun 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 Loudoun 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 Urbana Overlook

Curious and Interesting Names Near Urbana Overlook ...

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 east)
    • Big Woods Estates is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Woods Estates
  • Burnt Hickory
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Burnt Hickory is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnt Hickory
  • Country Side
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Country Side is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Side
  • Dennis ‑ Historic
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dennis is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dennis
  • Flint Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Flint Hill is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flint Hill
  • Frederick Junction
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Frederick Junction is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frederick Junction
  • Heritage Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Heritage Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heritage Hills
  • Hope Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Hope Hill is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Hill
  • Hope Valley Hills
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Hope Valley Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hope Valley Hills
  • Lime Kiln
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lime Kiln is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime Kiln
  • Michaels Mill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Michaels Mill is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Michaels Mill
  • Park Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Park Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Mills
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Rangers Woods
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Rangers Woods is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rangers Woods
    • Reels Mill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Reels Mill is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reels Mill
    • Riverwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Riverwood is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverwood
    • Stone Barn Station
      (Less than 2 miles to the north)
      • Stone Barn Station is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone Barn Station

How Far From Urbana Overlook 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 Urbana Overlook to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies just to the North Northwest.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 52 miles [83.7 km]<1> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Urbana Overlook to Annapolis, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of three days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take over two days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 34 miles [54.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just about two full days 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 6,601 miles [10,623.3 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Urbana Overlook) 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 Urbana Overlook 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 Urbana Overlook. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3215, Longitude: -77.3705       In this case, the coordinates for Urbana Overlook have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 308.06 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.698 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.692 degrees.