RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Maine >> Hancock County >> Bass Harbor >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

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

When in Bass Harbor, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Bass Harbor 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 Bass Harbor:
    • 44.240081, -68.343906
    • 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 Bass Harbor
  • 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 Hancock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock County
    • Since Bass Harbor is near Knox County and also Washington County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Knox County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Washington 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 Bass Harbor

Curious and Interesting Names Near Bass Harbor ...

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.

  • Cranberry Isles
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Cranberry Isles is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cranberry Isles
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 138 people
  • Frenchboro
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Hall Quarry
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hall Quarry is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hall Quarry
  • Indian Point
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Indian Point is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Point
  • Otter Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Pretty Marsh
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Pretty Marsh is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pretty Marsh
  • Seal Cove
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Seal Harbor
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Seawall
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Seawall is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seawall
  • Swans Island
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Wonderland
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Wonderland is located in Hancock County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wonderland

How Far From Bass Harbor 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 Bass Harbor to various places of note, such as the White House.

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

  • Ellsworth, which is the Seat of Hancock County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Bass Harbor to Ellsworth, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Augusta, which is the State Capital of Maine, lies 71 miles [114.3 km] to the west (W). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take 4 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 580 miles [933.4 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 23 days and walking would take 33 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,319 miles [8,560.1 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,029 miles [9,702.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,904 miles [6,282.9 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Bass Harbor) 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 Bass Harbor 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 Bass Harbor. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.2401, Longitude: -68.3439       In this case, the coordinates for Bass Harbor have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 302.01 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 297.691 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 298.29 degrees.