RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maryland >> Montgomery County >> Washington Grove >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Washington Grove, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Washington Grove 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 Washington Grove:
    • 39.140913, -77.175092
    • 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 Washington Grove
  • 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 Montgomery County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Montgomery County
    • Since Washington Grove is near Howard County and also Fairfax County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howard 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 Washington Grove

Curious and Interesting Names Near Washington Grove ...

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
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Beantown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beantown
  • Brown
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Brown is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brown
  • Charlene
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Charlene is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlene
  • Clopper
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Clopper is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clopper
  • Coventry
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Coventry is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Diamond Farms
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Diamond Farms is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diamond Farms
  • Edinburgh
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Edinburgh is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinburgh
  • Fallsgrove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Fallsgrove is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fallsgrove
  • Flower Hill
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Flower Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flower Hill
  • Hickory Grove
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Hickory Grove is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Grove
  • Hunting Hill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunting Hill is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hunting Hill
  • Log Town ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Log Town is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Town
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Londonderry
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Londonderry is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Londonderry
    • Longdraft
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Longdraft is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longdraft
    • Nathans Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Nathans Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nathans Hill
    • Observatory Heights
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
      • Observatory Heights is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Observatory Heights
    • Orchard Place
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Orchard Place is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Place
    • Orchard Pond
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Orchard Pond is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Pond
    • Parkridge
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Parkridge is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parkridge
    • Pleasant Run
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Run
    • Quail Valley
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
      • Quail Valley is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quail Valley
    • Rockville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rolling Knolls
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Rolling Knolls is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Knolls
    • Stewart Town
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Stewart Town is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewart Town
    • Walnut Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Whetstone
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Whetstone is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whetstone
    • Winters Run
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
      • Winters Run is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters Run

How Far From Washington Grove 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 town such as Washington Grove to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Washington Grove and extending to:

  • Rockville, which is the Seat of Montgomery County, lies just to the South Southeast.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 38 miles [61.2 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could walk a straight line from Washington Grove to Annapolis, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take over two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 18 miles [29 km] to the south southeast (SSE). The buggy would take five to six hours and walking would take just over a day.
  • The shortest distance<4> 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).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,599 miles [10,620.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,476 miles [7,203.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>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 from Point A (ie- Washington Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Washington Grove 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 Washington Grove. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.1409, Longitude: -77.1751       In this case, the coordinates for Washington Grove have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.956 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.551 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.679 degrees.