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

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in West Oak Fields, we use the following websites to find information relevant to West Oak Fields 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 West Oak Fields:
    • 39.361600, -77.223200
    • 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 West Oak Fields
  • 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 West Oak Fields is near Montgomery County and also Carroll 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 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 West Oak Fields

Curious and Interesting Names Near West Oak Fields ...

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.

  • Englandtowne
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Englandtowne is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englandtowne
  • Fountain Mills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Fountain Mills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Mills
  • Friendship Knolls
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Friendship Knolls is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Knolls
  • Harvest Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Harvest Ridge is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvest Ridge
  • Jacobs Run
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jacobs Run is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs Run
  • Kelly Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Kelly Ridge is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelly Ridge
  • Mill Bottom
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Mill Bottom is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Bottom
  • Rattle Ridge
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Rattle Ridge is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rattle Ridge
  • Rolling Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Rolling Hills is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Hills
  • Skyline Woods
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Skyline Woods is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skyline Woods
  • Stonelake
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Stonelake is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonelake
  • Sugarloaf Overlook
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Sugarloaf Overlook is located in Frederick County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugarloaf Overlook
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Tranquility
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Tranquility is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tranquility
    • Treasure Mountain
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Treasure Mountain is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Treasure Mountain
    • Wolf Den Spring
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Wolf Den Spring is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolf Den Spring
    • Woodspring
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Woodspring is located in Frederick County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodspring

How Far From West Oak Fields 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 community such as West Oak Fields to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Frederick, which is the Seat of Frederick County, lies 10 miles [16.1 km]<1> to the west northwest. If you could walk a straight line from West Oak Fields to Frederick, with an average speed<2> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take four to five hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take a little over three hours.
  • Annapolis, which is the State Capital of Maryland, lies 47 miles [75.6 km] to the southeast (SE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than an hour, a buggy would take most of two days and walking would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 33 miles [53.1 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving would take less than an hour, a buggy would take just over a day 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 5,886 miles [9,472.6 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,593 miles [10,610.4 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,469 miles [7,192.2 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- West Oak Fields) 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 West Oak Fields 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 West Oak Fields. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 39.3616, Longitude: -77.2232       In this case, the coordinates for West Oak Fields have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.97 degrees.
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 303.602 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 304.614 degrees.